The Romance of Polar Exploration. G. Firth Scott
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G. Firth Scott
The Romance of Polar Exploration
Interesting Descriptions of Arctic and Antarctic Adventure from the Earliest Time to the Voyage of the "Discovery"
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4064066158781
Table of Contents
CHAPTER III THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN
CHAPTER IV THE VOYAGE OF THE POLARIS
CHAPTER V THE ALERT AND DISCOVERY
CHAPTER VI THE GREELY EXPEDITION
CHAPTER VII PEARY IN GREENLAND
CHAPTER VIII NANSEN AND THE FRAM
CHAPTER IX FRANZ JOSEF LAND AND SPITZBERGEN
CHAPTER X THE POLAR METEORITES
CHAPTER XI THE SECOND VOYAGE OF THE FRAM
CHAPTER XII ITALY CLAIMS THE RECORD
CHAPTER XIII THE ANTARCTIC REGION
CHAPTER XIV VOYAGES OF THE EREBUS AND TERROR
CHAPTER XV THE SOUTHERN CROSS EXPEDITION
CHAPTER XVI THE REVIVAL OF ANTARCTIC INTEREST
CHAPTER XVII THE SWEDISH EXPEDITION
CHAPTER XVIII BRITAIN HOLDS HER OWN
Preface
While stories of the Polar explorers and their efforts to reach the Poles have been told again and again, the constant renewal of expeditions adds, every year, fresh incidents to the record, until it may almost be said that the fascination of the frozen regions is as inexhaustible as the list of Polar heroes is illimitable. Nor is the interest confined solely to the achievement of modern explorers. However great the results of their exertions may be, the fact that, in spite of all the advantages conferred by recent scientific discovery and modern appliances, the explorers of to-day have failed to penetrate the uttermost secrets of the worlds of ice, renders more impressively heroic the struggles of the earlier travellers, whose equipment, viewed in comparison with that of modern man, was apparently so inadequate and often inappropriate.
No series of Polar adventure stories would be complete without a prominent place being given to the earlier explorers, and especially to that British hero, Franklin, whose name is so inseparably associated with the history of Arctic exploration. The account of his daring voyages and of his tragic end, at the moment of victory, has already been given in many a form; but the tale is one which will stand re-telling for generations yet to come. In the present instance it has been of necessity briefly written, but in such a manner as will, it is hoped, without loss of interest, render clear a comparison of the conditions under which he and his brave companions worked and fought to their death, with those that existed for later expeditions and especially the expeditions of Nansen, Peary, and Abruzzi.
The Antarctic, equally with the Arctic, now commands the attention of man. In the South, as in the North, the British race has again produced explorers who have fought their way into the icy fastnesses. From the time that Captain Cook sailed round the unknown southern ocean, more than a century ago, the British flag has waved in the forefront of the advance. The work which Sir James Ross began, over half a century since, has now been carried farther than ever it was anticipated it could be. By the voyage of the Discovery, the Antarctic continent has been revealed to within five hundred miles of the Pole, and in the gallant exploits of the commander, Captain Robert Scott, there are many who see a repetition of all that made the name of Franklin so immortal.
The source of the information on which these stories are based (as is frequently mentioned in the text) is the personal narrative of the explorer concerned, where available; and if the interest aroused in any of them requires more to satisfy it than the exigencies of space renders possible in this volume, the attention which will thereby be drawn to the more comprehensive records will stand as a slight acknowledgment of the indebtedness of the writer of these re-told stories to the authors of the original narratives.
G. FIRTH SCOTT.
London, 1906.
Publishers' Note
Our thanks are due to Lieut. Shackleton, R.N.R., of the Discovery, for the use of the original drawing facing page 344, and also for permission to use the Illustrations facing pages 310, 340, 348. To Messrs. Alston Rivers, Limited, for permission to use the Illustration facing page 320 from Dr. H. R. Mill's "Siege of the South Pole." To Messrs. Hutchinson and Co., for the use of Illustrations facing pages 28 and 272, and Frontispiece, from "The Voyage of the Polar Star," by the Duke of the Abruzzi. To Messrs. Geo. Newnes, Limited, for the Illustration facing page 305 from "First on the Antarctic Continent," by C. E. Borchgrevinck. To Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., for permission to reproduce the Illustration facing page 256 from "New Land," by Otto Sverdrup.
CHAPTER I THE ARCTIC REGION
The Mystery of the North Pole—The First Explorer—"The Great Dark Wall at the End of the World"—"Frost-Smoke"—The Lights and Sounds of the North—The Aurora Borealis—Mock Moons—The Early Adventurers: Willoughby, Frobisher, Davis, Hudson, Baffin, Ross,