d of the world's history there has been a North and a South
Pole, which, surrounded as they were by snow-clad countries, icebergs,
cold water and whales, were too remote and inhospitable to tempt the
average civilian to journey there.

"The only thing which grows in the Polar regions is ice, and this is
generally found in almost tropical profusion and rankness, growing
sometimes to the height of several hundred feet, none of which wear
boots. Polar bears and Esquimos are also found there, but in scattered
and inconsiderable quantities. These two races spend most of their
time chasing each other in order to keep themselves warm, which they do
by degrees which are often registered on a barometer. They also eat
each other and get scurvy. Outside of these relaxations their
existence is stagnant and unexciting. I sometimes fancy that if I had
the misfortune to be born a polar bear or an Esquimo I would not have
been a patriot.

"I have no esteem for ice in other than easily portable quantities.
Some small pieces to pack around fish, a particle to drop into a glass
of lager beer--that is all the ice which I can regard patiently or
leniently; but a continent composed entirely of ice and polar bears
tempts me to believe that Providence is subject to aberrations.

"It is supposed to redound to the credit of a nation when one of its
citizens resolves to discover some inaccessible and futile place, and
proceeds to do so in the most fantastic manner. The inhabitants of
that country who remain at their work and continue to pay their rates
are expected to be in a condition of wild enthusiasm and delight at the
adventure.--My own impression is, that the majority of people take no
more than a tepid interest in these forlorn adventures, and are but
imperfectly convinced of the sanity of the adventurers; and this is the
more particularly noticeable when the quest is for something so
intangible and unmarketable as a North Pole. Why need they go so far
afield for their excitement? Every discoverer is a detective. He
traces missing places, and there are cartloads of Poles in their own
countries waiting for explorers.

"The habit of seeking for a North Pole is one of only comparative
antiquity. Its conception is well within the historic era, and must,
therefore, be classed as an acquired habit and one not inherent in man.
I have not observed that any other animals are addicted to this
peculiar expeditionary craze. It is true that many sp