In April 1826, Captain William Edward Parry proposed to Viscount Melville, First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, “to attempt to reach the North Pole, by means of travelling with sledge-boats over the ice, or through any spaces of open water that might occur.” The proposal was referred to the Royal Society, who strongly recommended its adoption; and an expedition having been equipped, Parry was appointed to the command of it. Before making the proposal, Parry had given the subject careful con

In December 1852, Dr. Kane received orders from the Secretary of the U.S. Navy to conduct an expedition to the Arctic seas in search of Sir John Franklin. Dr. Kane’s plan of search was based upon the probable extension of the land-masses of Greenland to the Far North—a fact at that time not verified by travel, but sustained by the analogies of physical geography. As inducements in favour of his scheme, he mentioned— “(1) Terra firma as the basis of our operations, obviating the capricious charac

The object of Dr. Hayes’ expedition may be given in his own words:— “The plan of the enterprise first suggested itself to me while acting as surgeon of the expedition commanded by the late Dr. E. K. Kane, of the United States Navy. Although its execution did not appear feasible at the period of my return from that voyage in October 1855, yet I did not at any time abandon the design. It comprehended an extensive scheme of discovery. The proposed route was that by Smith Sound. My object was to com

The German Expedition left Bremerhaven on 15th June 1869. There were two boats—the Germania and the Hansa . The expedition was to make the east coast of Greenland and then penetrate to the north as far as possible. The ice was reached on 15th July. On the 20th of July the two ships were separated through a misunderstanding, and they never met again. From the 20th of July till the end of August the Hansa struggled through the pack-ice which drifts along the coast of Greenland. According to instru

Captain Charles Francis Hall, after having dwelt with the Esquimaux about eight years, during which he lived like one of them and acquired their language, returned to America in 1869. He had a great ambition to reach the spot “where there is no North, no East, no West.” Early in 1870 he began his agitation for an expedition to the North Pole. He lectured in various parts of the United States, and received encouragement from the Hon. George M. Robeson, Secretary of the United States Navy. Ultimat

The failure of the second German Arctic Expedition to reach a high latitude on the east coast of Greenland directed attention to the seas of Novaya Zemlya. In order, however, that large sums of money might not be spent on a plan which might be unfeasible, it was decided to dispatch a pioneer expedition under the joint command of Lieutenant Weyprecht and Julius Payer. The latter had greatly distinguished himself in the German Expedition. In order to diminish expenses, a small sailing ship, the Is

The Government of Queen Victoria having determined that an expedition of Arctic exploration should be undertaken, the ships Alert and Discovery were specially fitted out for this service, and the command given to Captain George S. Nares. The ship Valorous was also to accompany the expedition to Disco with stores and then return. The primary object was to attain the highest northern latitude, and, if possible, to reach the North Pole. The expedition was fitted out regardless of expense. According

The Jeannette was the new name given to Sir Allen Young’s Pandora after it was purchased by James Gordon Bennett, who had decided to equip a North Polar expedition. The commander of the expedition, Lieutenant George W. De Long, had taken an active and distinguished part in the search for the Polaris . In making an attempt to reach the Pole, he favoured the route by Behring Strait, and he was supported by Bennett himself, who had been influenced by the views of Dr. Petermann, the German geographe

Lieutenant Weyprecht, of the Austro-Hungarian Expedition, at the meeting of the German Scientific and Medical Association, at Gratz, in September 1875, presented a plea for systematic Polar exploration and research. A Commission, appointed by Prince Bismarck to consider the question, strongly commended the plan to the Bundesrath and to all interested nations. The Turko-Russian War delayed the question until 1879, when an International Polar Conference met at Hamburg in October. At this Conferenc

In many respects this expedition is unique. It was planned by Dr. Nansen after careful consideration of many scientific facts connected with the Polar Sea, and although his theories and conclusions were opposed by many of the leading authorities of the day, the expedition was carried out almost to the letter. The Jeannette expedition had a very important bearing on that of Dr. Nansen. In 1884, Professor Mohn published a paper in which it was stated that various articles which must have come from

A few days after the return of the Fram , Sverdrup was asked by Nansen whether he wished to go on another expedition to the north. He then explained that Consul Axel Heiberg and the firm of brewers, Messrs. Ringnes Brothers, were willing to equip a new Polar expedition with Sverdrup as the leader. The offer was quickly accepted. The route agreed upon was up Smith Sound and through Robeson Channel, and as far along the north coast of Greenland as possible before wintering. Sledge-journeys were th

Between the discovery of Franz-Josef Land by the Austro-Hungarian Expedition and the expedition of the Duke of the Abruzzi a good deal of exploration had taken place. In 1880 and 1881, Leigh Smith in his yacht Eira reached Franz-Josef Land without much difficulty, and surveyed the coast up to Cape Lofley. The Eira , when leaving for the second time, was crushed by the ice near Cape Flora, and sank. The crew built a wretched hovel in which they passed the winter. In the following summer they sail

Commander R. E. Peary is the most persevering and the most daring of all Arctic explorers. He tells how he was induced to take an active interest in Arctic exploration. An old book-store in Washington was a favourite haunt of his, and one evening he there came across a paper on the Inland Ice of Greenland, and found the subject so interesting that he followed it up. He consulted various authorities, but found very conflicting statements. He therefore determined to visit Greenland and investigate

Misspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where multiple spellings occur, majority use has been employed. Punctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer errors occur. Some illustrations were moved to facilitate page layout. A cover was created for this eBook.   [The end of The Siege and Conquest of the North Pole , by George Bryce.]...