TOWARDS THE NORTH POLE. 



THE Arctic Expedition which returned to our shores in the 

 autumn of 1876 may be regarded as having finally decided 

 the question whether the North Pole of the earth is acces- 

 sible by the route through Smith's Sound a route which 

 may conveniently and properly be called the American route. 

 Attacks may hereafter be made on the Polar fastness from 

 other directions ; but it is exceedingly unlikely that this 

 country, at any rate, will again attempt to reach the Pole 

 along the line of attack followed by Captain Nares's expe- 

 dition. I may be forgiven, perhaps, for regarding Arctic 

 voyages made by the seamen of other nations as less likely 

 to be successful than those made by my own countrymen. 

 It is not mere national prejudice which suggests this opinion. 

 It is the simple fact that hitherto the most successful ap- 

 proaches towards both the Northern and the Southern 

 Poles have been made by British sailors. Nearly a quarter 

 of a century has passed since Sir E. Parry made the nearest 

 approach to the North Pole recorded up to that time ; and 

 although, in the interval between Parry's expedition and 

 Nares's, no expedition had been sent out from our shores 

 with the object of advancing towards the Pole, while 

 America, Sweden, Russia, and Germany sent out several, 

 Parry's attempt still remained unsurpassed and unequalled. 

 At length it has been surpassed, but it has been by his own 

 countrymen. In like manner, no nation has yet succeeded 

 in approaching the Antarctic Pole so nearly, within many 

 miles, as did Captain Sir J. C. Ross in 1844. Considering 



