PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 



\^_--^v ^ HE present season appears an appro- 

 N priate time for presenting- to the public 

 a second edition of my " Whaling- 

 Cruise to Baffin's Bay." Those who 

 have always had the interests of Arctic research at 

 heart must indeed be gladdened at the recent deci- 

 sion of Mr. Disraeli's Government. The English 

 nation, having had its energies aroused, and having- 

 listened to the counsels of its eminent men of 

 science, and to the urgent entreaties of the sur- 

 viving Arctic explorers, has at last deemed it ex- 

 pedient to revive the subject of Polar exploration. 

 The flag- of England, the glorious Union Jack, will 

 in a few short months be again unfurled within 

 the Arctic zone, and displayed, it is confidently 

 hoped and anticipated, in a high northern latitude, 

 if not at the North Pole itself. 



Experience has done much for us, and with the 



