Introduction. xxvii 



Koss's farthest, at Leopold Island, in 1848, visited ; 

 and many another bay and headland in those re- 

 mote regions, which have taken seamen in sailing 

 vessels years of toil and hardship to attain, were 

 seen and visited by Commander Markham in a 

 summer's holiday. It was no exceptional season 

 in which this was done. The " Arctic," under 

 Captain Adams, has often made the same cruise, to 

 the profit of her owners and crew, and returns 

 again in 1874 to repeat the voyage. 



When, in 1850, during the search for Franklin, 

 I had the good fortune to command the " Pioneer," 

 which, with the " Intrepid," were the two first 

 steam vessels employed in the Arctic seas, I fore- 

 saw and foretold the great revolution which steam 

 was about to effect in diminishing the risk of 

 Arctic navigation. It was impossible for us, 

 shackled as we were to our clumsy sailing con- 

 sorts (H. M. S. "Kesolute" and "Assistance"), 

 to do much in illustration of my belief; but the 

 revolution has come even quicker than anticipated, 

 and from the shores of Great Britain, as well as 

 from those of the dominion of Canada, strongly 

 fortified steamers dash annually into the frozen seas 

 in search of the seal and the whale, and reap rich 

 and profitable harvests, without any risk of life, 

 and rarely with the loss of a steamer. Steam 

 yachts are' now following in their wake, and Spits- 

 bergen is becoming the summer field of many of 



