an Arctic Expedition. 303 



area of human knowledge towards the North Pole, which, 

 creditable and honourable as they were to those concerned, 

 were undertaken with totally inadequate means and resources. 

 Under Dr. Kane and Dr. Hayes and Captain Hall, the 

 Americans have attempted, with private expeditions, to emu- 

 late the achievements of the public ones of this country. The 

 sufferings, the hardships, insubordination, and small results, 

 in comparison with the expenditure and expectations, of these 

 American private expeditions, fully confirm the opinions of 

 all British Arctic authorities as to the necessity for the officers 

 and seamen in such expeditions being always under naval 

 control and discipline ; and strengthen us in saying that no 

 amount of private enterprise, enthusiasm, or funds will justify 

 the risk to lives or the success of an expedition such as the 

 Royal Geographical Society contemplates, except under Go- 

 vernment auspices and Government control. That conceded, 

 the safety of an expedition is comparatively guaranteed, so 

 far as life is concerned, and its success for the objects set 

 forth rendered doubly sure. It is conti-ary to fact, as has 

 been alleged, that in public Arctic expeditions life has been 

 sacrificed ; and it is easy to show that the greater portion of 

 the suffering and danger to which Arctic explorers have been 

 subjected is owing to the want of organization and discipline 

 incidental to private expeditions, and to the expeditions beinw 

 entrusted to unprofessional leaders. Moreover, it cannot be 

 too strongly insisted upon that, with modern improvements 

 and appliances, navigation in those seas has been made far 

 more certain than it was in former years. That some risk 

 may be incurred by individuals in prosecuting scientific re- 

 search in an Arctic climate is not denied ; but it may be 

 confidently affirmed that no one who participates voluntarily 

 in such an expedition would hesitate to incur such risks, and 

 equally that life lost in the serious pursuit of knowledge is, to 

 say the least, as worthily sacrificed as in other human occu- 

 pations which involve similar dangers. 



