summers, some exploring work was accomplished, and James Ross planted the Union Jack on the North Magnetic Pole on the 1st of June 1831. At last they were forced to abandon their little vessel the "Victory," and make their way to the whalers in Baffin's Bay in open boats. They were picked up and arrived in England after an absence of four years.

While these pold and perilous voyages were being conducted in the Arctic seas, a series of land journeys completed the delineation of the northern coast of America, which had just been touched at two points in the last century, by Hearne and Mackenzie. From 1819 to 1823 the gallant Sir John Franklin, with Dr Richardson and George Back, were struggling to explore the Arctic coast eastward from the mouth of the Coppermine River. After great sufferings they embarked on the river on June 30, 1820, reaching the mouth on July 18, and exploring 550 miles of coast line to the eastward, as far as Point Turnagain.. On the return journey across the barren lands, the party escaped death from starvation almost by a miracle. Undaunted by this terrible experience, Franklin, Richardson, and Back started on another expedition in 1825, this time by descending the Mackenzie River. Reaching its mouth on July 7, Franklin and Back discovered 374 miles of coast to the westward, as far as Return Reef; while Richardson explored the space between the mouths of the Mackenzie and Coppermine. In 1833 Back undertook a third journey with the object of succouring the Rosses, who had long been missing. He discovered and explored the Back or Great Fish River for 530 miles, and in July 1834 reached its mouth in the Arctic Ocean. The gaps on the north coast, which were left by Franklin and Back, were subsequently filled in by servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1837 Messrs Simpson and Dease, in a boat, connected Return Reef with Cape Barrow. In 1839 the same explorers went from Cape Turnagain to the mouth of Back's River, and still further eastward to Castor and Pollux River. On August 26, 1839, Simpson built a cairn at Cape Herschel, on King William Island, separated by a strait ten miles wide from the mainland. Dr Rae was sent in 1846 to winter in Repulse Bay, and in 1847 he travelled round the Gulf of Akkoolee and connected the work of Ross in boothia with that of Parry during his second voyage. In 1854 he united the work of Ross with that of Simpson, and ascertained that Boothia was connected with the mainland of America by an isthmus. Thus the whole northern coast of America was explored and delineated without a break. The Russians were engaged on daring Arctic exploration at the same time. In 1809 to 1812 a Russian officer named Hedenstrom surveyed the New Siberia Islands; and in 1821 Lieutenant Anjou made further investigations respecting the state of the ice to the northward. Baron Wrangell prosecuted similar researches from his headquarters at Nijni Kolymsk, near the mouth of the Kolyma. He made four eledge journeys over the Polar Sea from 1820 to 1823, exploring the coast from the Kolyma to Cape Chelagskoi, and making several attempts to advance northwards, but always encountering weak ice. Wrangell's interesting narrative is an important addition to Arctic literature.

The Russians, as well as the French, sent several voyages into the Pacific during the first half of the 19th century. In 1804 Admiral Krusenstern made a voyage round the world, and his pupil, Otto von Kotzebue, son of the dramatist, commanded the "Rurick" from 1815 to 1818 on a voyage of discovery. He discovered the great bay known as Kotzebue Sound, sounded in Behring Strait, and made careful observations of the currents. Wintering in California he returned to the Aleutian Islands in the following spring'; and during the voyage homewards he discovered several new islands in the Pacific, especially

Romanzoff and Krusenstern in the Dangerous Archipelago During another Russian voyage, commanded by Billinghausen, Lazareff and other coral islands in the Dangerous Archipelago were discovered, and in 1828 Captain Lutke, in the "Seniavine," surveyed the Caroline group. Captain Freycinet, the officer who served with Baudin and edited his work, also examined the Caroline Islands in the "Uranie" in 1819, but his voyage was mainly in the interests.of natural history. Duperry in 1822-23 did some surveying. work on the coast of New Ireland. But the most important French voyage was that of Dumont D'Urville, who was sent out to seek for traces of La Perouse in 1828. He visited Tecopia and other islands in the "Astrolabe," and was nearly a month at Vanikoro collecting relics of the illfated expedition. The voyage of D'Urville contributed largely to the advancement of science, and resulted in the publication of a magnificent work in 1830.

