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 TfC TJ'LMPERArURES AND KXPLOIIATIOX. 653 
 
 AUCTIC TKMl'KliA'ITIRES A\l) EXPLORATION. 
 
 Bv STUART JENKINS. 
 
 AT tlio rocont ainnial mootiiif^ of tlio Associ.-itinii of Ontario 
 Land Surveyors, held in tlic city of Toroaio, tlu! statement 
 KiM iiia(l(Mliat, if ilic (^anadi.'in OovoniirHMit dolcnnincd to run 
 % meridian to the iiortli ]»()1e, Canadian snrveyoi's would cany 
 tlio -work tlirou^li. As a jtroof of the faith tliat is in tlieni, they 
 have appointed a comniittee to consi(Kjr and report upoji tlio 
 liialter. 
 
 Tlio assertion is not as wild as it may soom, and I think it will 
 prove interesting to the public to show what Canadian surveyors 
 liavo already done, and compare their methods and experience 
 with those of airtic^ explorers. 
 
 I The extrenio ccdd of the arctic regions is f^enoraily lo(d<ed 
 iil)on as the ])rincipal hjir to exploration in that dire(!tioi!, iiot- 
 withstandiiifj; the fact that men have endured its rigors for years 
 without injury. I'ake some of tluM-ases on record. In Kl^Sfour 
 seamen went ashore on the island of Spitzhei'gen from a Kussian 
 ; vessel. A heavy storm drove tho ship away before thoy could 
 ; rejoin her, and thoy wore left with nothing but a gun and enough 
 ammunition to kill twelve deer. That was tluTir entire outfit, yet 
 they managed to live and keep their health for six years, when 
 three of them were rescued, the fourth having died. No ])i'o[)erly 
 organized polar exj)ed'tion would have to submit to the hard- 
 ships which they must have endured. 
 
 In lSl!)-\n) Parry wintered on Melville Island in latitude 74° 
 W, The greatest cold was experienced in February, when tho 
 tlu'rmometer fell to —5')° P., and for fifteen hours was not above 
 —54° F. The expediticm was absent eighteen months, and out of 
 two ships' crews only one man died — of a disease* in no way refer- 
 able to the hardships of tho voyage. 
 
 Between JSo.'J and ISor) Dr. Kane passed two wintoi-s in Smith's 
 Sound in latitude 7H?,°, .and ho records the mean temperature of 
 the three summer months as + XV F., and of the 7iine winter 
 months as — 10'8' F. As to the possibility of traviding under 
 tho conditions existing in these high latitudes, it may be consid- 
 ered as established by the experience of McClintock, who in ISol 
 reached one of the western points of Melville Island, distant from 
 his winter quarters three hundred and sixty miles in a direct line, 
 a journey which required eighty days going and returning for 
 its accomplishment. Among the things said to have been expe- 
 rienced by arctic explorers three may be mentioned : L That 
 men issuing suddenly from their shelter into a temperature of 
 —00° F. fell senseless. 3. That a man rushing out bare-handed 
 
654 
 
 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 
 
 to extinguish a firo, when the thermometer stood a little below 
 —50° F., hud his fingers immediately frozen, and us it was found 
 impossible to restore the circulation they were amputated. .'}. 
 That when it was extremely cold it was almost impossible to 
 make the wood burn. I will come to these later. 
 
 Now for the experience of a Canadian surveyor. It was ray 
 privilege to be connected as instrument-man with a survey party 
 which went out to the Canadian Northwest under the command 
 of Mr. G. B. Abrey, D. L. S. (now engineer of Toronto Junction). 
 The party consisted of fourteen men all told, and was out under 
 canvas for twelve months, from June, 1883, to June, 1883. We 
 were running standard parallels, and moved camp every day. 
 This necessitatetl the employment of fourteen horses, two buck- 
 boards, and twelve carts, the wheeled vehicles being replaced in 
 winter by the same number of toboggans. Winter commenced on 
 the 1st of November, when snow fell to the depth of two feet and 
 remained. We then left the plains south of Battleford and made 
 our way to Fort Pitt, near which our winter work started. Our 
 outfit consisted of four ten-ounce duck tents, in three of which 
 were small sheet-iron box stoves, and in the fourth, the cook's 
 tent, a sheet-iron cook stove. Our winter food was composed of 
 pork, beans, dried apples, and bread, with tea and sugar ; to which 
 may be added eight hundred pounds of fiesh beef, and the flesh 
 of one elk or wai)iti and one jumping deer. When we could we 
 shot prairie chickens, but this was not very often. 
 
