AVERTED INTEREST 
33i 
ness of the controversies they initiated, to promise a 
succession of South Polar expeditions, one stimulated by 
the other and not likely to cease until the map of the 
Antarctic area was at least as clearly outlined as that of 
the Arctic. 
The heart of the American people, however, was never 
greatly in their Exploring Expedition, and the internal 
friction within the expedition itself was perhaps sufficient 
to deter the naval authorities from repeating the experi- 
ment, whilst the scientific element naturally preferred to 
pursue researches in which they met with encouragement 
and even reward. Thus there was little reason to feel 
surprised if America had let the thread drop even had the 
violent cleavage of the nation by the Civil War not oc- 
curred. But the British people were at this period pro- 
foundly stirred with the spirit of polar discovery. Ross 
had brought home his crews in a higher state of health 
and contentment than any captain had perhaps ever done 
before from a voyage of great duration and difficulty. 
A new expedition after a few years was the natural, 
almost the inevitable result, yet for a generation the in- 
terest of the country and of the world was averted from 
the southern ice. The reason of this remarkable cir- 
cumstance was not the Russian War nor the Indian 
Mutiny, for the British Navy has not been wont to let 
war interfere with discovery when the right man has 
been found to open up a worthy field. One cannot for- 
get that Cook sailed on his last voyage of exploration 
nearly a year after the American War of Independence 
had broken out. The real reason was the action of the 
man who of all men would have most indignantly de- 
nied the possibility of his proving a barrier to polar ex- 
ploration — Sir John Franklin. 
