XX FOREWORD 



thoughts and hearts of many, for there, in the gloom of Arctic 

 twilight, and in the cold of a Polar winter, the heroic men of this 

 great nation are enduring fearful hardships and periling their young 

 lives to restore peace and give freedom to unfortunate Russia. 



"Recall that in the dawn of that nation's history through this 

 sea and the port of Archangel only could Russia be reached. More 

 than three and a half centuries ago the first great maritime expedi- 

 tion of England sailed to the White Sea, and Chancellor's visit had 

 potent results in the development of both England and Russia. 



"Of this great voyage Milton said: 'It was an enterprise almost 

 heroic were it not for gain.' Stefansson's explorations are untainted 

 by motives of materialism. 



"In recognition both of the idealistic spirit and of the geographic 

 importance of the discoveries made by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the 

 Board of Managers of the National Geographic Society unanimously 

 direct me to present to him the Hubbard Medal. 



"It is to be added that the three survivors of the so-called Greely 

 International Polar Expedition are too far advanced in years again 

 to hazard Polar work; but as explorers of the nineteenth century 

 who first wrested from Engl-and a record held for three hundred 

 years — that of the farthest north — they wish to honor the explorer 

 of the twentieth century who surpasses them. 



"Appreciative of Stefansson's endurance of hardships, recogniz- 

 ing his ability in devising new methods, his courage in testing such 

 methods, and his standing as a typical Arctic explorer, the members 

 of the Greely Expedition, who are about to die, salute him." 



Thus those redoubtable Arctic heroes, Peary and Greely, paid 

 tribute to Stefansson as a pioneer in a new direction; as one who 

 had supported himself for years, not partially as his predecessors, 

 but entirely on the resources of the Arctic regions. 



As we read the story of his years in the north, told in this inter- 

 esting volume with that modesty in achievement which is so char- 

 acteristic and so endearing in Stefansson, we see the Arctic through 

 Stefansson's eyes, no longer tragic and desolate, but converted by 

 his adaptable spirit and clever creative hand to become fruitful and 

 friendly — comfortable and almost jolly. 



I 



