Arctic exploration may be said to have begun in the sixteenth century, and since that time daring sailors of all nations have gone into the icy regions, many of them never to return.

At that time the search for "The Indies" was so diligently pushed that mariners tried every way of getting to the West. Failing to find any short route to the South, their attention was turned to the idea of passing around north of the new continent which we now call America, and this desired route was spoken of as the Northwest Passage. Expeditions have passed westward a long way in open water north of the continent, and, coming through to the Pacific, have reached the far East, but there still remains a largely unexplored and almost impassable icy barrier.

As an instance of the aim of the early expeditions, the following quotation from the old records may be interesting. It describes the object of an expedition which left England in 1553 as being "For the search and discovery of the Northern parts of the world, to open a way and passage to our men for travel to new and unknown kingdoms."

All the nations that had shipping interests were active in this search, the English especially. The Dutch sought the short cut for their merchantmen because the voyage around the Cape of Good Hope was very dangerous, being controlled by Spanish and Portuguese, who unhesitatingly preyed upon the merchant vessels that tried to pass that way. The result of the Dutch expeditions into the North was the discovery of the possibilities of the whaling industry, which they may be said to have originated, and which was a source of great profit to them for a very long period. They established a number of settlements, and explored much that had been unknown before.

Among the English expeditions, those of most importance to us in America were Henry Hudson's. He made his first voyage in 1607, representing the Muscovy Company of England. He explored the coast of Greenland on this voyage, and again in 1608; while on his third voyage he explored the coasts of North America and discovered the Hudson River. At this time he was in the employ of the Dutch East India Company. Again, in 1610, his efforts were crowned with success, and he discovered what is known as Hudson Bay.

From that time voyage after voyage was made, largely by Englishmen, and the knowledge of geography grew every year, each captain bringing back some new items of information.

Meanwhile the Russians, who had acquired Siberia, sought a Northeast Passage and explored the northern coast of their vast new territory, which reaches into the Polar regions. Although many efforts were made to pass through to China in this way, it was not accomplished until 1879, when a Russian explorer reached Bering Strait and the Pacific from the West.

Search for "the Indies" was carried on with wonderful perseverance and nerve. It is very difficult for us in these days to imagine the obstacles that these old sailors had to overcome, or the dangers their tiny craft encountered. Their little boats would now be considered absolutely impracticable for long and arduous trips; and that they should have explored all they did, shows how sturdiness and courage have caused the growth of the world's known territory.

As time went on, the idea of securing the passage to the fabled lands of the riches gave place to search in the Arctic regions for the scientific knowledge that could be obtained from such expeditious. "The Indies" and their fabulous riches had become known countries which were readily reached through other routes, and the saving in time by going to them by way of the 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 AndrÉe, 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 consider that every scientific fact is an addition to our knowledge, and may influence for great good some other line of work which would seem to be in no way connected with it, it is undoubtedly true that the explorations should continue on scientific lines until no part of the globe which can be reached is unknown to man.