The only English scientific voyage to the Pacific in this period was sent out mainly to co-operate with Parry in his third voyage, and Franklin in his second journey. It was commanded by Captain Beechey, who had been first lientenant with Parry during his first Arctic voyage, and on May 19, 1825, he sailed from Spithead in H.M.S. "Blos som." After visiting Easter, Gambier, Pitcairn, and other islands, the "Blossom" arrived at Honolulu on May 20, 1826, and in July she was in Behring Strait, entering. Kotzebue Sound on the 22d. Proceeding along the north coast of America, the ship's barge got as far as 156° 21' W. to a low cape called Point Barrow, at the very time len Franklin and Back were at Return Reef. The accurate examination of the coast was made under circumstances which demanded great fortitude and perseverance, and reflects credit on the officers and crew. The "Blossom" returned to Honolulu in January 1827, and arrived at Macao on the 12th of April. Captain Beechey next proceeded to survey the Loo Choo and Bonin Islands, and, after another visit to the far north, and the coasts of California and Mexico, he returned home by Cape Horn and arrived at Woolwich on October 12, 1828. His valuable and interesting narra tive, in two volumes, was published in 1831. Mr James Weddell, a master in the navy, made a voyage to the Antarctic Ocean in 1822-24, and went as far south as 74°.

The Royal Geographical Society was founded in 1830, and forms a landmark in the history of discovery. The men who initiated the idea and gave it shape were Sir John Barrow, Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Sir Roderick Murchison, Mr Robert Brown (Princeps Botanicorum), and Mr Bartle Frere. They formed the Foundation Committee. The first president was Lord Goderich, and the vice-presidents Sir John Barrow, Colonel Leake, Sir John Franklin, and Mr Greenough. Through this organization explorers and students were encouraged and assisted, information was systematically collected and arranged, and the work of dis covery was advanced. A similar society in Paris preceded that of London in point of time, and now every civilized country has established a Geographical Society.

Our rapid review of the progress of discovery since the foundation of the Geographical Society will commence with the continent of Asia, where there were and still are vast and most interesting unexplored regions. In British India. the Trigonometrical Survey has been proceeded with, and is now approaching completion. During its progress the Himalayan peaks were measured, and in 1848 Sir Andrew Waugh fixed the height of the loftiest, which he named Mount Everest, at 29,002 feet above the sea. In 1831 Humboldt published his Asie Centrale, which, with the Erdkunde von Asien of Carl Ritter, gave new and clearer ideas of the orography of Central Asia. Many travellers explored the remoter parts of the Himalayan chain; while, in 1848, Dr Hooker in Sikkim, and Dr Thomson in Ladak X-25

