This 1884 investigation into the two failed attempts to relieve the Greely Arctic Expedition led to success later that year.

In 1856, Prince Napoleon, the French Emperor's cousin, carried out a four-month expedition in the North Sea. He was accompanied by a scientific committee as well as a group of painters, photographers and writers. Among the participants was Polish novelist, playwright, poet and journalist Karol Edmund Choiecki (1822 99). In 1844, he had fled Russian persecution in Poland, having been in jeopardy due to his activism and patriotic writings. He found refuge in France and befriended such members of the intellectual elite as Gustave Flaubert and George Sand. In 1857, Choiecki published a...

Despite Holland's rich history as a major maritime power, by the time this work first appeared in 1876 the Dutch had long abandoned their exploration of the Arctic Circle. In this detailed study, noting the achievements of Dutch navigators, Samuel Richard van Campen (c.1833 c.1893) makes the case for new expeditions into the north, not only to investigate the possibility of Arctic passages to America and Asia, but also to pursue scientific research. The author delineates potential routes and difficulties, discusses ocean conditions, and examines both historical and contemporary expeditions...

Having served on expeditions under John Franklin, the British naval officer Sir George Back (1796 1878) had already gained first-hand experience of Arctic peril and survival by the time he was appointed in 1836 to command HMS Terror. His mission was to survey uncharted coastline in the Canadian Arctic, yet Back's ship became trapped in ice near Frozen Strait and was unable to escape for ten months. In this account, first published in 1838, Back lucidly documents the developing crisis, noting the numerous preparations to abandon ship, the deaths of three of his men from scurvy, and the further...

The Arctic explorer Sir John Richardson (1787 1865), who had accompanied both John Franklin and John Rae on major expeditions, expands here an article which had appeared in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Organised in two parts, and published in 1861, this work covers first the Arctic and then the largely unexplored Antarctic. Adopting a chronological approach in the first part, Richardson covers Roman knowledge of the far north, Norse voyages, and later exploration by the British, Dutch and Russians. He then deals in detail with the search for the North-West Passage, including the expeditions...

John Dundas Cochrane (1780-1825) was destined for the sea from an early age, but is best remembered as 'the Pedestrian Traveller'. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, he set out on a six-year tour of France, Spain and Portugal on foot. When in 1820 the Admiralty turned down his offer to explore the river Niger, he decided instead to walk round the world via Russia, Siberia and North America. On his arrival in St Petersburg, the Russian government gave him money to continue his journey using sledges and canoes where necessary, but he abandoned it in Kamchatka, marrying a local woman and...

In 1847, Sir John Franklin and his crew perished on their Arctic expedition. The following years saw multiple attempts to discover what happened to them. First published in 1850, this short account by Robert Anstruther Goodsir (1823 95) is based on the journal he kept while serving as surgeon during an 1849 mission in search of the missing explorers. Seeking to find his brother, Harry, who was assistant surgeon and naturalist on Franklin's expedition, Goodsir vividly describes the various dangers encountered, such as ice floes, icebergs, storms and shipwrecks. Moreover, he takes note of...

This short work, featuring a number of attractive engravings, traces an abortive expedition to the Canadian Arctic. George Francis Lyon (1795-1832), naval officer and explorer, had accompanied William Parry on a previous expedition in search of the North-West Passage. In 1824 Lyon was instructed to return to Repulse Bay and to explore the mainland. Unfavourable weather conditions forced Lyon to turn back after a few months, and he published this account of the experience the following year. Lyon's text is notable for his descriptions of encounters with Inuit, with whom he spent a great deal...

Thomas M'Keevor served as the physician for the second group of Selkirk settlers that set out in 1812 for the Red River Colony in Canada. This short account of what he witnessed, particularly the crossing of Hudson Bay, appeared in 1819. Greatly interested in icebergs, M'Keevor discusses these 'sea mountains' in detail. He also describes the Inuit peoples encountered, giving a short glossary of Inuit words. Presenting a vivid account of the scene, he was clearly moved by seeing a polar bear protecting her cubs from a hunting party sent out from the ship. Also published in this volume is a...

First published in 1853, this work recounts an unsuccessful expedition to find the missing Franklin expedition. Following the disappearance of Sir John Franklin and his crew during a mission to find the North-West Passage, the Admiralty organised numerous searches for the missing men. The naval officer Edward Inglefield (1820-94) sailed to the Arctic in the summer of 1852 in command of the Isabel, a steamer donated by Lady Franklin on the condition that it was used to search for her husband. First published in 1853, Inglefield's account of the voyage is accompanied by a number of...