46 EARL T ARCTIC VO YAGERS. 



approach of winter, cut the hard ice into tall square blocks, 

 with which they construct their dwellings. They pass their 

 nights covered with bear and seal skins, near a stove or 

 lamp, every portion of the hut being closed against the 

 piercing cold. Their provisions are often frozen so hard as 

 to require to be cut with a hatchet. The whole of the inside 

 of the hut sometimes becomes lined with a thick crust of 

 ice ; and, if a window is opened for a moment, the moisture 

 of the confined air it immediately precipitated in the form 

 of a shower of snow. 



Without interest and adventure to stimulate the energies 

 and excite the curiosity of mankind, these gloomy regions 

 might not, probably, have been penetrated by the brave 

 seamen who have imperilled their lives amidst those icy 

 waters or on the inhospitable coasts, and whose explorations 

 have developed and tested more heroism and skill than, 

 perhaps, the exploration and discovery of all the rest of the 

 world since the age of Columbus. But for these Arctic voy- 

 agers, we should have been ignorant of the strange and 

 wonderful countries of the North, and their inhabitants. 

 These voyages originated in an attempt to discover a shorter 

 passage to India across the Northern seas. In 1553, an ex- 

 pedition of three vessels for this purpose left England. The 

 results to two of these ships were most disastrous; the 

 crews, seventy in number, and the commander of the expe- 

 dition. Sir Hugh Willoughby, being frozen to death. Since 

 this period, upwards of a hundred expeditions have been 

 made in search of the North-west Passage — that is, a navi- 

 gable channel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, round 

 the northern margin of America. Among the heroic leaders 

 of these expeditions are the conspicuous names of Parry, 

 John and James Ross, Back, Franklin, Beecher, Austin, Kel- 

 lett, Osborne, Collinson, M'Clure, Rae, Simpson, M'Clin- 

 tock, Hayes, Kane, Hall, and other famous men. 



The fate of the unfortunate Sir John Franklin, one of the 



