THE 
GATE-WAY TO THE POLYNIA: 
BEING 
A VOYAGE TO SPITZBEEGEN. 
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
“ Ponti profundus clausa recessibus. 
Strepens procellis, rupibus obsita, 
Quam grata defesso virentem 
Sinum nebulosa pandis.” 
The British Sailor has taken a leading part in the 
exploration of the North Polar Regions since the Vene¬ 
tian merchant of Bristol, John Cabot, led the way- 
under the patronage of Henry VII., at the close of 
the fifteenth century. The names of Willoughby, 
Frobisher, Davis, Hudson, Baffin, Boss, Parry, Frank¬ 
lin, Scoresby, Beechy, Back, and many others belong¬ 
ing to individuals who are yet alive, recall to our 
minds the deeds of our countrymen—deeds which 
shed a lustre upon the annals of the British Navy. 
At one time the motive for such enterprise was based 
upon commercial considerations, the desire being to 
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