to test whether the theoretical conclusions of the astronomer were
borne out by the actual observations of one standing upon the apex of
the spinning earth. The attempt to reach the Pole became henceforth
the great preoccupation of Arctic discovery. From this time on the
story of what has been done in {138} the northern seas belongs not to
Canada but to the world at large. The voyages of such men as
Frobisher, Davis and Hudson, and the journeys of men like Hearne and
Mackenzie led to the opening up of this vast country and belong to
Canadian history. But in recent Arctic discovery the point of interest
had never been found in the lands about the northern seas, but only in
the Arctic ocean itself and in the effort to penetrate farther and
farther north. Little by little this effort was rewarded. A series of
intrepid explorers forced their way onward until at last the Pole
itself was reached and the frozen North had yielded up its hollow
mystery.

The struggle to reach the Pole was the form in which Arctic exploration
came to life again after the paralysing effect of the Franklin tragedy.
Some of the Franklin relief expeditions had reached very high
latitudes, and, shortly after the great tragedy, the exploring ships of
Dr Kane and Dr Hayes, and the _Polaris_ under Captain Hall, had all
passed the eightieth parallel and been within less than ten degrees of
the Pole. The idea grew that there might be an open polar sea,
navigable at times to the very apex of the world. In 1875 the _Alert_
and the _Discovery_, two ships of the British Navy, {139} were sent out
with the express purpose of reaching the North Pole. They sailed up
the narrow waters that separate Greenland from the large islands lying
west of it. The _Alert_ wintered as far north as latitude 82 deg. 24'. A
sledge party that was sent out under Captain Markham went as far as
latitude 83 deg. 20', and the expedition returned with the proud
distinction of having carried its flag northward beyond all previous
explorations. But other nations were not to lag behind. An American
expedition (1881) under Lieutenant Greeley, carried on the exploration
of the extreme north of Greenland and of the interior of Grinnell Land
that lies west of it. Two of Greeley's men, Lieutenant Lockwood and a
companion, followed the Greenland coast northward in a sledge and
passed Markham's latitude, reaching 83 deg. 24' north, which remained for
many years as the highest point