CHAPTER III.

THE PENETRATION OF THE REGIONS WITHIN THE POLAR CIRCLE; THE PERIOD OF THE NORTH-WEST AND NORTH-EAST PASSAGES _page_ 20-24

1. The Pole.—2. Old fancy of reaching India through the ice.—3, 4, 5. The first Polar navigators.—6-10. The North-West and North-East Passages.—11. Strange tales of the old discoverers.—12. The Polar world becomes the object of scientific investigation.—13. M’Clintock perfects the art of sledging.