reached the summits of the passes leading to Tibet and Yarkand. Our relations with Afghanistan led to further exploration. In 1840 Lieutenants Abbott, Conolly, and Shakespear visited Khiva, and in 1841 Colonels Stoddart and Conolly were murdered at Bokhara, while Eldred Pottinger gallantly defended Herat. Sir Alexander Burnes had previously made his remarkable journey from Cabul to Bokhara and back through Persia, and in 1838 Lieutenant Wood of the Indian Navy discovered the source of the Oxus. Butakoff and other Russian officers, in 1848 and subsequent years, surveyed the sea of Aral, and Middendorf made extensive explorations and discoveries in Siberia. After the Afghan war it was long before any progress was made in the exploration of Central Asia, but through the opening of the treaty ports in China and the navigation of the Yangtsze a considerable increase was made in our knowledge of the Celestial Empire. In 1869 Mr R. B. Shaw and Mr Haywood reached the cities of Yarkand and Kashgar, and Mr Shaw published a most graphic account of the physical aspects of Eastern Turkestan. In the previous year Mr Ney Elias surveyed the Yellow River of China, and afterwards made a journey through a previously unknown portion of western Mongolia; and during 1866-68 the distinguished French geographer Lieutenant Garnier surveyed the course of the great Cambodian river. The Russians, meanwhile, in their advance into Central Asia, had enabled scientific travellers like Fedchenko and others to explore Khokand and the northern part of the Pamir, and the more adventurous Prjewalski made important journeys through Mongolia and to the frontiers of Tibet. Colonels Walker and Montgomerie, of the great Trigonometrical Survey of India, organized a system of training native explorers, who made journeys across the Pamir and to the upper waters of the Oxus, as well as through the previously unknown parts of Tibet. In the last mission of Sir Douglas Forsyth to Kashgar, Captain Trotter of the Trigonometrical Survey of India formed one of the staff. He did much valuable exploring work on the Pamir table-land, and verified the work of Lieutenant Wood at the source of the Oxus. In 1845 MM. Huc and Gabet travelled through Tibet; and in western China the French missionaries have since done useful geographical work. English diplomatic officers have found their way from the south-western provinces of China into Burmah, and Baron Richthofen has made very extensive exploring journeys through the Chinese empire. The most important journey across Arabia in the present century was made by Mr W. Gifford Palgrave in 1863.

Geographical discoverers of the 19th century have had a great work to do in Africa. D'Anville and his successors cleared off all that was uncertain on the map, all that had come from the information given by Duarte Lopez to Pigafetta, and from Leo Africanus, and left a great blank. James Bruce and Mungo Park, Clapperton and Tuckey, merely touched the edges or penetrated in single lines across the vast unknown area. But they have been followed by many others, and now great progress has been made. In 1831 Monteiro and Gamitta were sent by the Portuguese Government, in the footsteps of La Cerda, to the capital of Cazembe; while, in 1849 and 1843-47, Ladislaus Magyar and Graça explored some of the southern affluents of the Congo. Rüppell (1838), Harris (1843), and Dr Beke (1840), Lefebvre and Dillon (1839-43), Ferret and Galinier (1847) improved the existing knowledge of Abyssinia, to which a further important contribution was made by the expeditionary field force sent in 186768 to enforce the release of English captives; and progress was made, under the auspices of the Egyptian Government, in exploring the White Nile above Khartoum. In 1849 the discoveries of Denham and Clapperton were followed up by Richardson, Overweg, and Barth, who, like their pre

decessors, went from Tripoli to Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan. The two first died in Africa, but Dr Bartli returned home with a rich harvest of results. He reached Kouka the capital of Bornou, on Lake Tchad, and in 1851 he visited the south side of that lake, and advanced some distance to the eastward. In 1852 he was at Saccatoo, where Clapperton died, whence he crossed the Niger and eventually reached Timbuctoo. After a stay of some months Dr Barth left Timbuctoo in March 1854, and got back to Tripoli in the end of 1855, being the sole survivor of his party. Dr Vogel, in 1853-57, followed up the dis coveries in the direction of Lake Tchad, and fell a victim to science; and the researches of Dr Baikie in 1854 sup plemented the work of the Landers in the lower part of the course of the Niger. Dr Baikie also explored 250 miles of the river Chadda or Benue.

