AFTER FIFTY YEARS 



By AMOS BONSALL 



N aimed-for point which apparently can- 

 not be touched! The inaccessible! 

 Such a point is preeminently the 

 North Pole. Yet there is an old adage 

 which has been proved true on more 

 occasions than one: " It is always the unexpected that hap- 

 pens." And it is not impossible that the unexpected re- 

 sults will be achieved some day by the strenuous and 

 untiring efforts of Arctic explorers. Advancing science 

 with its stupendous achievements, increasing each day, will 

 undoubtedly be the most potent factor in success, if success 

 is ever attained. 



In this connection the question naturally arises: What 

 is the difference between Arctic exploration of the past, 

 and Arctic exploration of the present? Of the past, as the 

 only survivor of the famous Kane Expedition, of which 

 I shall give a short sketch, I feel competent to speak. As 

 to the present, I have taken a keen interest in, and have 

 followed closely, the movements of all Arctic explorers. 



Our outfit, complete as we thought it was at the time, 

 was as nothing in comparison with those of the later expe- 

 ditions. How could it have been otherwise? What was 

 known then of the vast majority of appliances for sustain- 

 ing life, and aiding transportation from one point to an- 

 other, which are so clearly understood to-day? We were 

 then like undeveloped, uneducated children, as compared 

 with fully grown men in the plenitude of acquired knowl- 

 edge. 



Compare for instance, the Kane Expedition with the 

 Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition, the most complete in every 



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