Bøker i Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration-serien

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 brief account in English of the 1806 voyage of the Sirene by the French naval officer Freminville. Initially tasked with attacking British whalers off Spitsbergen, the frigate came close to the coast of Greenland, yet most of the time on land was spent in Iceland, where observations were made of the Icelandic people, fauna and geology.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the goal of the North-West Passage had claimed the lives of many explorers, yet the disappearance of the expedition led by Sir John Franklin occasioned the greatest response. Naval officer Sherard Osborn (1822-75) took part in the search mission of 1850-1 under Horatio Thomas Austin. Osborn was appointed to command the Pioneer, one of two steam tenders on the voyage. This was the first time such vessels had been deployed in the punishing conditions of the Arctic. Such was their success in cutting through ice and navigating the treacherous waters that similar models were later adopted by the whaling fleet. The present work, first published in 1852, gives a compelling account of the hardships of the expedition, which was successful in its surveying work and confirmed that Franklin had not been lost in Baffin Bay.

John Irving (1815-1847?) was a lieutenant on board H.M.S. Terror during Sir John Franklin's fateful expedition, and had the melancholy distinction of being the first identifiable body to be found by a subsequent search party - that of the US officer Frederick Schwatka - in 1878. Irving was identified by a silver medal, won for mathematics in 1830. His remains were brought back to Britain and reburied in his home town, Edinburgh, and at the request of Irving's father this 'memorial sketch', including some of the young lieutenant's letters to his family, was published in 1881 by Benjamin Bell (1810-83), great-grandfather of the surgeon Joseph Bell, Conan Doyle's model for Sherlock Holmes. As well as the touching memoir, the work includes details of the various search and rescue attempts, and a reconstructed chronology by Clements Markham of the Franklin expedition up to its disastrous end.

Norwegian-born Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink (1864-1934) claimed to have been the first person to step onto the Antarctic mainland when he first visited the continent in 1895. Becoming enthusiastic about Antarctic exploration, he was inspired to organise his own expedition on the Southern Cross, with principal funding from Sir George Newnes, an English newspaper proprietor. The British Antarctic Expedition (1898-1900) of ten men to Cape Adare comprised seven Norwegians, two British and one Australian. This was the first expedition to construct a building in Antarctica, overwinter on land, and use sledge dogs for travel. It also set a new farthest south record. Although Borchgrevink was not an effective leader, and problems developed between the Norwegians and the English speakers, the expedition's scientific and exploratory achievements were significant. First published in 1901, and illustrated with many photographs, this work illuminates these endeavours.

In June 1875, Frederick George Innes-Lillingston (1849-1904) set out for the Arctic aboard Pandora, a steam yacht captained by the seasoned polar explorer Allen Young (1827-1915). In this, the first of two voyages north, Young sought to make the north-west passage. His lieutenant Innes-Lillingston published this short account in 1876. It follows the voyage through to Peel Strait, where Young was forced to turn back in the face of heavy ice. On the journey home, the Pandora picked up the dispatches of the expedition under George Nares that was attempting to reach the North Pole. Conveying both the thrill and difficulty of the endeavour, this narrative provides a highly readable account of seafaring in extreme conditions. Also reissued in this series are two related works by Young: Cruise of the Pandora (1876) and The Two Voyages of the Pandora (1879).

The disappearance of Sir John Franklin's Arctic expedition of 1845 led to many rescue attempts, some by the British government and some by private individuals, as well as a large number of works recounting these expeditions and reflecting on the mystery. Little is known about the author of this 1857 work, James Parsons. He begins this dramatic account by noting that the disappearance of a large and well-equipped party is almost unprecedented in the Arctic: nothing certain was known about Franklin's fate twelve years after the last recorded sighting. Parsons' speculations derive from a knowledge of naval practice, and familiarity with the seas and climate of the Arctic region and the records of earlier expeditions. He offers practical suggestions about a new attempt using steam-boats, but knows that this will be to find out what actually happened, because there could now be no possibility of finding survivors.

