lO FARTHEST NORTH 



It seems that but few have thought of following the 

 example of the Eskimo — living as they do, and, instead 

 of heavy boats, taking light kayaks drawn by dogs. At 

 all events, no attempts have been made in this direction.. 



The methods of advance have been tested on four 

 main routes : the Smith Sound route, the sea route 

 between Greenland and Spitzbergen, Franz Josef Land 

 route, and the Bering Strait route. 



In later times, the point from which the Pole has 

 been most frequently assailed is Smith Sound, probably 

 because American explorers had somewhat too hastily 

 asserted that they had there descried the open Polar 

 Sea, extending indefinitely towards the north. Every 

 expedition was stopped, however, by immense masses of 

 ice, which came drifting southward, and piled them- 

 selves up against the coasts. The most important expe- 

 dition by this route was the English one conducted by 

 Nares in 1875-76, the equipment of which involved a 

 vast expenditure. Markham, the next in command to 

 Nares, reached the highest latitude till then attained, 

 82° 20', but at the cost of enormous exertion and loss; 

 and Nares was of opinion that the impossibility of reach- 

 ing the Pole by this route was fully demonstrated for 

 all future ages. 



During the stay of the Greely expedition (from 1881 

 to 1884) in this same region, Lockwood attained a 

 somewhat higher record, viz., '$)T^ 24', the most north- 

 erly point on the globe that human feet had trodden 



