an electric light, much brighter than gas, is substituted. Precious stones, as also gold and silver abound. Fine diamonds are frequently seen. Gold and silver, hammered into oval-shaped pieces, are used for money.* Very excellent cloth is made from the wool or hair of the musk-ox, and flax is raised from which a good quality of linen is made.

"The Jarl drives out with four large moose, or mastodon, attached to his chariot, which are harnessed in pairs, the inside horns of each being cut so that they will not interlock. His pleasure-barge is drawn by walruses.

"There are a number of sculptors who are high dignitaries and have no intimate connection with the priesthood. In the winter their services are in constant demand at the mountains, where they carve palaces and cathedrals out of icebergs, which are visited by immense crowds. When lighted up by electricity these structures are the most beautiful that can be conceived. ... The softness of the material enables the sculptors to build their edifices in an incredibly short time. Often a large gang of

* The writer does not wish to endorse this story. Nevertheless there are points about it which show that the author of it knew much of Arctic history. Sir Martin Frobisher, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, James Hall, Samuel Hearne, and others went to the Arctic, or regions bordering on the Arctic, to search for reported mines of gold, silver, or copper. As to the allusion to diamonds, rock crystal has been so often mistaken for them that no remark is necessary.

workmen, working under a sculptor, will build one of them in forty-eight hours. They are of course melted down by the heat of the sun every summer, although they last till July or August before entirely disappearing, and even as long as the vestige of them remains they retain enough of their original shape to look at a distance as beautiful as ever. These sculptors also make the ice idols or demons for the June carnival.

"The dress of the natives in winter is of skins and furs, the upper class wearing furs of the most elegant description; the ladies often wear the skins of swans and eider-duck, dressed in some way with the feathers on.

"The priests have drawings or rude maps of the country, of which the common people are kept in ignorance, but which they have shown to me.

"I cannot give very accurate information, but I know that Greenland (so-called) extends to the Pole and far beyond it. Also what is called Smith's Sound is no sound at all, but a great river into which all the lakes and rivers of this country empty their waters. The natives call it 'Isk.' Where it enters the frozen mountains it becomes a succession of cataracts and rapids, into which glaciers are crowding perpetually from either shore, and it is utterly impassable either up or down. The interior lakes and rivers are smooth and beautiful sheets of

284

A Doubtful Story.

water, the country being level. There are no ships, nor any boats larger than a ship's yawl, and these are frequently towed by tame walruses. Tame seals are also frequently attached to smaller boats, and driven for pleasure. Stone is plenty, and there are large quarries of very fine granite. The art of brick-making is known, and many of the better houses are built of the latter material, but the larger number are of logs hewn square, and from one to two feet in diameter.

"I have now been here about eleven months— this being, according to my calendar, the 22nd day of May, 1861—and the heat is growing somewhat oppressive, especially to me after my long pilgrimage among the Esquimaux; but I never should have discovered this country if I had not thus become inured to cold and starvation. Even as it is I can only regard it as a miracle. I have no desire to return to England, nor could I do so if I desired it ever so much. If, with all the advantages England possesses, she cannot reach this country, of course these people cannot pass the frozen desert of hundreds of miles which separates them from other nations."

The author can hardly write seriously of this yarn, and does not imagine that when Nares gets to the North Pole, William North will be found there. Nevertheless the story has some ingenuity about it.

CHAPTER XXX.

The Arctic Expedition of 1875-The Alert and Discovery-Captain Nares' Views-Sir Leopold M'Clintock on Sledge Travelling-Improvements adopted-Lady Franklin's Letter-Allan Young's Expedition - Voyage of the Pandora-Closing Remarks - True Heroism-Our Heroes.

HE Arctic Expedition of 1875 has been the object of very general interest, and the journals have spared us the necessity of a lengthened description of the vessels. The Alert is a Royal Navy steam-sloop of 751 tons and 100 horse-power, and is the leading vessel of the expedition. She was greatly strengthened, and carries every modern appliance for the comfort and convenience of the men. Her Captain, George S. Nares, and Commander A. H. Markham, have both had a considerable Arctic experience. The Discovery, the second vessel of the expedition, is a Dundee whaling-bark, with auxiliary steam-power, purchased by the Government, and is under the command of Captain H. F. Stephenson. The expedition, all told, consists of about 120 men, and the crews have been selected from the very pick of the

286

The 1875 Expedition.

navy. A store ship, the Valorous, accompanies them to Disco, Greenland.

Captain Nares, shortly before starting, expressed his views on the prospects of the expedition. He said that when once the Arctic Expedition had started on its voyage into regions from which no information whatever could be obtained, there would and must be an ever-increasing anxiety as to its position and prospects. Many of the experiences of the search for Franklin would be repeated, the only difference being that from what was called "the edge of the ice" they then travelled due west, while now from the same edge they would travel due north; but they would have the same life to lead-the ice would be the same, the temperature the same, and there would be, he believed, no more difficulties in going north than there had been in going west. He referred to the discoveries first made by Sir Edward Parry, and the perfection to which Arctic travelling had been brought by Sir Leopold M'Clintock, and said that the danger of the present expedition became mere child's play as compared with what previous explorers went through. It was true that the ice still remained as strong an enemy as ever, but their chances of returning home after an accidental crush in the ice were now reduced to a certainty. He pointed out the difficulties to be encountered in Arctic travelling