First published in 1874, this illustrated work by Albert Hastings Markham (1841-1918) recounts his experiences aboard the Dundee steam whaler Arctic. Markham also gives an account of the rescue of the crew of the American vessel Polaris, crushed by ice in 1872 during its attempt to reach the North Pole. The work is enhanced by details of meetings with Inuit, encounters with polar wildlife, oceanographic observations, and meteorological events. Appropriately, fellow naval officer and explorer Sherard Osborn (1822-75) wrote the introduction: he had a long interest in Arctic exploration, advocated the benefits of using steam ships in icy waters, and encouraged Markham to embark on the whaling cruise. The appendices include a 'list of birds shot', as well as data on botanical and geological specimens. Also reissued in this series are Markham's The Great Frozen Sea (1878), Northward Ho! (1879) and A Polar Reconnaissance (1881).

William Scoresby junior (1789-1857), explorer, scientist, and later Church of England clergyman, first travelled to the Arctic when he was just ten years old. The son of Arctic whaler and navigator William Scoresby of Whitby, he spent nearly every summer for twenty years at a Greenland whale fishery. He made significant discoveries in Arctic geography, meteorology, oceanography, and magnetism, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1824. First published in 1823, this book recounts Scoresby's voyage to Greenland in the summer of 1822 aboard the Baffin, a whaler of his own design. On this journey, his penultimate voyage to the north, he charted a large section of the coast of Greenland. His narrative also includes descriptions of scientific observations and geographical discoveries made during the voyage, and the appendices includes lists of rock specimens, plants and animal life, and notes on meteorological and other data.

Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) joined the Navy at the age of fourteen and saw action at Copenhagen and Trafalgar. Between those battles, he circumnavigated Australia with his uncle, Matthew Flinders; he became famous after his first major expedition to northern Canada in 1819-22, although it resulted in the deaths of over half of his men. Accounts of both of these voyages are also reissued in this series. Franklin returned to the Arctic in 1825, and this, his second book, describes that more successful endeavour. Published in 1828, it records the expedition's planning, route, scientific observations, and the mapping of over 1200 miles of Canada's northern coastline. The party included two artists, and their work is reproduced in over thirty engravings. Franklin was later posted to the Mediterranean and Tasmania, but in 1845 embarked on his disastrous third expedition to the North-West Passage, during which he and his entire crew were lost.

After joining the Navy at thirteen, William Edward Parry (1790-1855) spent three years protecting the whale fisheries of Spitzbergen. He was later appointed to several Arctic expeditions. Although his first voyage in search of the North-West Passage ended without success in 1819, it provided valuable scientific data and experience. The expedition of 1821-3 was longer, with two winters spent on the ice, but also ended without success. Parry's account of that second voyage, first published in 1824, provides insights into the early days of Arctic exploration and the character of one of its pioneers, noted for his care for his men, his precision in navigation and scientific observations, and his ability to quickly find solutions to difficult problems. The book also includes descriptions of the 'Esquimaux' encountered by the explorers, and their communities as well as a vocabulary of their language.

William Edward Parry (1790-1855) spent the early part of his naval career protecting the whale fisheries of Spitzbergen. He was later appointed to several Arctic expeditions, including three in search of the North-West Passage. This 1821 publication, reissued here in the unchanged second edition from the same year, describes the first of these voyages. Although unsuccessful, it provided valuable scientific data and experience that shaped subsequent expeditions. Noted for his care for his men, and his ability to quickly find solutions to difficult problems, Parry realised during this expedition the importance of keeping his explorers occupied during the winter, and started a newspaper and a theatre group. This first expedition established that, contrary to John Ross's 1819 account (also reissued in this series), a westward route through Lancaster Sound did in fact exist. It also began to map the many islands in the region.

In 1829, Thomas Simpson (1808-1840), born in Dingwall, Scotland, joined the fur-trading Hudson's Bay Company. Under its auspices, he was the junior officer of a successful survey expedition along the North-West Passage, beyond the limits of Franklin's disastrous 1819-22 attempt. The Royal Geographical Society awarded Simpson their Founder's Medal; however the Company refused his request immediately to lead an expedition further east along the coast. Simpson, ambitious and furious, set out for London, hoping to secure approval there, but before he reached the Atlantic, he was shot in the head. The men who had accompanied him alleged that he went mad, and killed two of them before committing suicide. Simpson's own account of his explorations was edited by his brother, Alexander, and published in 1843 in an attempt to restore his reputation. It sheds light on Simpson's difficult character and also on the contribution of trade interests to exploration.