On the eastern coast of Africa, the missionaries Rebmann and Krapf ascertained the existence of the snowy peaks of Kenia and Kilimanjaro near the equator, and collected reports touching the equatorial lakes in the interior. This led to the expedition of Captain Burton in 1857, who, accompanied by Captain Speke, landed opposite to Zanzibar," and, advancing westward, discovered Lake Tanganyika, Captain Burton's admirable description of the region between the coast and the great lake he had discovered is one of the most valuable contributions to African descriptive geography. His companion, Captain Speke, made an excursion northwards to the southern coast of a lake which he judged to be a main source of the Nile. In this belief he again set out in 1860 to attempt the achievement of a journey from Bagamoyo, opposite Zanzibar, to the Nile. This great enterprise was crowned with success. Speke traced out the western shore, and visited the northern outlet, of the Victoria Nyanza, the main reservoir of the White Nile. He then marched northwards to Gondokoro and descended the Nile. He had heard of a second great Nile reservoir, which Sir Samuel Baker discovered in 1864, and named the Albert Nyanza. The Bahr el Ghazal and other western feeders of the Nile were visited by Consul Petherick, and explored in 1868-71 by Dr Schweinfurth, whose work ranks with that of Burton as a record of African discovery.

The travels of Dr Livingstone in Southern Africa also Livin added considerably to our knowledge of the geography of stone that continent. In 1848 he started from Cape Colony, visited Lake Ngami in 1849, and eventually reached the Portuguese town of St Paul Loanda in 1855. Thence he marched across the continent, discovering the great falls and a considerable part of the course of the Zambesi. In his second expedition he proceeded up the Zambesi and its tributary the Shire, and discovered the Lake Nyassa. On his third and last expedition he landed on the east coast at the mouth of the Rovuma, and made his way thence to Lake Nyassa. The great traveller then followed in the footsteps of Dr Lacerda and Monteiro to the Cazembe's capital, and thence to Lake Tanganyika. From Ujiji, on that lake, he made his way westward to the river Lualaba (the upper course of the Congo), and returning in a destitute condition to Ujiji, he was there succoured by Mr Stanley. Finally he once more started, and died in the midst of his discoveries among the remoter sources of the Congo. Lieutenant Cameron's expedition in 1873 had for its main object the succour of Livingstone, but the news of the great traveller's death was received at Unyanyembe. Cameron then continued his march by a new route to Ujiji, and completed the survey of the southern half of Lake Tan ganyika, discovering the Lukuga outlet. Thence he ad vanced westward across the Manyuema country to Livingstone's furthest point at Nyangwe, crossed the Lualaba, and traversed the whole width of the African continent

Ameri.

surveys.

South

reaching St Paul Loanda on the west coast. Mr Stanley followed in 1874. He circumnavigated and fixed the outline of the Victoria Nyanza, followed Cameron across Lake Tanganyika to Nyangwe, and then descended the great River Congo, discovering its course, and connecting the work of Livingstone with that of Tuckey. Mr Young has since completed the survey of Lake Nyassa; Nachtigal has supplemented the work of Barth and Vogel in the Tchad region; while Duveyrier and other French explorers have examined the region of the Sahara. In the far south the Limpopo basin, and the country intervening between the Limpopo and Zambesi, have been made known to us by St Vincent Erskine and Elton, Carl Mauch and Baines. Thus the extent of the unknown parts of Africa has been rapidly curtailed, while our knowledge has been widened during the last half century.

On the American continent scientific progress has been made in the United States and the dominion of Canada, where, within the last half century, boundary commissions and surveys have fixed positions and described previously unknown regions of great extent. In South America there America. are vast unexplored regions to the eastward of the Andes, and in the basins of the great rivers. Sir Robert Schomburgk did much valuable work in Guiana, and explored the delta of the Orinoco in 1841; while Spix and Martius, Poeppig and Castelnau, Maw and Smyth, Herndon and Gibbon, Spruce and Bates, Wallace and Chandless, and others, explored the basin of the Amazon. The labours of Pissis in Chili, of Raimondi and Werthermann in Peru, of Codazzi in Colombia and Venezuela, and of Morales and others in the Argentine Republic, have been most valuable to geographical science. In Patagonia, Fitz Roy and King explored the Santa Cruz river, Cox and Morales have since added to our knowledge, and Commander Musters, R.N., was the first traveller who traversed the whole of Patagonia from south to north, 960 miles of latitude, of which 780 were previously unknown to Europeans.

