SCHEME FOR REACHING THE POLE. 193 



Hopelessly impossible as all attempts to sail 

 to the Pole must ever continue to be, I tbink, 

 if there were sufficient inducements to under- 

 take the attempt, that it is possible enough to 

 do it by land, or, to speak more correctly, by 

 ice. 



The distance from the extreme north of 

 Spitzbergen would be 600 miles, and the only 

 way in which I conceive the attempt could be 

 made with any chance of success, would be for 

 a well-provided vessel, with sledges and plenty 

 of good.cl»§S'to draw them, to go to Spitzbergen 

 in summer, select a sheltered harbour as far to 

 the north as they could get, and pass the re- 

 mainder of the fine weather in killing a quan- 

 tity of rein-deer and wild fowl for provisions 

 for themselves, and seals and walruses to keep 

 the dogs fat and in good condition. Good 

 hunters would have little difficulty in laying in 

 a hundred tons of deer, seals, and walruses in 

 two months. ; 



It would be necessary, of course, to winter in 

 Spitzbergen, but that would be no worse than 

 wintering in other parts of the Arctic regions, 

 and plenty of hardy volunteers could be got in 

 Tromsoe and Hammerfest to act as hunters and 

 harpooners to the expedition. The dogs would 



o 