Written by his son, the Rev. Edward Parry, this 1857 memoir describes the life and times of Rear-Admiral Sir W. Edward Parry (1790-1855), the British naval officer and Arctic explorer. The work describes how Parry became a successful pioneer of Arctic enterprise, having in 1827 attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole, setting a record which then stood for fifty years. Reflecting the religious side of Parry's character, the book demonstrates how he was a constant promoter of the welfare of his crews. From Parry's childhood years, the book traces the explorer's distinguished career in the Navy, his meticulous scientific work and his long and usually dangerous voyages and expeditions. Alongside his professional successes, including his knighthood in 1829, the book gives insights into the difficulties of his private life, including the tragic deaths of his first wife and of some of his children.

Elisha Kent Kane (1820-57) was a medical officer in the United States Navy, best known for the so-called 'Grinnell voyages' to the Arctic in search of Sir John Franklin's expedition. Originally published in 1856, this two-volume work documents his second expedition, between 1853 and 1855, during which his ship became ice-bound, and he and his men survived by adopting Inuit survival skills, such as hunting, sledge-driving and hut-building. In Volume 2, Kane continues to describe the Inuit people by whom he was aided, their birth and death rites, their survival skills in times of famine, and their rescuing of his crew. Accompanied by an extensive appendix containing his meteorological and geological surveys of the area, Kane's writings reveal his own controversial personality, his scholarly and navigational abilities, and his admiration of the way in which the Inuits' life was adapted to their environment.

The German surgeon and explorer Emil Bessels (1847-88) was head of the scientific team on the American-sponsored Polaris Expedition, which in 1871-3 made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the North Pole. Some of the crew spent months adrift on an ice floe and others were marooned in Greenland. Astonishingly, they survived, but much of the expedition's scientific research remained unpublished as a result of financial wrangling. This 1879 publication is a popular account of the journey, with a substantial scientific appendix based on the expedition papers and additional data shared with Bessels by Sir George Nares. It describes the expedition's landfalls from Newfoundland to Greenland, and experiences, including temperatures so low that mercury froze, hunting for polar bears and seals for food, and the help provided by the local Inuit, whose language, traditions and burial customs Bessels outlines. The book also contains over eighty illustrations, mostly woodcuts.

Sir Albert Hastings Markham (1841-1918) was a British Admiral and Arctic explorer. He joined the Royal Navy at fifteen and after postings in China, the Mediterranean and Australia he was promoted to Commander in 1872. For the next six years he took part in Arctic exploration, later writing fascinating accounts of his experiences. He was appointed as Naval Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria in 1888, and in 1903 he received a knighthood and was promoted to admiral. Published in 1878, this is the first of several editions of Markham's fascinating first-hand account of the British Arctic expedition of 1875-6. It describes the first passage through Nares Strait, named after the expedition's leader George Nares, and the intrepid dog-sled journey ,led by Markham, that took the party further north than any previous Arctic explorers. Nares' own account of the voyage is also reissued in this series.

Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen (1867-1913) was a Norwegian Polar explorer. He accompanied Nansen on the Fram Expedition of 1893-6 and took part in a number of explorations of the Svalbard archipelago. He later participated in Roald Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole in 1910-12, although he was written out of the official history following a bitter dispute with Amundsen. Johansen's account of Nansen's Fram Expedition appeared in Norwegian in 1898, and this English translation was published the following year. It describes Nansen's attempt to drift north in a deliberately ice-bound ship and then ski to the North Pole, and reveals the dangers and challenges faced by the crew during their three-year journey. Although they did not reach the Pole, they set a new furthest-north record that stood for several years. Nansen's own account of the expedition, Farthest North, is also available as part of the Cambridge Library Collection.

Vitus Bering (1681-1741) was a Danish-born Russian navigator. He enlisted in the Russian navy and fought during the Great Northern War (1700-21) against the Swedish Empire. In 1725 he received a commission from Peter the Great to discover whether there was a land bridge between Russia and America. He sailed through what would later be called the Bering Strait, but was unable to reach America on this first attempt. He succeeded on his next voyage, later named the Great Northern Expedition, and set about mapping significant sections of North American coastline. He also charted the Arctic coast of Siberia, 'discovered' Japan from the North and became the first European to explore Alaska. Published in English translation for the American market in 1889, this sympathetic biography by the historian and geographer Peter Lauridsen (1846-1923) had originally appeared in Danish in 1885. It includes extensive notes and an index.

