English, that led the
van. The sober observations of the old Northmen were forgotten, and
in their stead we meet with repeated instances of the attraction of
mankind towards the most fantastic ideas; a tendency of thought that
found ample scope in the regions of the north. When the cold proved
not to be absolutely deadly, theories flew to the opposite extreme,
and marvellous were the erroneous ideas that sprang up and have
held their own down to the present day. Over and over again it has
been the same--the most natural explanation of phenomena is the very
one that men have most shunned; and, if no middle course was to be
found, they have rushed to the wildest hypothesis. It is only thus
that the belief in an open polar sea could have arisen and held its
ground. Though everywhere ice was met with, people maintained that
this open sea must lie behind the ice. Thus the belief in an ice-free
northeast and northwest passage to the wealth of Cathay or of India,
first propounded towards the close of the 15th century, cropped up
again and again, only to be again and again refuted. Since the ice
barred the southern regions, the way must lie farther north; and
finally a passage over the Pole itself was sought for. Wild as these
theories were, they have worked for the benefit of mankind; for by
their means our knowledge of the earth has been widely extended. Hence
we may see that no work done in the service of investigation is ever
lost, not even when carried out under false assumptions. England has
to thank these chimeras in no small degree for the fact that she has
become the mightiest seafaring nation of the world.

By many paths and by many means mankind has endeavored to penetrate
this kingdom of death. At first the attempt was made exclusively by
sea. Ships were then ill adapted to combat the ice, and people were
loath to make the venture. The clinker-built pine and fir barks of
the old Northmen were no better fitted for the purpose than were
the small clumsy carvels of the first English and Dutch Arctic
explorers. Little by little they learnt to adapt their vessels to
the conditions, and with ever-increasing daring they forced them in
among the dreaded floes.

But the uncivilized polar tribes, both those that inhabit the Siberian
tundras and the Eskimo of North America, had discovered, long before
polar expeditions had begun, another and a safer means of traversing
these regions--to wit, the sledge, usually drawn by dogs