| CHAPTER I. | |
|---|---|
| Various routes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans described—Advantages of a North-West Passage, if practicable—What is to be gained from further Arctic exploration—What zoology would gain—The problem of the migration of birds—About the Knots—Boundaries of the North Polar Regions—Their principal geographical features—Divisions into two zones, or sections—The stony tundras—The flora of the North—The Siberian desert—Limits of perpetual snow—General character of life in the Polar World | 9–21 |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| An imaginary voyage—View of the Greenland coast—A splendid picture of land and sea—The winter night and its atmospheric phenomena—The aurora borealis described—Its peculiarities and possible causes—Winds and whirlwinds—Phenomena of refraction—The “ice-blink”—Characteristics of the Arctic night—Described by Dr. Kane—Remarkable atmospheric conditions—Effect of prolonged darkness on animal life—Characteristics of the Arctic spring—A spring landscape described by Dr. Hayes—Summer in the North—The Northern heavens and the Pole-Star—List of Northern constellations—The Great Bear—Some conspicuous stars | 22–40 |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| The Polar seas—Formation of icebergs—Their dimensions and appearance—Description of colossal bergs—Their danger to navigation—Adventures with bergs—Quotations from various writers—Dissolution of an iceberg—Icebergs in Melville Bay—How icebergs are formed—Reference to icebergs in the Alpine lakes—Professor Tyndall quoted—Breaking up of a berg described by Dr. Hayes—A vision of icebergs—Their range—The “pack-ice” described—Extent of the ice-fields—“Taking the pack”—An incident described by Admiral Beechey—Dangerous position of Captain Parry’s ships—Character of an ice-field—Crossing an ice-field—Its extraordinary dimensions—Animal life in the Polar seas—Walrus-hunting—Quotation from Mr. Lamont—A disagreeable process—Natural history of the walrus—The walrus and the Polar bear—Historical sketch of the walrus-fishery—Adventure with walruses—A walrus-hunt described—Hunting in an Arctic gale—The Phocidæ family—Natural history of the seal—Different genera—Seal’s flesh, and its uses—An incident in Dr. Kane’s expedition—An Eskimo hut—An Eskimo seal-hunter—The whale, and all about it—The Greenland whale—What is whalebone?—Food of the whale—The Northern rorqual—Eskimo whale-fishers—About the narwhal—The black dolphin—The orc, or grampus—The Polar bear—Bears and seals—Particulars of the habits of the Polar bear—His voracity—Affection of the bear for her young—An episode described—Battle with a bear—The bear and the Eskimo dogs—The Arctic night—Its various phases—Coming of the sun—Return of the birds—Guillemots and auks—About the puffins—The mergansers—The smew, or white nun—The eider duck described—Eider ducks in Iceland—Collecting eider down—The wild swan—Fables about its death-song—The Arctic waters, and their teeming life—Migrations of fish | 41–107 |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| The formation of snow described—Snow-crystals—Effects of the crystallizing force—Ice-flowers—Sir David Brewster’s experiment with polarised light—Regelation and moulding of ice—Characteristics of glacier-ice—Cleavage in compact ice—The aspect of glaciers—On the motion of glaciers—History of its discovery—Moraines described—Theory of glacier-motion—Quotation from Professor Tyndall—Glaciers of the Polar Regions—Glacier in Bell Sound—Formation of icebergs—Icebergs in Baffin Bay—Glacier described by Dr. Hayes—The Greenland Mer de Glace—Glacier of Sermiatsialik—The great Humboldt Glacier—Discovered by Dr. Kane—Description of its features—Kane’s theory of icebergs—Notes on the glacier | 108–134 |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| Red snow, what is it?