xii INTRODUCTION 



Henry viii., offered " very weighty and substantial reasons 

 to set forth a discoverie even to the North Pole," the 

 struggle has been going on. 



In no other records of adventure do we find greater 

 deeds of daring than in those of Arctic travel. The 

 dauntless courage in the face of extreme danger, the 

 perseverance when hope was forlorn, the self-sacrifices 

 made to render assistance to comrades, all stamp these 

 pioneers of science and commerce as heroes in the highest 

 sense of the word. Some of their daring exploits, their 

 successes and disasters, are here recorded, but the author 

 hopes that this book will only serve as an introduction 

 to the original ones. After reading the thrilling narratives 

 of Arctic exploration, one is ready to admit that " truth 

 is stranger than fiction. ,1 



The Polar regions can be reached by only three 

 navigable routes. Either by the wide passage between 

 Greenland and Norway, a smaller passage between Green- 

 land and America, or by the narrow Bering Strait between 

 America and Russia. 



Up till the beginning of the nineteenth century nearly 

 all the Arctic voyages had as the chief object the dis- 

 covery either of a north-west or a north-east passage to 

 the Pacific Ocean. 



On the 7th June 1585 two tiny craft sailed from 

 Dartmouth in quest of the North-West Passage. They 

 were commanded by John Davis, a daring explorer. 



Davis sighted Greenland on 20th July, and on the 

 29th he was off where now stands the Danish settlement 

 of Godthaab. He crossed the strait which now bears his 

 name, and traced part of the western coast. 



Davis made a second voyage in 1586, and a third in 

 1587. In the latter year he reached and named Sander- 

 son's Hope, in 72° 41'. 



Between 1594 and 1596 three expeditions were dis- 



