Produced by Al Haines [Frontispiece: The Arctic Council, discussing a plan of search for Sir John Franklin. From the National Portrait Gallery.] ADVENTURERS OF THE FAR NORTH A Chronicle of the Frozen Seas BY STEPHEN LEACOCK TORONTO GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY 1914 _Copyright in all Countries subscribing to the Berne Convention_ {ix} CONTENTS Page I. THE GREAT ELIZABETHAN NAVIGATORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 II. HEARNE'S OVERLAND JOURNEY TO THE NORTHERN OCEAN . . . . . 34 III. MACKENZIE DESCENDS THE GREAT RIVER OF THE NORTH . . . . . 70 IV. THE MEMORABLE EXPLOITS OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN . . . . . . . 89 V. THE TRAGEDY OF FRANKLIN'S FATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 VI. EPILOGUE. THE CONQUEST OF THE POLE . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 {xi} ILLUSTRATIONS THE ARCTIC COUNCIL DISCUSSING A PLAN OF SEARCH FOR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ From the National Portrait Gallery. ROUTES OF EXPLORERS IN THE FAR NORTH . . . . . . . . _Facing page_ 1 Map by Bartholomew. SAMUEL HEARNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 42 From the Dominion Archives. FORT CHURCHILL OR PRINCE OF WALES . . . . . . . . . . " " 50 From a drawing by Samuel Hearne. SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 70 From a painting by Lawrence. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 112 From the National Portrait Gallery. [Illustration: Routes of Explorers in the Far North] {1} CHAPTER I THE GREAT ELIZABETHAN NAVIGATORS The map of Canada offers to the eye and to the imagination a vast country more than three thousand miles in width. Its eastern face presents a broken outline to the wild surges of the Atlantic. Its western coast commands from majestic heights the broad bosom of the Pacific. Along its southern boundary is a fertile country of lake and plain and woodland, loud already with the murmur of a rising industry, and in summer waving with the golden wealth of the harvest.