North had been found to be more than offset by the rigor and
perils of an Arctic voyage, even if it could by any possibility be made.

In 1818 Sir John Barrow, who did much for scientific Arctic exploration,
secured the passage of a law in England offering $100,000 to any one who
would find the Northwest Passage, and $25,000 to any one who should
reach the 89th parallel of latitude. This stimulated the search. The
expeditions of Ross, Parry, and Franklin made trips which, although not
successful to the degree of winning the reward, added much to the
knowledge of the Arctic regions.

The Hudson Bay Company, incorporated in 1670, had all this time been
actively at work investigating the new territory in the northern part of
the American continent, and all this district became fairly well mapped
out.

Modern ingenuity has not succeeded in accomplishing very much more than
was done by the ill-equipped mariners of centuries ago. American
expeditions and English expeditions have gone farther into the North,
but they have cost more lives. They have been more venturesome and have
obtained considerable scientific data, but their gain is not in
proportion to the advance in their facilities, and it seems to be
established that the contest against the great icy fields of the Polar
regions is one that will be waged a long time before man is the
conqueror.

The expeditions of our own naval engineer, Peary, are well known to us;
and the trip of Greely was an interesting one. This last was undertaken
by the United States after agreement among the various nations of the
world as to the wisdom of pushing a series of stations in the Arctic
regions for observation. A number of these stations were established,
and Greely had charge of the American one.

Of recent expeditions, that of Nansen has attracted most attention
because he succeeded in reaching farther North than any one before him
had ever been and returned to tell the tale. The case of Andree, who
sailed away last July in his great balloon, expecting to pass over the
North Pole, is interesting for its novelty of plan. He was equipped with
provisions to last him at least two years, and accompanied by only two
comrades on his long voyage.

The question is often raised whether Arctic exploration pays. Probably
by itself, that is, if it would have no bearing upon anything else, it
would not pay for the lives that are lost by it and the money that is
spent upon it. But when we co