—First forms of vegetable life—The lichens, their variety—Reindeer moss—Rock-hair—Rock tripe, or tripe de roche—Used as food—Iceland moss and its properties—The mosses of the Arctic Regions—Scurvy-grass—The fly-agaric—Microscopic vegetation—A memorial of Franklin—Phænogamous plants of the North—Cryptogamous plants—Vegetation in Novaia Zemlaia—In Spitzbergen—In Kamtschatka—The Fritallaria sarrana—The wooded and desert zones—Forms of animal life—Natural history of the reindeer—His usefulness—His food—Reindeer and wolves—Cunning of the Arctic wolf—Domesticity of the wolf—The musk-ox described—Captain M’Clintock quoted—The Arctic fox—His wariness—A fox-trap—The bear and the fox—The Arctic hare—The Alpine hare—The Hudson Bay lemming—The Mustelidæ family—The marten—The sable—The polecat—About the glutton, or wolverine—anecdotes of his extraordinary sagacity—A great enemy to the trapper—The biter bit—Arctic birds—The falcons—The crows—Distribution of animals | 135–161 |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| Iceland, its extent—Its history—Its volcanoes—Hekla and its eruptions—Eruption of the Skaptá Jokul—The geysers, or boiling springs—Their phenomena described—Account of the Strokr—Coasts and valleys of Iceland—The Thingvalla—Description of Reikiavik, the capital—Character of the Icelander—His haymaking operations—His dwelling described—An Icelandic church—Icelandic clergy—Travelling in Iceland—Its inconveniences—Fording the streams—Fishing in Iceland | 162–174 |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| The land of the Eskimos—Range of the so-called Arctic Highlanders—Danish settlements in Greenland—Upernavik described—Jacobshav’n—Godhav’n—Their Eskimo inhabitants—The Moravian Missions—Characteristics of the nomadic Eskimos—Their physical qualities—Their mode of dress—An Eskimo hut—The Eskimo kayak, or canoe—Their weapons and implements—Hostility between the Eskimos and Red Indians—Eskimo settlement at Anatoak—Eskimo singing—Food of the Eskimos—Dr. Hayes’ intercourse with the Eskimos—The story of Hans the Hunter—The Eskimo dogs—Anecdote of Toodla—The Eskimo sledge—Equipment of the sledge—Equipment of an Eskimo hunter—General character of the Eskimos | 175–196 |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| Lapland, its divisions, extent, and boundaries—Its climate—Its inhabitants—Their physical characteristics—Dress of the Lapps—Their superstitions—The Mountain Lapps—Their migratory habits—Their tuguria, or huts, described—Milking the reindeer—Sledging and skating—A Lapp’s skates—A Lapp’s sledge—The Lapp hunters—Encounter with a bear—Intemperance of the Mountain Lapps—The Forest Lapps—Interior economy of a Lapland hut—Lapps at Bjorkholm—Racial characteristics of the Lapps—Habits and manners of the Lapps—The Lapp dialect—The Lapps and the Quénes—The stationary Lapps, and their gârds | 197–207 |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| The Samojedes—Their degrading superstitions—Samojede idol at Waigatz—The Tadebtsios, or spirits—Influence of the Tadibe, or sorcerer—His mode of incantation—Customs of the Samojedes—The Ostiaks—Their Schaïtans and Schamans—Residence of the Ostiaks—Hunting the white bear—Kamtschatka described—Its inhabitants—Their physical peculiarities—The dog of Kamtschatka—His qualities—His usefulness—How he is trained—Siberia and its tribes—The Jakuts—Their jarts, or huts—Their hardy horses—The character of the Jakuts—Jakut travellers—Jakut merchants and their caravans—Dreariness of the country they inhabit—Hunting the reindeer—At Kolymsk—The Tungusi—His mode of travelling—His food—The Tchuktche, and their land—Their activity as traders—Tobacco, a staple of commerce—Visit to a Tchuktche family—The Tenngyk and the Oukilon | 208–221 |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| History of Discovery in the Arctic Regions—Expeditions of Thorne and Hore—Of Sir Hugh Willoughby—Martin Frobisher and his adventures—Discoveries of Davis—Hudson, his discovery of Hudson Bay, Jan Mayen, and Cape Wolstenholm—His fate—Baffin’s voyages—Highway to the North Pole—Expedition of Ross and Parry—Parry’s second expedition—Loss of the Fury—Overland journeys—Franklin’s last expedition—The search after Franklin—Discovery of relics—Captain Penny’s expedition—Sir Robert M’Clure’s discovery of the North-West Passage—Voyage of M’Clintock—Lieutenant Hobson’s discoveries—Dr. Kane’s expedition—Explores Smith Sound—Discovers the Humboldt Glacier and Kennedy Channel—Wintering in the Arctic Regions—Dr. Hayes’ expedition—Voyage of the Germania and the Hansa—Loss of the latter—Escape of the crew on an ice-raft—Arrival at Greenland—Adventures of the Germania—Barents and Carlsen—Austrian expedition under Payer—Voyage of the Polaris—Death of Hall—Tyson’s voyage on an ice-raft—Rescued by the Tigress—Captain Buddington abandons the Polaris—His winter quarters—Boat voyage—Safe arrival—British expedition of 1875–76—Departure of the Alert and Discovery—Narrative of the expedition—Winter amusements—The sledging-parties—Important discoveries—No road to the Pole—Return home—Cruise of the Pandora | 222–337 |
NORTH POLAR REGIONS