300 Arguments for 



expeditions sent via Spitzbergen, failed in its purpose of 

 penetrating within the 80th parallel ; and although Mackenzie 

 and Hearn, on the American continent, just traced the two 

 rivers which bear their names into the Arctic Sea, nothing in 

 the last century was added to geographical knowledge within 

 the Arctic zone to the rough outline of Baffin's Bay, as dis- 

 covered by that great navigator in 1616 ; and, apart from that 

 mere outline of Baffin's Bay and Spitzbergen, the entire area 

 of the Arctic zone was a blank, so far as all human knowledge 

 was concerned. 



In the year 1818 the Royal Society, prompted by Sir 

 Joseph Banks and Sir John Barrow, then Secretary to the 

 Admiralty, took up actively the subject of Arctic exploration, 

 and between that period and 1833, the successive expeditions 

 of Franklin, Parry, Back, John and James Ross, Sabine, 

 Buchan, Beechey, and Lyons added much to our geographical 

 knowledge, and threw new light on the meteorology, botany, 

 hydrography, terrestrial magnetism, zoology, and ethnology of 

 a previously unknown portion of the earth's surface. 



After the discovery of the exact position of the magnetic 

 pole by Sir James Ross in 1831-33, Arctic exploration may be 

 said to have paused ; but it is worthy of remark that, during 

 the fifteen years it had thus been actively pursued by seamen 

 and travellers with the then imperfect means at command, no 

 loss of life had occurred, although there had been occasionally 

 more than two hundred men at a time ennployed upon these 

 expeditions. 



In 1845 the subject of Arctic research in various branches 

 of natural science was again taken up by the Royal Society, 

 and that year a fresh Arctic expedition was despatched by our 



portance of Arctic research, and their representations led to the 

 despatch of the Franklin expedition, since which time no Govern- 

 ment scientific expedition has been fitted out for the exploration of 

 the unknown area round the North Pole. 