Aus

The difficulty of exploring the interior of the Australian tralia. continent was caused by the scarcity of water, and the immense distances it was necessary to cross without supplies of any kind. Hence the work of exploration has required and called forth high and noble qualities in a degree quite equal to any that have been recorded in any other part of the world. The names of Sturt and Leichhardt, of Eyre and Grey, of Macdouall Stewart and Burke, of Gregory, of Forrest and Warburton, will be handed down as those of intrepid and courageous explorers who laid open the secrets of the interior of Australia.

The Pacific Ocean was explored by numerous expeditions during the 18th and early part of the 19th centuries. Still much remained to be done in the way of verification and more complete survey. From 1826 to 1836 Captain Fitzroy, with the naturalist Darwin, surveyed Magellan's Strait and the west coast of South America; and further important surveys in the Pacific were afterwards executed by Captain Wilkes of the United States Navy, and by Belcher, Kellett, and Denham.

But the great geographical work of the present century must be the extension of discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Progress has been made in both directions, and in both much remains to be done. It is this polar work which calls forth the highest qualities of an explorer; it is here that the greatest difficulties must be overcome; and it is here that the most valuable scientific results are to be obtained.

Between the years 1830 and 1843 much was done in the Antarctic regions. In 1830-32 Mr John Biscoe, R.N., made a voyage in a brig belonging to Messrs Enderby, and discovered "Enderby Land" and "Graham Land" in 67° &; and from 1837 to 1840 Dumont d'Urville discovered

"La Terre Adèle" and "Coté Clarie," going as far south as 66° 30'. Auckland Island was discovered by Bristow in 1806. In 1839 Balleny, in another vessel belonging to Messrs Enderby, discovered the Balleny Islands in 66° 44 S., and Sabrina Island in 65° 10' S. The Antarctic expedition of Sir James Ross sailed from England in 1839. În 1840 Sir James explored Kerguelen Island, and wintered at Hobart Town. He then visited the Auckland Islands, and, crossing the Antarctic Circle, reached the great icy barrier, and discovered Victoria Land, with its lofty volcanoes, in January 1841. He gained the latitude of 78° 4′ S. in 187° E., and established the continuity of the southern continent from 70° to 79° S. In 1841 Ross again wintered at Van Diemen's Land, and in January 1842 crossed the Antarc tic circle in 156° 28′ W. He was once more stopped by the great icy barrier in 78° 10' S., after having penetrated through ice floes of more than 1000 miles in width. Extraordinary dangers were encountered in the ice, many valuable observations were taken, and in 1842 the expedition wintered at the Falkland Islands. In the following season another exploring voyage was made beyond the Antarctic Circle, and in September 1843 this most important expedition returned to England.

On the return of Sir James Ross attention was once more turned to the Arctic regions; and in the spring of 1845 Sir John Franklin's Arctic expedition, consisting of the Frankitn "Erebus" and "Terror," sailed from Woolwich. His instructions were to make the North-West Passage, but the main object of the expedition was the advancement of science, and to secure it the most accomplished officers in the navy were appointed, as well as the eminent naturalist Dr Goodsir. It is now known that, in the first and second seasons, the expedition was very successful. In 1845 Sir John Franklin made a remarkable run up Wellington Channel to 77 N.; in 1846, proceeding south, he had almost achieved the North-West Passage when his ships were permanently beset to the north of King William Island in 70° 5' N. and 98° 23′ W. Here the veteran explorer died on June 11, 1847; and all his companions perished in the attempt to reach one of the Hudson's Bay Company's settlements in the summer of 1848. Those among them who reached Cape Herschel, and it is certain that some did reach that point, undoubtedly discovered the North-West Passage.

