Abstract
YET another plan for polar exploration is announced with no definite purpose of pushing on to the pole, although that may incidentally be reached. Mr. Robert Stein, of the U.S. Geological Survey, proposes establishing a station at the south end of Ellesmere Land, which will be kept in touch with the outer world by the whalers hunting in Baffin Bay. Here a number of observers will live gaining experience in Arctic travel, and from this base “a fan of secondary stations” will be pushed out a hundred miles or so further north, where comfortable houses will be built and frequent communication kept up with headquarters. From each secondary station the staff of five hardy observers will travel northwards, combining science with sport, and even when tracking the musk-ox or white bear each explorer will carry his “four-poundaluminium theodolite.” and “make game of the heights and bearings of the mountain peaks.” We fear that if this expedition, or rather system of exploration, is really set on foot, its difficulties will become much more real than they now appear. In any case it would be wise to-postpone work on so large a scale until the two well-equipped expeditions already in the field have added their contribution to our knowledge of Arctic conditions.
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Geographical Notes. Nature 49, 18 (1893). https://doi.org/10.1038/049018b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/049018b0