In 1895, naturalists Henry J. Pearson (1859-1913) and Colonel H. W. Feilden (1838-1921) set out to Norway for the first time, aiming to study Arctic bird life, geology and botany. This book, first published in 1899, is a collection of their diary entries and papers. Full of humour and written almost novelistically, Pearson's diary describes his ornithological findings and the other noteworthy features of their voyages - he includes an anecdotal account of the process of catching a whale, and describes their own less than ideal ship, and the many difficulties of travelling in the often inhospitable and little-explored North. In the second half of the book, Feilden focuses on geology and botany in three technical papers accompanied by his own photographs. A remarkable account of an ambitious project, this book forms part of the nineteenth-century genre of scientific travel literature, and contains still-relevant information about the Arctic environment.

Robert Peary (1856-1920) was an American Arctic explorer. For much of the twentieth century, he was for many years credited with being, in 1909, the first man to reach the North Pole, although this has recently been questioned. Born in Cresson, Pennsylvania, Peary graduated from Bowdoin College in 1877 and joined the US Navy in 1881. He began his Arctic expeditions in 1886, exploring Greenland for a number of years in search of a route to the Pole. Published in 1893, this illustrated book consists of two parts. Drawing on the diaries of the expedition's surgeon, Robert Keely, Part I describes the journey that took Peary to Greenland in 1891. Part II uses the journal of the botanist William Meehan to describe the 1892 expedition to bring the exploring party home. The book includes transcripts of the logs of Richard Pike, captain of the Kite on both voyages.

George W. Melville (1841-1912) was a member of an 1879 American Arctic expedition seeking a northern passage from the Bering Strait to the Atlantic. Its ship was trapped in ice for nearly two years, and was eventually crushed and sank. The crew, stranded in three small boats, were left with few provisions and little hope of rescue. Melville was the only boat commander to bring his men to safety, assuming leadership of the survivors after landing in Siberia in 1881. He returned to search for other survivors, trekking over a thousand miles, but found only the bodies of his former companions in a frozen campsite, from which, however, he recovered the expedition's records. This account also includes details of Melville's role in the Greely Relief Expedition of 1884, from which he returned shortly before the book's British publication in 1885, and a detailed proposal for reaching the North Pole.

Published posthumously in 1889, this journal records the 1850-5 expedition undertaken by naval officer and navigator Sir Richard Collinson (1811-83) to attempt to discover the fate of Sir John Franklin's expedition by entering the hypothetical North-West Passage from the 'other side', via Bering Strait. Franklin, the famous Polar explorer, disappeared on an expedition to discover the Passage in 1845, and no fewer than thirty attempts were made between 1847 and 1859 to investigate what had happened to his 129-strong party. Collinson set out in command of HMS Enterprise in 1850, and his ship, which passed three successive winters in the Arctic, came closest to the place where Franklin's expedition was believed to have ended. Collinson was awarded a Gold Medal by the Royal Geographical Society in 1858 for making a significant contribution to the geographical knowledge of the area, and he was knighted in 1875.

In the summer of 1861 the German-born geologist, zoologist and politician Carl Vogt (1817-95), Professor at Geneva, accompanied the wealthy landowner Georg Berna on a privately financed voyage to the Norwegian coast, the North Cape and Iceland. His role was to explain the natural history of the places they visited; also in the party was the artist Heinrich Hasselhorst, whose drawings illustrate this account of their journey. Vogt's book, published in 1863, is a travel narrative rather than a scientific report. It describes life on board the Joachim Hinrich, and his impressions of places including Bergen, Tromso and Reykjavik, which he compares to a 'white desert' without trees or bushes. Vogt praises the hospitality, athletic physique and good looks of the Icelandic people, but expresses surprise that the natural resources of the island remain largely unexploited. The book includes appendices on Norwegian geology and Icelandic volcanoes.

First published in 1823, this book narrates the disastrous expedition undertaken by Naval officer and Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin up the Coppermine River in North America. Franklin (1786-1847) and nineteen others set out in 1819, initially with guides from the Hudson Bay Company until the journey continued overland, when they relied on Native Americans as guides. The party ran short of supplies and, lacking adequate knowledge for survival, were reduced to eating lichens. One of the party was suspected of eating the bodies of the nine men who had died of exposure and starvation, and two more were killed in a subsequent skirmish. The book was immediately popular on publication and quickly became a travel literature classic. Franklin undertook a second, more successful Arctic journey (the account of which is also published in this series) before setting out on his final expedition of 1845, which ended in tragedy and enduring mystery.

