INTR OD UCTION 1 1 



previous to the expedition of which the present work 

 treats. 



By way of the sea between Greenland and Spitzber- 

 gen, several attempts have been made to penetrate the 

 secrets of the domain of ice. In 1607 Henry Hudson 

 endeavored to reach the Pole along the east coast of 

 Greenland, where he was in hopes of finding an open 

 basin and a waterway to the Pacific. His progress was, 

 however, stayed at ']f north latitude, at a point of the 

 coast which he named " Hold with Hope." The Ger- 

 man expedition under Koldeway (1869-70); which vis- 

 ited the same waters, reached by the aid of sledges as 

 far north as ']']° north latitude. Owing to the enormous 

 masses of ice which the polar current sweeps southward 

 along this coast, it is certainly one of the most unfavor- 

 able routes for a polar expedition. A better route is that 

 by Spitzbergen, which was essayed by Hudson, when his 

 progress was blocked off Greenland. Here he reached 

 80° 23' north latitude. Thanks to the warm current 

 that runs by the west coast of Spitzbergen in a north- 

 erly direction, the sea is kept free from ice, and it is 

 without comparison the route by which one can the most 

 safely and easily reach high latitudes in ice-free waters. 

 It was north of Spitzbergen that Edward Parry made his 

 attempt in 1827, above alluded to. 



Farther eastward the ice - conditions are less favor- 

 able, and therefore few polar expeditions have directed 

 their course through these regions. The original object 