 For clothing I wore woolen underclothing, such as I now wear 
 in the city of Toronto, a flannel shirt, and over these caribou 
 breeches with long woolen stockings drawn over them, a cham- 
 ois-leather vest, and a small single-breasted tweed coat such as 
 is worn in the city before overcoats become necessary in the fall. 
 My feet were clothed with duffle and moccasins, and my head 
 with a double, knitted, Hudson Bay tuque, which can be ])ulled 
 right down over the ears. A pair of common woolen mits C(jm- 
 pleted my outfit. At no time during the winter did I wear either 
 overcoat or muffler. Indeed, neither the one nor the other was to 
 be found in the camp. Mr. Abrey 's dress was nearly the counter- 
 part of mine, and the men wore woolen clothing altogether. 
 
 At night Mr. Abrey and I used two pairs of Hudson Bay 
 blankets and two buffalo slcins each. The blankets we sewed up 
 into bags, and put one buffalo skin beneath and one over us. We 
 slept on folding stretchers, which was, of course, not as warm as 
 sleeping on the ground. Mr. Abrey, being slightly bald, wore a 
 woolen nightcap, but I never covered my head the winter through. 
 The men's sleeping outfits consisted of blankets only. 
 
 Our firewood was dry poplar sticks from one to two inches 
 through. This makes a good hot fire, and the colder the day the 
 
 ■ t »■ 
 
 I 
 
ARCTIC TEMPERATURES AND EXPLORxlTION. 655 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 li 
 
 1] 
 
 hetier it hums — that is our experience. But by no metms can you 
 make a fire of it burn more than half an liour without replenish- 
 ing. In con.se([uence of this, no attempt was made to keep fires 
 burning at niglit. An hour after we were iu bed the temperature 
 inside the tent was the same as that outside. At no time was the 
 temperature inside the tent raised high enoiigh to thaw out the 
 ground, which would only have given rise to wet feet without 
 adding to our comfort. 
 
 A regular record of temperature was kept during the winter. 
 Our thermometer was a standard spirit one graduated to —iVi° ¥., 
 and had been tested at the Toronto Observatory. The record is 
 on file in the Dominion Crown Lands Ollice. From the 1st of 
 November the temperature fell in a series of renuirkably regular 
 jumps — that is, there would be three days of cold, then a few 
 days of slightly higher temperature, then another three days of 
 cold, and so on, each drop being colder than the last. This went on 
 with unbroken regularity until the third week in January, when 
 it began to rise again in the same way and with equal steadiness. 
 
 ( )n Christmas day the weather was beautiful, still and cloud- 
 less, and the thermometer stood just at zero. I spent the day in 
 making a pair of snowshoe frames, out of white birch, which 
 was plentiful round the camp, my tools being an axe and an 
 Indian crooked knife, which is nothing but a one-handed draw 
 knife, shaped much like a farrier's knife. I worked all day with 
 the door of the tent wide open, in my shirt sleeves, and bare- 
 handed ; and from a. m. to 3 P. M. there was no fire in the stove. 
 I slipped on my coat at noon when I was eating my dinner, but 
 took it off again immediately after. The men spent most of the 
 day lounging about the camp in their shirt sleeves, smoking and 
 skylarking. 
 
 The second week in January we received word that Mrs. 
 Abrey was in Battleford waiting to join us in camp. She had 
 come from Toronto and had traveled across the open country in 
 the mail sleigh from Qu'appelle to Battleford via Duck Lake and 
 Carleton. Mr. Abrey immediately left with two horses and cari- 
 oles (i. e., toboggans with raised sides of rawhide), and one half- 
 breed. He carried no tent. The distance to Battleford from our 
 camp was over a hundred miles, through an open country, with 
 here and there clumps of small poplar and birch. 
 
 I went on with the line, and the third day after Mr. Abrey left 
 us reached the shore of Frog Lake, a few years later the scene of 
 a horrible massacre. The next morning the cook came bustling 
 in with the breakfast, his shirt sleeves as usual rolled up above 
 his elbows. 
 
