here they were tried, found guilty of mutiny, and sent to
prison.

In 1616 the intrepid William Baffin took up the search. He penetrated
the bay bearing his name and explored the passages of water westward to
the mouth of Lancaster Sound.

Later the Russians became interested in exploration. Among the explorers
Captain Veit Bering of the Russian navy was the most eminent. In the
early part of the eighteenth century Bering was commanded by Peter the
Great to take up the search for the long-sought passage. He explored the
northeastern coast of Asia as far north as sixty-seven degrees latitude,
discovering a fact hitherto unknown, that North America is separated
from Asia by a narrow passage of water containing small islands. The
passage received the name Bering Strait from its discoverer, and the
same name was bestowed upon the sea leading to it.

About ten years afterward Bering determined to explore the northwest
coast of North America. He landed twice upon the coast, but, being
driven back by violent storms, was at length wrecked on an island, where
he died. His crew, though suffering terrible hardships, lived through
the winter. With the coming of spring, however, they rigged a craft from
the stranded vessel in which a few survivors reached the coast of Asia.

In 1743 the British Government offered a reward of twenty thousand
pounds for the discovery of a northwest passage by the way of Hudson
Bay. Thirty-three years afterward a like reward was offered for the
actual discovery of the north pole and the same amount for the
exploration of any navigable passage. The sum of five thousand pounds
was also offered to any one who should approach within one degree of the
north pole. These standing rewards greatly stimulated arctic
exploration.

Of the many voyages of exploration that followed, Sir John Franklin's
last expedition was the most tragical. This expedition was fitted out by
the British Government with the necessary supplies and scientific
instruments for a three years' cruise. Two stanch vessels, the _Erebus_
and the _Terror_, both of which had been previously employed in
antarctic exploration, were selected to stem the ice-fields of the
north, and a tender with extra supplies accompanied them as far as Davis
Strait. The vessels were last seen in Lancaster Sound moored to an
iceberg, where they were spoken to by a whaling ship homeward bound.

Three years having passed and no tidings having been received from