135. AN ARCTIC ICE-SCAPE (FULL-PAGE), 297 136. ON BOARD THE BOAT, 299 137. BREAKING UP OF THE ICE, 300 138. JOE CAPTURES A SEAL, 300 139. A NIGHT OF FEAR (FULL-PAGE), 301 140. A “HELL OF WATERS,” 303 141. DRAGGING THE BOAT ON TO A FLOE, 304 142. CLINGING TO THE BOAT (FULL-PAGE), 305 143. SAVED! (FULL-PAGE), 309 THE ARCTIC WORLD. CHAPTER I. THE NORTH POLE--THRESHOLD OF THE UNKNOWN WORLD--THE CIRCUMPOLAR REGIONS--THE FLORA OF THE NORTH--LIFE IN THE POLAR WORLD--THE NORTH-WEST AND NORTH-EAST PASSAGES. As the reader knows, the Poles are the two extremities of the axis round which the Earth revolves. It is to the North Pole, and the regions surrounding it, that the following pages will be devoted. The inhabitants of Western Europe, and more particularly those of the British Isles, have a peculiar interest in the North Polar Regions. Deriving their wealth and importance from their commercial enterprise, and that commercial enterprise leading their ships and seamen into the furthest seas, they have necessarily a vital concern in the discovery of the shortest possible route from that side of the Earth which they inhabit to the other, or eastern side; and this, more particularly, because the East is rich in natural productions which are of high value to the peoples of the West.