 " The bottom's dropped out of the thermometer/' he said with 
 a laugh. 
 
 ir)a.^iH6 
 
656 
 
 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 
 
 I Inirriod outside, and, sure enough, the si)irit had deserted the 
 tube, r.nd lay inclosed in the bulb — that is, it was lower than — <iU° 
 F. It wns startling, but there was no getting round the fact. 
 The news spread through the camp, and the men came crowding 
 round to see the unusual phenomenon. One num ventured the 
 opinion that we had got to the north pole by mistake, but they 
 looked upon it more as a joke than anything else, and werc! per- 
 fectly satisfied, because it meant a holichiy. Mr. Abrey had made 
 the rule that when the thermometer went below — ;10° P\, we would 
 not go on the line. We afterward came to the conclusion that 
 there was nothing to prevent our working at much lower tem- 
 peratuies, but the rule once established it was impossible to alter 
 it without creating discontent among the men. I went out that 
 day two miles from camp on snowshoes, just to see how it would 
 go, and, although it was cold at starting, I was warm enough be- 
 fore I got back. 
 
 The next night the thermometer went down to — r)8° F.,and the 
 third night to — (il° F. Now, according to all precedent, we should 
 have spent those three nights cowering with quaking hearts over 
 the stoves, and using up the cook's fat to make the fires burn. 
 As a matter of fact we went to bed as usual and slept without 
 any fires at all. Not only that, but we suffered no discomfort. 
 The only unpleasant thing about it was turning out of one's 
 blankets in the morning to light the fire, and that I admit nuts 
 cold, but still nothing that a strong man could not stand with 
 equanimity. 
 
 But what will be thought when I state that during those three 
 days of extreme cold Mr. and Mrs. Abrey were on their way from 
 Battleford to Fort Pitt, and slept out irUhout any fnif, and u-iih- 
 o\it keeping np afire fhrongh the night ? If a Canadian surveyor's 
 wife could do this, a Canadian surveyor can get to the north pole. 
 
 The next cold snap after this the thermometer reacherl — 5S° F., 
 but it did not touch —00° again that winter. Not once during the 
 winter did any of the party suffer from frostbite. I have re- 
 peatedly seen the men chopping bare-handed with the thermome- 
 ter at —25° F. ; and have myself taken observations of the North 
 Star when it was —35° F. It was cold undoubtedly, but it was 
 not as bad as taking the same observation in the mosquito season. 
 
 During the whole twelve months we were out we had not a 
 day's sickness among us, but everybody was decidedly fattest 
 and heartiest during the coldest weather. One fallacy we com- 
 pletely exploded — i. e., that extreme cold produces drowsiness. 
 We never saw any indication of it, and since then I have traveled 
 some thousands of miles across the ice of the Georgian Bay in 
 temperatures varying from +32° to —30° F., and never experienced 
 the slightest inclination to drowsiness. Only once in my life 
 
 ■ 
 
I 
 
 ertcd tlie 
 liau —r,'i° 
 tho Uict. 
 iTowdiiig 
 ured tho 
 but tlioy 
 vew per- 
 ad nifido 
 ve would 
 sion that 
 ver tem- 
 3 to alter 
 out that 
 it wotdd 
 ouj^h bo- 
 
 ,and the 
 e frhould 
 irts over 
 es burn, 
 without 
 comfort. 
 of one's 
 rnit u-ds 
 nd with 
 
 »so three 
 ay from 
 >i(l trifh- 
 rveyor's 
 [■th pole. 
 -58° J^, 
 ring the 
 lave re- 
 rmorae- 
 e North 
 k it was 
 
 season. 
 I not a 
 
 fattest 
 m com- 
 vsiness. 
 raveled 
 Bay in 
 rienced 
 ny life 
 
 : 
 
 ARCTIC TEMPERATURES AND EXP LOU ATI ON. 657 
 
 liave I felt it, and that was in the middle of aummor, when as a 
 very young man I was fool enough to try and walk fifty miles in 
 a day witliout any prexious training. During tho last mile or 
 two my companions had hard work to keep me on my feet, and at 
 the end of the journey I subsided into a chair and went fast 
 asleep, and in that condition was carried to bed, where I slept for 
 twenty-four hours. I was simply " played out," and it is fhnl — not 
 cold — which produces tho drowsiness so often referred to. M<jro 
 than once since then I have walked lifty mile: on snowshoes and 
 never felt anything of tho kind, but I inaue it a rule to stop 
 every four hours and brew some tea and eat a good S(puire meal. 
 When this practice is followed, it is astonishing how far a man 
 can go without excessive fatigue. The " fatal drowsiness," as it 
 is so often called (which is surely a near relation of " that tired 
 feeling"), is nothing but Nature's final rebellion against a reck- 
 less overtaxing of the nuiscular power without renewing the 
 waste, which of course goes on most quickly in cold weather. 
 
