E.— GEOGRAPHY. 85 



two or three years that ground work would have entailed, is a case in 

 point. And J. M. Wordie has instanced the eastern edge of Greenland 

 as a country where the aerial surveyor could rapidly make a map of the 

 most rugged and untraversable country. The investigation of the move- 

 ment of pack-ice in Hudson Strait, undertaken this year by the Canadian 

 Government, is another instance of the value of the aeroplane in Arctic 

 work. 10 



In the Antarctic, where I have pointed out the pioneer explorer still 

 has ample scope, long-distance flights may be of some value. The ice- 

 cap offers the prospect of better landing than the pack-ice. Yet in view 

 of its great expanse there is even less chance of retreating on foot after a 

 forced descent. The Argentine aviators, A. Pauly and Zanni, propose to 

 fly across Antarctica from Graham Land on the Weddell Sea to Victoria 

 Land or the Barrier edge on the Ross Sea next December. Their success 

 depends largely on the efficiency of their machine. A forced landing will 

 probably mean their total disappearance, but a successful flight will 

 certainly give some broad results of value, although tantalisingly vague 

 and inconclusive, as to the structure of Antarctica. An American flying 

 expedition to the Ross Sea has also been announced. 



Probably some reliable form of mechanical traction for sledges would 

 be more serviceable than aviation in serious exploration. Dogs are 

 useful for traction to men who are accustomed to manage them, but 

 their area of action is limited by the amount of food that they require. 

 Man-haulage gives longer range, but is terribly destructive of human 

 energy. Machine-drawn sledges would require fuel, but the carriage of 

 light fuel would not seriously impede their radius of use. The whole 

 problem of mechanical transport really turns on its reliability. So far its 

 use has been a failure. But we live in an age of rapidly increasing 

 mechanical skill. Yet. is it ever safe to put absolute trust in a machine ? 



There must be risk in all exploration, but can one ever reduce the risk 

 of the motor-sledge breaking down to reasonable limits ? The wear and 

 tear is tremendous, far greater than in a motor gliding smoothly through 

 the air. On a short journey a breakdown would be merely a nuisance, 

 on a long journey, far from the base, it might well be fatal. In short, 

 while a man knows his own capacity he can never have an equal faith in 

 the capacity of the machine. The use of motor-sledges is bound to come 

 and they will be very useful, but undoubtedly they will introduce an 

 element of uncertainty in the journey. They will increase the chance 

 of success as well as the risk of failure. 



Quite apart from means of transport, polar exploration has undergone 

 changes in recent years. Equipment is better than it was of old, food is 

 better preserved, more varied and more in accordance with human 

 requirements. But the greatest change has come in the passing of the 

 fear of the Arctic. Men who know the polar regions are no longer 

 frightened of the cold and darkness and no longer shun the food resources 

 of polar lands and seas. The terror that the Arctic inspired was a legacy 

 of mediaeval superstition ; the outcome, like all superstitions, of 



io F ew men have flown in the Arctic. Some of the most valuable fruits of experience 

 will be found in G. Binney's With Seaplane and Sledge in the Arctic (1925), and 

 E.Amundsen's My Polar Flight { 1925) and The First Flight across the Polar Sea (1927). 



