PLAN FOB THE EXPLORATION OF THE ARCTIC. 743 



GEOGRAPHICAL. 



PLAN FOR THE EXPLORATION OF THE ARCTICS- 

 FURNISHED BY CAPT. H. W. HOWGATE, U. S. A. 



The plan of Arctic Exploration and Discovery, in furtherance of which 

 I have the honor of appearing before you this evening, is one to establish a 

 colony of hardy, resolute and intelligent men at some favorable point on or 

 near the borders of the Polar Sea and providing it with all modern appli- 

 ances for overcoming the physical obstables in the pathway to the Pole, 

 and for resisting the effects of hunger, of cold, and of sickness, to deprive 

 it of the means of retreat, except at stated periods of time. The location 

 selected as the site of the proposed colony is on the shore of Lady Franklin 

 Bay, near the seam of coal found by the " Discovery," of the English ex- 

 pedition of 1875. 



The idea of establishing such a colony is not a new one, as it was advo- 

 cated by Dr. Hayes as far back as 1862, and has since that date been 

 approved by this society and by the aciion of foreign societies and ex- 

 plorers. This fact accounts, in great part, for the almost unanimous support 

 with which the so-called Howgate plan has been received. 



The results of the last English expedition, and modern improvements in 

 means of locomotion and communication, render it possible to locate farther 

 north than in the earlier days of Arctic exploration, when sailing vessel* 

 were used. 



The expedition of Captain Hall in the Polaris, in 1871, and of Captain 

 Nares in the Alert and Discovery, in 1875, have shown that, by the use of 

 steam, it is a comparatively easy matter to reach the entrance to Robeson's 

 Channel in latitude 81° north, and that the serious difficulties to be over- 

 come lie beyond that point. Parties from these two expeditions have made 

 fair surveys 140 miles north of this point, leaving about 400 miles of unex- 

 plored regions between it and the goal of modern geographers — the Pole. 



When Captain Hall reached the upper extremity of Robeson's Channel 

 the lookout of the Polaris reported open water in sight and just beyond the 

 pack which surrounded the vessel and impeded further progress. This 

 open water was afterwards seen from the cape at the northern opening of 

 Newman's Bay, and it was the opinion of the crew of that ill-fated vessel, 

 that if she had been but the fraction of an hour earlier in reaching the 

 channel, they could have steamed unobstructed to the Pole itself, or to the 

 shores of such lands, if any exist, as may bound the so-called open Polar 

 Sea. We know that they did not succeed, but were forced to winter almost 

 within sight of this sea, and subsequently, disheartened by the loss of their 

 gallant commander, abandoned the enterprise. 



• A paper prepared by Capt. Howgate, and read at the meeting of the American Geographical Society ia 

 New York, January 31, 1878. 