 A nu)re recent exami)le of tho staying powers of Canadian sur- 
 veyors is furnished by the exploration of the "Barron Lands" 
 and Chesterl eld Inlet just brought to a sxiccessful completion by 
 tho Tyrrell orothei's for the Dominion G<'ological Survey. Tho 
 party consisted of the two Tyrrells and six Indian canoemen, a 
 model party iov exploring purposes. The total distance covered 
 by them in canoes from Athabasca Landing to Fort Churchill on 
 Hudson Bay was two thousand two hundred miles, and thence 
 to Winnipeg on foot or by dog train one thousand miles. Of tlie 
 two thousand two hundred miles, eight hundred and fifty was 
 through an entirely new country never before traveled by white 
 men, and five hundred miles was over the open sea of Hudson 
 Bay at the very worst season of the year, between the middle of 
 September and tho middle of OctoVier. It was during this trip 
 down Hiidson Bay that they en''i:red the greatest hardshii)S. 
 They ran out of provisions, there wis no wood along the coast, 
 and on one occasion they were unable to land for forty-eight hours 
 on account of the heavy sea. None but Canadians would ever 
 have ventured on such a trip in canoes ; none but Indians could 
 have carried it through successfully. All the stirring incidents 
 of this daring journey have boon fully published by the x>ress 
 throughout the continent, and need not be recapitulated here. 
 They prove conclusively that the boast of the Ontario Land Sur- 
 veyors is based on recorded facts, of which any nation might be 
 proud. 
 
 In considering the record of past failures in the arctic regions 
 — for, in spite of the magnificent heroism displayed, they were 
 nothing but failures — two points stand out clear and distinct, 
 viz., that the pole will never be reached in ships, and that it can 
 
 VOL. XLV. — 49 
 
658 
 
 THK POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 
 
 never Im) roachod hy any such parties as have hitherto been sent 
 out. Tlio men wlio so freely risked tlieir lives were not t<j tlio 
 manner born, and wiiat they were called upon to endure was so 
 violently opjjosed to all their ordinary experience that they wore 
 heavily handicai)j)ed at the very start. With the uneducated sea- 
 men the resulting mental depression must have bec'u a most dilli- 
 cult thing to combat, thus creating a double tax on the already 
 strained nervous courage of their more highly educated leaders. 
 British seamen are fine fellows and i)osses8 in a high degree the 
 courage of their race, but nothing would induce a Canadian sur- 
 veyor to lead a gang of them into the arctic regions, or oven take 
 them out on an ordinary bush survey. They would simjjly be use- 
 less. What are wanted are trained voijaijcurs who are Cipuilly at 
 home in canoes or on snowshoes ; and not too nuiny of them. With 
 the exception of Dr. Kane's (by far the most 8U(!cessfnl), arctic 
 exploring parties have been too unwieldy. The one hundred and 
 five ill-fated souls who abandoned the Erebus and Tei-ror starved 
 to death where a party like the Tyrrells' would j)robably have 
 won their way back to civilization. Had Kane been backed up 
 as he should have been, he would most likely have reached the 
 pole, and when that point is attained, as it certainly will be, it 
 will be over the course followed by him, and by means of dog 
 trains and canoes or boats. 
 
 In spite of probable ci-iticism, I am going to sketch a plan for 
 reaching the north pole, drawing on my own experience and that 
 of Canadian surveyors and explorers. I assume at starting that 
 expense is simply no consideration whatever. If a feasible scheme 
 is put forward, I believe that there is enough enterprise, private 
 and governmental, among Anglo-Saxons to carry it through, even 
 if it cost a million. 
 
 The exploring party would be carried by steamer to the head 
 of summer navigation on Baffin Bay, where a depot would be 
 established as a base of operations. Here provisions, houses, 
 steam launches, sailboats, canoes, dogs and sleigh 3, fuel, and all 
 the other accessories, with the exploring party, would be landed, 
 and the steamer could return to winter at Upernavik or Disco. 
 The former place is only one thousand miles from the polo, the 
 distance covered on foot by the Tyrrells, in the middle of winter, 
 with the thermometer often at —40" F., and without tents. A point 
 to be considered is, whether it would not be well to have a second 
 steamer built on the principle of the St. Ignace, the steam ferry 
 at the strait of Mackinac. This boat made an extraordinary 
 record on her trial trip, shearing through ice three feet thick 
 with the greatest ease. With such a vessel, it might be possible 
 to push a long way up Smith's Sound. That point could be 
 determined by a preliminary survey of the head of Baffin Bay. 
 
