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THE ROMANCE OF POLAR EXPLORATION

INTERESTING DESCRIPTIONS OF ARCTIC AND
ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE FROM THE EARLIEST
TIME TO THE VOYAGE OF THE "DISCOVERY"

BY

G. FIRTH SCOTT
AUTHOR OF "FROM FRANKLIN TO NANSEN," "THE ROMANCE
OF AUSTRALIAN EXPLORING," "COLONIAL BORN," _&c._


WITH TWENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS


LONDON
SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED
38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET
1909


[Illustration: THE _STELLA POLARE_ NIPPED IN THE ICE.

"The stores were unloaded with the greatest rapidity."]


_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_

THE LIBRARY OF ROMANCE

_Extra Crown 8vo. With many illustrations. 5s. each_


"Splendid volumes."--_The Outlook._

"This series has now won a considerable and well deserved
reputation."--_The Guardian._

"Each volume treats its allotted theme with accuracy, but at the same
time with a charm that will commend itself to readers of all ages. The
root idea is excellent, and it is excellently carried out, with full
illustrations and very prettily designed covers."--_The Daily
Telegraph._


By Prof. G. F. SCOTT ELLIOT, M.A., B.Sc.

THE ROMANCE OF SAVAGE LIFE
THE ROMANCE OF PLANT LIFE
THE ROMANCE OF EARLY BRITISH LIFE


By EDWARD GILLIAT, M.A.

THE ROMANCE OF MODERN SIEGES


By JOHN LEA, M.A.

THE ROMANCE OF BIRD LIFE


By JOHN LEA, M.A., & H. COUPIN, D.Sc.

THE ROMANCE OF ANIMAL ARTS AND CRAFTS


By SIDNEY WRIGHT

THE ROMANCE OF THE WORLD'S FISHERIES


By the Rev. J. C. LAMBERT, M.A., D.D.

THE ROMANCE OF MISSIONARY HEROISM


By G. FIRTH SCOTT

THE ROMANCE OF POLAR EXPLORATION


By ARCHIBALD WILLIAMS, B.A. (Oxon.), F.R.G.S.

THE ROMANCE OF EARLY EXPLORATION
THE ROMANCE OF MODERN EXPLORATION
THE ROMANCE OF MODERN MECHANISM
THE ROMANCE OF MODERN INVENTION
THE ROMANCE OF MODERN ENGINEERING
THE ROMANCE OF MODERN LOCOMOTION
THE ROMANCE OF MODERN MINING


By CHARLES R. GIBSON, A.I.E.E.

THE ROMANCE OF MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY
THE ROMANCE OF MODERN ELECTRICITY


By EDMUND SELOUS

THE ROMANCE OF THE ANIMAL WORLD
THE ROMANCE OF INSECT LIFE


By AGNES GIBERNE

THE ROMANCE OF THE MIGHTY DEEP


By E. S. GREW, M.A.

THE ROMANCE OF MODERN GEOLOGY

SEELEY & CO., LIMITED




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