This journal, published in 1819 and generally attributed to Alexander Fisher, assistant surgeon of the Alexander, describes Sir John Ross' abortive expedition to search for the North-West Passage. Ross' own report of the voyage (also reissued in this series) was highly controversial, and William Edward Parry (1790-1855), who had commanded the Alexander, was sent by the Admiralty early in 1819 to continue the mission instead of his former superior. Fisher's account, which he insists is 'strictly true', begins with details of the generous provisions and special cold-weather equipment on the ships (including a form of central heating, and wolf-skin blankets issued gratis to all personnel). He vividly describes Baffin Bay, icebergs, and 'dismal' black cliffs, identified by regular compass bearings. Later, the author expresses surprise at Ross' ship turning around and leaving Lancaster Sound, although no land was visible ahead; this incriminating detail may explain Fisher's preference for anonymity.

Rear-Admiral James Burney (1750-1821), brother of the novelist Fanny Burney and son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney, is best known for his five-volume compilation of voyages in the Pacific Ocean (also reissued in this series). He began his maritime career at the age of ten, as a captain's servant. Five years later he became a naval officer, and from 1772 to 1780 served on Cook's second and third voyages to the South Seas. Following his forced retirement in 1784, he turned to his second career as an author. Published in 1819, this work summarises nine hundred years of exploration of the coastline from Northern Europe to North-East Asia, from the Norse chieftain Ochter's voyage around the North Cape in 890 CE to Captain Billings' 1790 expedition to the Aleutian Islands. He concludes with a detailed discussion of the search for a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Scottish artist W. G. Burn Murdoch (1862-1939) joined a whaling expedition to Antarctica that left Dundee in 1892. He was on board the barque Balaena, the largest of the ships in the group, and under the command of Captain Fairweather. They were searching for the valuable Bowhead whale, which had been sighted on Ross' 1839-43 Antarctic expedition. Although unsuccessful at achieving this aim, the ships returned in 1893 loaded with seal pelts. First published in 1894, this is Murdoch's account of the expedition, illustrated throughout with his sketches. He documents each stage of the voyage, and describes living conditions on the Balaena. His illustrations include scenes such as the Ship's departure and ice landscapes, as well as focusing on the daily work of the crew. The Ship's naturalist, William S. Bruce (1867-1921), wrote the final chapter, focusing on the scientific observations he made during the voyage.

In May 1845, the famous Arctic explorer John Franklin (1786-1847) embarked on another attempt to find the elusive North-West Passage. He never returned from this voyage, and was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. Some thirty rescue missions were launched between 1847 and 1859 to find the missing men. Franklin was not the first explorer to make the dangerous voyage to find the route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, and journalist Peter Lund Simmonds (1814-97) draws from a wide range of reports and publications about these expeditions in his history of the search for the North-West Passage, published in 1851. The detailed account also includes descriptions of the many missions to find Franklin, and this second edition was published later in the same year as the first in order to include updated reports on the progress of his rescue.

Clement Robert Markham (1830-1916) was a geographer who took part in one of the many Arctic expeditions launched to search for missing explorer John Franklin (1786-1847). This account, published in 1853, was written in response to criticism of the expedition. They had found some evidence of Franklin's route - he had set off in May 1845 to find the North-West Passage - but returned to Britain without any of the survivors. Markham gives a brief history of Arctic exploration, but the majority of the book recounts the expedition's efforts to find Franklin. The crew endured a harsh winter and sailed in iceberg-laden waters along the coast of Greenland, looking for clues of Franklin's whereabouts. They also spent some time exploring the Parry Islands (the present-day Queen Elizabeth Islands). Markham's account of the rescue mission provides insight into the little-known and often dangerous world of Arctic explorers.

Sir Allen Young (1827-1915), merchant navy officer and experienced Polar explorer, took part in several expeditions before that of the Pandora. As navigator he had accompanied the McClintock expedition to discover the fate of Sir John Franklin, during which he explored several hundred miles of new coastline by sledge. He was also in command of the Fox on the 1860 North Atlantic telegraph expedition to assess the practicality of a cable route between Europe and America across the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland. In 1875, he led, and financed, the British North-West Passage Expedition on the Pandora, and this compelling account of his journey was first published in 1876. In it, he records his attempt to reach the magnetic pole via Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound, and to navigate the North-West Passage in one season, though he failed in this attempt because of heavy ice in the Franklin Strait.