ARCTIC TEMPERATURES AND KXPLORATIOX. 6,-9 
 
 been sent 
 not to th«^ 
 lire was s(j 
 
 tliey were 
 
 Liciited Hcii- 
 
 niost (lilli- 
 
 lie already 
 
 ;ed leadjir.s. 
 
 legreo the 
 
 udian sur- 
 
 r even take 
 
 ply be 11 se- 
 
 e(iually at 
 
 em. With 
 
 ful), arctic 
 
 indred and 
 
 ror starved 
 
 bably have 
 
 backed np 
 
 eached the 
 
 '■ will bo, it 
 
 sans of dog 
 
 li a jdan for 
 ice and that 
 ;arting that 
 iible S(.'heine 
 rise, private 
 rough, even 
 
 to the head 
 )t would be 
 )us, houses, 
 uel, and all 
 1 be landed, 
 ik or Disco. 
 ;he pole, the 
 e of winter, 
 its. A point 
 i,ve a second 
 steam ferry 
 traordinary 
 ) feet thick 
 be possible 
 it could be 
 ffin Bay. 
 
 The main exploring party should be composed of fifteen men — 
 five white men and ten Indians. The white men would be made 
 up of three Canadian surveyors, for the scientific purposes of the 
 expedition ; one doctor, as a concession to popular prejudice; and 
 one journalist or reporter to work with pencil and camera. As 
 a journalist myself, I claim the right of the fourth estate to bo 
 represented. The Indians should be picked nnjaf/cnrs from the 
 Georgian Hay. Thes(* men are good canoemen, first-class sailors, 
 are used to ice traveling, and have walked on snowshoes since 
 they could walk at all. Above all, they are faithful workers and 
 reliable men. 
 
 The main depot or base would probably be situated at the 
 mouth of Smith's Sound, iti latitude 78°. That point has been 
 reached more than once, and can be again. But it is not neces- 
 sary or expedient to push it farther than the ordinary head of 
 summer navigation, because it would become a permanent mete- 
 orological station, and would ultimately be connected with Xew- 
 foundland by cable, a distance of sixteen hundred and eighty 
 geograjdiical miles. The buildings would be ordinary American 
 fi'anie buildings, framed on two-by-six scantling, an<l sheeted 
 with four layers of matched boards, two outside and two in, with 
 heavy felt paper between the sheeting. With doulde windows 
 ami double dot)rs, such a building properly heated will defy the 
 cold of space. The heating would be accomplished with hard 
 coal and base-burners. The buildings of course would be taken 
 up all ready to put together, and, with the labor available froni 
 the ship, ought to be ready for occuj)ation in a fortnight. This 
 base would have a resident staff of oflicials, mechanics, and voij- 
 agciirs, whose duty it would be to take care of the supplies, 
 and back up the main exi)loring i)arty by pushing forward pro- 
 visions and other necessaries as they advanced farther north. 
 Subsidiary depots should be established every hundred miles 
 until the pole or an open polar sea is reached. These minor 
 depots would be nothing but tents of stout duck, of the Northwest 
 tepee pattern, raised on light but strong poles of cedar, and 
 spiked to the ice with iron or copper spikes. They would contain 
 provisions, blankets, stoves, and fuel, and, as long as the main 
 party was out, would be connected with the head depot by regu- 
 lar dog service. Three or even four of these would probably be 
 located the first fall. 
 
 About the middle of the following April (Kane abandoned his 
 ship on the 20th of May) the real work of the expedition would 
 commence. The problem presented to the surveyors would be to 
 overcome the seven hundred and twenty miles separating the 
 main depot from the pole. At the lowest estimate there would 
 be five months in which to do this, necessitating an average daily 
 
66e 
 
 THE POPl'LAli SCIKXCK MONTHLV, 
 
 advAiu'o of iiiii(3 miles on tlm struiKlit line, to tuko tlu-m tlioro hikI 
 buck. As uu uctutil fact they could tnivul for six or sovcn moiitlis 
 if necessary, iiiid the K'*">K would probably be better in winti'r 
 than in sunuuei*, for snow is tlio traveler's friend in high lati- 
 tudes. 
 
