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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 »■

ARCTIC TEMPERATURES AND EXPLORxlTION. 655

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

■

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

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.

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.

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