

THE WORLD'S WONDERS, 



THE POLAR REGIONS. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



THE restless spirit of man, though limited to a definable com- 

 pass of action, is yet boundless as the universe. Over his small 

 sphere no danger checks the mad ambition of his curiosity, and 

 chafing under the restraints of this earth, he creates new worlds 

 in which to continue his search for the unknowable. Whether in 

 Tropic heat or Polar cold, through the fogs and fens of lurking 

 death, or the roseate and jocund beams of inviting salubrity, the 

 beacon of his ambition is at all times equally bright, and causes 

 him to tread dangerous paths with heart as proud as when he 

 walks the easy road of safety. 



The rigors of the distant North, around which gather the per- 

 petual mists of secrecy, where Ithuriel guards, with flaming 

 spears of polar light, the regions of eternal ice and boding night, 

 do not quench the noble resolution of man, who must knock at 

 every door that encloses one of nature's secrets ; even Ithuriel' s 

 spears are fended by the bold knights of discovery, who charge 

 on until they fall before the walls which forever limit the foot- 

 steps of mankind. Many, yea ! many, go out upon the highway 

 tier the bleak and barren North, no more to return to relate around 

 the fireside of happy homes their adventures on the frozen 

 HI 



