"DONE UP"

Among the many books about the Polar regionsthere is none quite like this, dealing with thegradual progress of exploration towards the northalong the different areas of advance within the ArcticCircle.

The subject is always interesting, for few regionshave been the scene of more persistent effort andexciting adventure and unexpected gains from theunknown, particularly in the earlier days when theendeavour to find the northern passages to the east andwest led to the beginning of our foreign trade.

It is often asked, "What is the use of further Arcticdiscovery?" No one knows. Nor did any one knowthe use of most discoveries before they were made.

When Eric landed in Greenland he was not insearch of cryolite for aluminium. When Cabral sailedto Porto Seguro he knew nothing of the incandescentgas-mantle. When Oersted looped the live wire roundthe magnetic needle he was not bent on foundingelectrical engineering. And when Linnæus noticedthe sleep of plants he had no intention of providinga substitute for a clock in high latitudes where, thoughvithe sunshine is continuous during the summer, theplants within the Circle sleep as in the night time,their sleeping leaves telling the traveller that midnightis at hand.

Men have made up their minds to reach the Pole,and thither they will go. What they will find whenthey get there may not promise to be much, but whatthey have found round about it has been enough toinfluence considerably the history of the world.