 The main j)arly, with an interpreter for communicating with 
 the Eskini<»s, would stai't out with sixteen dog teams carrying 
 tents, stoves, fuel, blanki'ts, etc., and two big Peterboro canoos. 
 Th(! fuel would have to be specially constructed. Coal is unsuit- 
 al»le and wood is too bulky. I know from ])ersonal oxi)erienco 
 that an ordinary porous brick soaked in coal oil for twonty-ft^ur 
 hours will burn for over two hours, and makes a lirst-(dass torch 
 for spearing lish by; and I do not see Avhy compressed bricks 
 made of sawdust soaked in coal oil would not make a capital fuel. 
 In a ])roperly constructed sheet-iron stove it would throw an in- 
 tense heat and couhl be lighted in an instant. In summer time, 
 of course, very little fire would be needed except for cooking, but 
 after the thermometer got below zero fires would be necessary 
 night and morning. The best fuel for the purpose could easily 
 be determined by experiment, but whatever its cliaracter it must 
 be compact in form and must yield the greatest pf)ssible combus- 
 tion for its bulk. All provisions shoiild bo ])acked in sealed tin 
 cases of a convenient size and weight for handling. They Avould 
 then sulVer no injury from rain. The tents should be conical in 
 shape, eleven fi'et in diameti-r at the bottom, and stretched on ten 
 light cedar poles hinged to a ring at the top, aiul shod with iron 
 at the bottom. This is the most convenient tent made. It can be 
 set or struck in less than a minute, because it opens and shuts like 
 an umbrella. It gives the greatest iloor I'oom for the amount of 
 canvas. There is no large space overhead to absorb the heat. 
 And it offers the least resistance to the wind, and if properly 
 spiked can not blow down — a valuable property when the ther- 
 mometer is away below zero. Four such tents would accommo- 
 date the exploring party. The character and qiiantity of food 
 would be easily determined by the surveyors, l)ut one article 
 would have to be sternly eliminated, and that is alcohol. My 
 allowance for sixteen men for five months would bo two bottles 
 of brandy, and I think they would come back unopened. The 
 traveler's standby in cold weather is tea, and men will do more 
 hard work on it than they ever could accomplish on any form of 
 spirit. Of course, there are many minor details which need not 
 be enumerated here. 
 
 What dilHculties the party would have to contend with above 
 the eighty-second parallel, of course, can not bo known. Their 
 motto at starting would be, " Get there somehow," and there is no 
 doubt they would live up to it. If the theory of a Polynia or 
 
 t 
 
 f 
 
AnVTIC TKMPKRATUnKS AND KXI'LOltATIOX. UG\ 
 
 above 
 Their 
 
 • )|)«Mi polar M«>H is correct, they would tako to tlio canoos ami fol- 
 low aloii^ the west coast of Grccnlaiid as far as it may project 
 northward. The Tyrrells niado fiv(^ hundred miles over tho wa- 
 ters of KutlsoM Hay in this way, and oth»>rs can do the same. 
 Tn all they did, howover, th(< surv 'yors would he guided hy past 
 practical experience. If they had their choice they would proha- 
 hly prefer ice to water, hut whatever came they would meet it 
 with th(< (Miuanindty of Itrave and resourcefid men. Above all 
 others, their training in the Held has (lualified them to cope with 
 the dilliculties they are likely to eiu'ounter. 
 
 It is ([uite probable that the ])ole would not be reached the 
 (irst summer. From Mount Parry to the pole is tivo hundred and 
 fifty miles. If the most northerly j)oint of (Ireeidand does not 
 reatdi within a hundreil ndles of the ])ole and there were n(» 
 islands visible beyond, they would scarcely trust tlu'mselv<'s on 
 a trackless sea in canoes. They W(nild then have to return and 
 commencei the ai'(luous task of portaging a go(Ml-sized steam 
 launch piecemeal from the head depot to the polar sea. Tho 
 whole freighting force of the expedition would be hi id under con- 
 tribution, and tho work pushed with nnllagging vigor. The boat, 
 of course, would be specially constructed beforehand for tho pur- 
 l)ose, and would go together and bo ready f(jr navigation in a 
 week. Allowing the launch a speed of six miles an hour, the 
 ])ole v.'ould be reached in four days. 
 