The expeditions which were sent out in search of Sir John Franklin's ships did much important geographical work; but their principal use was the establishment, through their means, of the true method of extensive Arctic exploration. The grand object of the officers and men employed on this service was the relief of their missing countrymen, and their utmost efforts were devoted to the examination of the largest possible extent of coast-line. Hence the discovery of the modern system of Arctic sledge travelling, the only efficient means of exploring the icy regions around the North Pole. In 1848-49 Sir James Ross discovered the western side of North Somerset, and Sir Leopold M'Clintock served his first apprenticeship in the ice under that veteran explorer. Austin's expedition sailed in 1850, and wintered nearly in the centre of the region discovered by Parry during his first voyage. It was then that M'Clintock developed and put in practice the system of Arctic sledge travelling which has since achieved such grand results; and Captain Ommanney, M'Clintock, and his colleagues Sherard Osborn, Frederick Mecham, Robert Aldrich, and Vesey Hamilton made what were then unparalleled journeys in various directions. In December 1849, also, Captains Collinson and M'Clure went out to conduct further search by way of Behring Strait. The former made the most remarkable voyage on record along the north coast of America, while M'Clure took his ship between the west

coast of Banks Island and the tremendous polar pack, until he was within sight of the position attained by Parry in his first voyage from Baffin's Bay. Here M'Clure's ship was finally iced up in the Bay of God's Mercy. On the return of Austin's expedition, the same ships were again sent out under Captains Belcher and Kellett by Baffin's Bay; and M'Clintock, Osborn, Mecham, and Hamilton, who were once more in the front rank of searchers, surpassed even their former efforts. Mecham discovered a record left by M'Clure on Melville Island which revealed his position, and thus he and his officers and crew, by marching from their abandoned ship to the "Resolute" and returning to England with the expedition of Belcher and Kellett, were enabled to make the North-West Passage partly by ship and partly sledging over the ice. They all returned in 1854. But the concluding search was made by Sir Leopold M'Clintock in the "Fox" from 1857 to 1859, when he found the record on King William Island, and thus discovered the fate of Franklin. These search expeditions added immensely to our knowledge of the Arctic regions, and established the true method of exploration. Sea voyages in the summer season are useful for reconnaissances, but efficient polar work can only be achieved by wintering at a point beyond any previously reached, and sending out extended sledge parties in the spring.

After the return of M'Clintock, England neglected the great work of Arctic exploration for fifteen years; but a deep interest was taken in the discovery of the unknown polar regions by other nations, and numerous efforts to explore them were made in the interval. In 1853-55 Dr Kane, with the American brig "Advance," wintered just within the entrance of Smith Sound, and sent an exploring party for some distance up the east side of the channel; and in 1860-61 Dr Hayes wintered near the same spot, and made a sledge journey up the west side. Ten years afterwards Captain Hall, accompanied by Dr Bessels, a German scientific explorer, sailed in the "Polaris" in August 1871, and succeeded in making his way up the channels leading north from Smith Sound for 250 miles, wintering in 81° 38′ N. Captain Hall unfortunately died in the autumn of 1871, and his comrades returned after suffering great hardships. The "Polaris" was abandoned, but she had attained the highest latitude ever reached by any vessel up to that date. In the direction of Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya the Norwegian walrus hunters made many daring vovages. They circumnavigated both those masses of Arctic land, and yearly frequented the hitherto closed Sea of Kara. The Swedes, under the lead of the accomplished and indefatigable Nordenskiöld, have made voyage after voyage to Spitzbergen, and afterwards to the north-east. The first bergen Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen was in 1857, the second in 1861, the third in 1864, the fourth in 1868, consisting of the steamer" Sophia," which reached the highest latitude ever attained by a vessel trying the Spitzbergen route, namely, 81° 42′ N. In 1872 a fifth expedition started, and Nordenskiöld then passed his first winter in the Arctic regions, and gained experience of sledge-travelling in the spring, exploring a large area of North-East Land. Experience also proved that the Spitzbergen route was not one by which large results could be secured, although the scientific researches of the Swedes in Spitzbergen itself were most valuable. In 1875 therefore Professor Nordenskiöld made his first attempt towards the north-east, reaching the mouth of the Yenisei; and in 1876 he made an equally successful voyage in the same direction. The Germans also entered the field of Arctic enterprise. In 1868 Captain Koldewey made a summer voyage to Spitzbergen, and in 1869-70 he went in the "Germania" to the east coast of Greenland, accompanied by Lieutenant Payer, wintered at

Spits

ex

plored..

