the unknown sea that circles the pole. All told there w( 

 one souls on board the little ship, and with high-born hope: 



dMlS off the barren c°oast of northern Asia. The " J< 



character to the enterprise, but the ship, her outfit and sto 

 private contribution. 



De Long was selected for this work for a number of reas 

 was a man of magnificent ph\>i<jin>, ir<»n will, and had a perfc 

 edge of the problems to be solved by the successful issue 

 journey. He had been in the Arctic before. He went t 

 'bav to look for the Tyson party, who passed on the ice floe I 

 niata," the ship with which he was. He had investigated th< 

 bay route, and earned the commendation of his superiors or 

 for his daring, zeal and discretion. 



He had had long and inquisitive conversations with Tyson 

 hero's return to the States ; he had met Weyprecht and Paj 

 rope and learned from them that the Franz Josef route wi 



In the first place, it was a cherished theory of the great ge 

 Petermann, and one in which De Long himself had faith, th 



Franz Josef Land, a theory, by the way, which was stro 

 ported by the analogies of physical geography. It would 

 nothing of present interest to detail the analogies on which 

 was founded. They were sufficient to claim the respectful 



