the discoverer of the South
Pole, is of especial interest, for he succeeded in carrying his little
ship from the Atlantic to the Pacific by way of Bering Strait--the only
vessel that has ever actually made the North-West Passage. But the
great prize fell to Captain Peary. On September 6, 1909, the world
thrilled with the announcement that Peary had reached the Pole. His
ship, the _Roosevelt_, had sailed in the summer of 1908. Peary
wintered at Etah in the north of Greenland, and in the ensuing year,
accompanied by Captain Bartlett with five white men and {146} seventeen
Eskimos, he set out to reach the Pole by sledge. By arrangement,
Peary's companions accompanied him a certain distance carrying
supplies, and then turned back in successive parties. The final dash
for the Pole was made by the commander himself, accompanied only by a
negro servant and four Eskimos. On April 6, 1909, they reached the
Pole and hoisted there the flag of the United States. To make doubly
certain of their discovery, Peary and his men went some ten miles
beyond the Pole, and eight miles in a lateral direction. They saw
nothing but ice about them, and no indication of the neighbourhood of
any land.

{147}

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

For the earlier voyages of the English to the Northern seas the first
and principal authority is, of course, the famous collection of
contemporary narratives gathered together by Richard Hakluyt under the
title, _Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of
the English Nation_. Here the reader will find accounts of the
enterprises of Frobisher, Davis, and others as written by members of
the expeditions and persons closely connected therewith. An
interesting presentation of the exploits of Hudson, as revealed in
original documents, is found in _Henry Hudson, the Navigator_,
published by the Hakluyt Society. The journal of Samuel Hearne,
together with many maps and much interesting material, is to be found
among the publications of the Champlain Society, (Toronto, 1911) ably
edited and annotated by the well-known explorer Mr J. B. Tyrrell.
Alexander Mackenzie's own account of his voyages is a classic, and is
readily accessible in public libraries. An account of Mackenzie's
career is found in the 'Makers of Canada' series. Sir John Franklin
left behind him a very graphic description of his first journey to the
polar seas, to which {148} reference has already been made in the text.