Pendulum Island, discovered by Clavering in 1823,

tion

whence they made a sledge journey to the northward as far as 77°, and explored a deep fjord in about 73° 15′ N. during the navigable season. English yachtsmen, notably Lamont and Leigh Smith, were also in the field; and the latter made important corrections of the charts of NorthEast Land. But by far the most important and successful Austri voyage in this period was that of Lieutenants Weyprecht exped and Payer in the Austrian steamer "Tegethoff." Sailing in 1872, they were beset in the ice to the north of Novaya Zemlya during the winter of 1872-73, and were drifted northwards until, on August 31, 1873, they sighted a previously unknown country. It proved to be very extensive, and was named Franz Josef Land. In March 1874 Lieutenant Payer started on an extended sledge journey, in the equipment of which he closely followed M'Clintock's system. He discovered a great extent of coast-line, and attained a latitude of 82° 5' N. at Cape Fligely. The Austrian explorers were eventually obliged to abandon the "Tegethoff," reaching Norway in September 1874; but their expedition was a great success, and they added an extensive region to the map of the known world.

tion.

In England the very important branch of geographical Englis research relating to the Arctic regions was neglected by the Arctic Government during this interval of fifteen years, while Ameri- exped cans, Swedes, Norwegians, Germans, Austrians, and English yachtsmen were making praiseworthy efforts with more or less success. The resumption of English Arctic research on an adequate scale is due to the exertions and arguments of Admiral Sherard Osborn from 1865 until 1875. He set forth the valuable results to be obtained, and the means of success. Basing his arguments on long experience, he showed that it was necessary for success that an expedition should follow a coast-line, that it should pass beyond any point previously reached and there winter, and that the work should be completed by extended sledge parties in the spring. At length an expedition was fitted out on these principles, the Smith Sound route was selected, and in May 1875 the "Alert" and "Discovery" sailed from Portsmouth under the command of Captain Nares. As regards the ice navigation the success of the expedition was complete. Captain Nares, in the face of unparalleled difficulties, brought the ships to a point farther north than any vessel of any nation had ever reached before, wintered the "Alert" in 82° 27' N., and, in the face of still greater difficulties, brought both vessels safely home again. The extended sledge-travelling called forth an amount of heroic devotion to duty, and of resolute perseverance in spite of greater obstacles than had ever been encountered before, which add a proud page to the history of English naval enterprise. The exploring parties were led by Commander Markham and Lieutenants Aldrich and Beaumont, Ad- Mark vancing over the great frozen Polar Sea, Markham reached ham's 83° 20′ 26′′ N., the highest latitude ever attained by any highes human being. He thus won the blue ribbon of Arctic discovery. Aldrich discovered 200 miles of coast to the westward, while Beaumont added to our knowledge of the north coast of Greenland. The results of the Arctic expedition of 1875-76 were the creation of a young generation of experienced Arctic officers, the discovery of 300 miles of new coast-line and of a large section of the Polar Ocean, the attainment of the highest latitude ever reached by man, a year's magnetic and meteorological observations at two stations both further north than any before taken, tidal observations, the examination of the geology of a vast region and the discovery of a fossil forest in 82° N., and large natural history collections representing the fauna and flora of a new region.

The return of this memorable expedition again incited our neighbours to further efforts. In the summer of 1878 the Dutch entered the field, and the schooner "William