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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



wore?— that is, a vision over the Holy- 

 Land centering in known Jerusalem. 

 We, too, had visions which were over the 

 vast expanse of the white north, unseen 

 by human eye since the dawn of creation. 

 Though barren, desolate, unknown, and 

 strangely mysterious, it has been a goal 

 for the adventurous of all nations. 



"Among such seekers we are honored 

 tonight by the presence of two officers of 

 the Russian navy, Lieutenants Nikolsky 

 and Evgenoff. With Captain Vilkitsky, 

 they were the first to navigate from east 

 to west the Siberian ocean, from Bering 

 Strait to the North Sea. They also gave 

 to the world a new Arctic archipelago, 

 Nicholas II Land, north of Cape Chely- 

 uskin, the promontory that projects far- 

 thest into that ice-encumbered sea. They 

 were brought near in sympathy and help- 

 fulness to the speaker of the evening, for 

 they tried, though in vain, defeated by the 

 pack, to rescue the survivors of the Kar- 

 luk, then marooned on Wrangell Land. 



"We come together especially to wel- 

 come back Yilhjalmur Stefansson, whose 

 published obituary you have read, but 

 who insists with Mark Twain that the 

 account of his death has been greatly ex- 

 aggerated. However, it told indirectly 

 the tale of his dangers and hardships. 



"the; world's record for continuous 

 polar service" 



"Stefansson has several unique Arctic 

 records. His five and a half years is the 

 world's record for continuous Polar serv- 

 ice. A pioneer in living on the game of 

 the region, whether on the ice-covered 

 sea or on the northern lands, he also 

 initiated distant journeys on the ice-floes 

 of an unknown sea. which carried him 

 hundreds of miles from the nearest land. 



"The contributions of his expeditions 

 are important and extensive. Besides the 

 natural history and geologic knowledge, 

 he has made inroads into the million 

 square miles of unknown Arctic regions, 

 the largest for many years. His hydro- 

 graphic work is specially important, in 

 surveys and in magnetic declinations. 

 His numerous soundings not only outline 

 the continental shelf from Alaska to 

 Prince Patrick Island, but also disclose 

 the submarine mountains and valleys of 

 the bed of Beaufort Sea. 



"From the unknown regions of Arctic 

 land and sea he has withdrawn areas 

 amounting to approximately 100,000 

 square miles. These discoveries com- 

 prise about 65,000 square miles of Beau- 

 fort Sea to the north of the Mackenzie 

 basin, 10,000 square miles of the Arctic 

 Ocean west of Prince Patrick Island, 

 over 3,000 square miles along the north- 

 east coast of Victoria Island, and over 

 15,000 square miles of land and sea to 

 the northeast of Prince Patrick Island. 

 In the last-named region three large and 

 other small islands were discovered be- 

 tween latitude 73 degrees and 80.2 de- 

 grees north and between longitude 98 de- 

 grees west and 115 degrees west. 



"These new islands unquestionably fill 

 in the last gap in the hitherto-unknown 

 seaward limits of the great Arctic archi- 

 pelago to the north of the continent of 

 America. 



"The spirit as well as the material re- 

 sults of exploration should be recognized. 

 Tonight the borderland of the White Sea 

 is in the thoughts and hearts of many, 

 for there, in the gloom of Arctic twilight, 

 and in the cold of a Polar winter, the 

 heroic men of this great nation are en- 

 during fearful hardships and periling 

 their young lives to restore peace and 

 give freedom to unfortunate Russia. 



"Recall that in the dawn of that na- 

 tion's history, through this sea and the 

 port of Archangel only could Russia be 

 reached. More than three and a half cen- 

 turies ago, the first great maritime expe- 

 dition of England sailed to the White 

 Sea, and Chancellor's visit had potent 

 results in the development of both Eng- 

 land and Russia. 



"Of this great voyage Milton said : 'It 

 was an enterprise almost heroic were it 

 not for gain.' Stefansson's explorations 

 are untainted by motives of materialism. 



"we who are about to die salute him" 



"In recognition both of the idealistic 

 spirit and of the geographic importance 

 of the discoveries made by Villi jalmur 

 Stefansson, the Board of Managers of 

 the National Geographic Society unani- 

 mously direct me to present to him the 

 Hubbard Medal. 



"It is to be added that the three sur- 

 vivors of the so-called Greely Interna- 



