POLAR EXPEDITIONS. Under this head are classed all those voyages of discovery which have been made toward the n. and s. poles, and to the regions within the Arctic and Antarctic circles. The n. polar regions present a much greater laud-surface than these round the s. pole, and on this account possess a higher temperature, and offer a more valuable field for discovery, for which reasons, as well as by reason of their greater proximity, polar expeditions have been far more 'frequently directed to the n. than to the south.
Arctic expeditions were commenced with a view to discover a shorter route to the golden realms of the east; but the first attempts were made by coast ing along the n. of Europe and America. See Norern-Easr AND NORTH-WEST PASSAGES. It was not till 1603 that the first arctic exploring expedition, consisting of one vessel, the Godspeed, commanded by Stephen Bennett, started for a voyage of northern discovery; and this, as well as the succeeding expeditions of Bennett, were devoted to morse-hunt ing rather than to geographical investigation. In 1607 Henry Hudson (q.v.) was sent out by the Muscovy company to penetrate to the n. pole, but he was stopped about the n. of Spitzbergen (in lat. 81° 30') by the ice. The succeeding voyages of Jonas Pole in 1610, 1611, and 1612, and of Baffin in 1613, were not primarily voyages of discovery, and they added nothing to the previous knowledge of the polar regions; but in the expedition of and Baffin up Davis's strait, in the following year, the latter dis covered a northern outlet to the bay called by his own name, which was denominated Smith's sound. Potherby was sent out again in 1615, and attempted to pass through thn sea which lies between Greenland and Spitzbergen, but was again baffled, and compelled to return, after correcting some erroneous observations of Hudson. These seven expe ditions were all sent out by the Muscovy company; and the cargoes of seal-skins, oil, teeth, etc., which they brought back helped to defray the expense of their outfit. For the next century and a half the attempts to reach the n. pole were not resumed; but the extraordinary zeal in the cause of naval discovery which sprting up in the beginning of George M.'s reign, produced two renewed efforts. The first of these was made in the spring of 1773 by an expedition consisting of two vessels, under capt. John Phipps (afterward lord Mulgrave), and fitted out by the admiralty purely for scientific pur poses. Phipps sailed along the shore of Spitzbergen till lie was stopped by the ice at Cloven Cliff; he then coasted backward and forward along the ice-field for nearly a month, trying the various narrow openings, some of which were two leagues in depth, till he found one which took him into open water. By a sudden change in the climate he was frozen in, and only extricated his ships after severe labor. The highest point to which he reached was lat. 89° 48' n., less by 49 m. than the most northerly latitude attained by Hudson; and though lie had a more than usual amount of difficulties to encounter, yet his failure, along with that of capt. Cook, who attempted to reach tbe pole by Behring's strait, but only penetrated to lat. 70° 45' n., greatly disheartened other explorers. The offer of £5,000 by the British parliament to the crew that should pen etrate to within 1° of the pole, awaked no competition; but in 1806 Mr. Scoresby, then mate of a Greenland whaler from Hull, reached a point directly U. of Spitzbergen, in lat. sr 30' n., and therefore only about 510 geographical m. from the pole. In follow ing expeditious the same enterprising navigator made many geographical explorations of Jan Mayen's land and the e. coast of Greenland, largely adding to our knowledge of the
character and prodpcts of the arctic regions. The subsequent expeditions of Buchan and Franklin in 1818, of Clavering in 1823, of Graab (Danish) in 1828, of De Blosseville (French) in 1833, may be considered as failures, as far as geographical discovery in con cerned; for, omitting the French expedition, the fate of which is still involved n mys tery, none of them reached so high latitudes as the previous English expeditions. After the failure (...7 Buchan and Franklin's expedition, the impossibility of ever reaahing the pole was generally accepted in this country as fact; but Mr. Scoresby, in a memoir which he communicated to the Wernerian society, endeavored to prove that this supposed impossibility was by no means such; in fact, that a journey to the pole could be mad : without any enormous amount either of difficulty or danger. The principal obstacle to be encountered being the alternation of ice-fields and water, which prevented all advane either by ships or sledges, Sir. Scoresby proposed the use of a vehicle which could le used either as a sledge or boat, and recommended a team of dogs to draw it, they bein4 lighter (for conveyance by water, and for traveling over thin ice) and more tractabh than reindeer. After some time this suggestion began to receive a considerable share of attention, and capt. Parry (celebrated for his discoveries in the polar seas n. of America! was put in command of an expedition fitted out in accordance with plans. lie sailed from England in the Ueda, on Mar. 27, 1827; but it, was June 22 before the exploring party quitted the ship, which was left on the n. shore of Spitzbergen, in charge of a small crew, and betook themselves to the boats; and in spite of the advanced season of the year they in the first two days advanced to 81° 13'. Here they began to encounter many difficulties; the icc-fields were small, and near each other, necessitating a constant conversion of the vehicle from a sledge to a boat, which could not be effected without unloading it, an operation which consumed much time. This hardship, however, was endurable; but, to Parry's intense chagrin, he discovered, about July 22, that the ice over which they were traveling was moving southward as rapidly as they were advancing so that on the 24th, after having traveled apparently 22 in. in the three previous days, they found themselves in the same latitude as on the 21st. Under these circumstances Parry resolved to return, which he accordingly did, reaching his ship on Aug. 21. The highest point reached by him was 82° 40'. A new land, about, 200 m. n. of Nova Zumbla, to which the name Franz Joseph land has been assigned, was discovered by the Austro Ihigarian polar expedition of 1872-74, under licuts. Weyprecht and Payer. Its s. coast lies aboqt the bOtli and it was explored, by means of sledges, up to 82° 5' n., while land was seen extending as far as 83' north. In 1854 two American explorers passed through Smith's sound, and reached cape Constitution in 82' 27' n. lat„ and saw, as they thought, at boundless open polar sea. The l'olarie sailed in :filly, 1871, from New London, Conn., and reached 82° 16' north. The supposed polar sea being a sound entering Kennedy channel, gave hopes of reaching the pole through Smith's sound. An English arctic expedition undereapt. Naves sailed in 1875, and, through Smith's sound, reached the highest latitude ever attained, 83° 20'. Unable to penetrate further, it returned in 1870. Sec NORM-EAST AND NORTII-WEST PASSAGES.