 The way to accomplish a task of this kind is to go at it quietly 
 and systematically, and stay right there until it is done. Ship 
 companies hav(» always been confronted with the terrifying pos- 
 sibility of V)eing cut off from /dl human succor. My plan renders 
 such a contingency im])ossiblo. The steamer would visit the 
 main di^pot evei-y summer and then sail foi' Xewfoundlaud, whence 
 news of the expedit ion would be telegraphed • ivor the world. Tho 
 members of the expedition could thus communicate with their 
 friends, and tin* depressing feeling of isolation would be obviated. 
 There would be no danger of running out of sui)plies, and the ex- 
 pedition could go (dieerfully ahead with the assurance that their 
 retreat was provided for. 
 
 There are many reasons why Baffin Bay and Smith's Sound 
 should be chosen as the route to the north pole. To put them 
 shortly: 1. Greenland is the most northerly land known, and 
 probably extends a good deal farther than at jjresent explored. 2. 
 Smith's Sound has been already traversed as fiir as tho open sea. 
 .'{. Uperiuivik is the most northerly permanent abode of civilized 
 man. The moral influence of this on the expedition would be 
 great, because it woiild be but a short distance from the main 
 depot. 4. A whisp of the Gulf Stream runs along the west coast 
 of Greenland as far as the seventy- eighth degree of latitude, rais- 
 
662 
 
 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 
 
 V 
 
 ing the average temperature 0° F. above that of the east coast, 
 and rendering summer navigation certain. 5. According to Rd- 
 ckis, the January isothermal of Frog Lake, where I wintered in 
 1883, twists northward until it runs through upper Greenland, so 
 that, although the winter might be longer, it would not be more 
 rigorous. The same authority concludes, from various ascertained 
 facts, that within the Arctic Circle the summer mean increases as 
 you get nearer the pole, and favors the theory of an open polar 
 sea. It is certain that the pole of greatest cold lies southwest 
 from Greenland among the western islands of the polar archi- 
 pelago. Lastly, Disco possesses coal, the most important item in 
 steam navigation. 
 
 From a consideration of the foregoing points the situation re- 
 solves itself into a simple question of money. If the funds are 
 provided, the men are here who are both willing and qualified to 
 carry the work through, and this article has been written as an 
 appeal to both governments and individuals to come forward and 
 once for all settle the scientific questions involved in the location 
 of the north pole. Canada will bear her share undoubtedly, and, 
 what is more to the purpose, will find the men. One difliculty 
 which will beset the organizers of the expedition will be the 
 necessity of dealing with the hundreds of volunteers who, for 
 sentimental reasons, will move heaven and earth to get them- 
 selves joined to it. Most of these men will possess absolutely no 
 qualification for the work, and would prove nothing but so much 
 useless lumber. They must all be met with the same unbending 
 negation. Finding the north pole will be no summer picnic. 
 The men to accomplish it must be experienced middle-aged men, 
 whose muscles have been indurated and their minds fortified by 
 a constant acquaintance with cold, hardship, and danger, and 
 nowhere except among Canadian surveyors can you find men 
 who combine these qualities with the necessary scientific attain- 
 ments. Science knows no nationality, and in a matter of this 
 kind there should be no international jealousy. Let Anglo- 
 Saxons find the money, and those Anglo-Saxons best fitted for 
 the work will undertake it and carry it through. 
 
 There is but one more point to bo noted. The next five years 
 will be particularly favorable for arctic exploration. We are 
 now approaching a minimum sun-spot period, which experience 
 proves is coincident with a period of mild winters. The last 
 minimum was in 1888, a year of extreme heat and drought fol- 
 lowed by a winter of unusual mildness. Going back eleven years, 
 the winter of ]8T7-'7S was so mild that wild geese remained on 
 the Georgian Bay throughout the winter, and the Collingwood 
 steamers were plying the first week in April — a montli earlier 
 than usual. The winter of 1882-'83, which I spent with Mr. 
 
 3 
 
w« witched thTspofs durini r' ^^^°'''''™*'™<'f *>■» ^"° 
 astonished at their'?': and "umber i'™"™' ™"'""- »'' ''«- 
 
 I should set o, Uwithl I T. °" *•"" ""<"* I '"'™ '«<! ''own 
 what is ofs" I later t'o ' "''"'r "' «"""'« "''"•». »"". 
 getting back again ™P<"-"""=«' '^'"' -^ equal certainty of