PREFACE. 



ITN editing and combining into one volume the two admirable works 

 of Dr. Haktwig, " The Polar World" and " The Tropical World," 

 I have had in view, while working in the spirit of the Author, to avail 

 myself of all new sources of information, and especially to enlarge upon 

 those features which are of especial interest to American readers. Thus, 

 in " The Polar World," I have added a chapter descriptive of our new 

 acquisition of Alaska, full materials for which came into my hands from 

 our Department of State. I have also added a chapter describing the 

 remarkable exploring expedition in the Arctic regions, performed by my 

 friend, Charles Francis Hall. This expedition is especially notable 

 from the clear proof which it furnishes that, had Sir John Franklin only 

 known how to avail himself of the facilities for living afforded by the 

 region in which he was cast away, his whole party might have survived 

 and made their way back to their homes ; and also that the fearful suffer- 

 ings so graphically narrated by the lamented Kane might all have been 

 avoided, had he only have known how to adapt his mode of life to the 

 requirements of an Arctic climate. Of Hall's second expedition, lasting 

 from 1864 to the close of 1869, no full account has been published ; he 

 has been too busily engaged in preparing for a third expedition to find 

 time to prepare the narrative of that which he had just accomplished. 

 I have, however, his own testimony to the fact that all his previous 

 opinions are fully confirmed. His own appearance is abundant proof 

 that more than ten years mainly spent in the high Arctic regions, is not 

 necessarily more exhaustive of life, than the same space of time passed 

 among us. In the few weeks which will elapse between the writing of 

 this preface and the opening of northern navigation, Hall will have set 

 out on his third expedition, sent out under the auspices of our Govern- 

 ment, and supplied with every requisite for thorough exploration. We 

 may confidently expect that he will be able to solve the still vexed ques- 

 tions as to the nature of the region which encircles the northern pole. 



