Page:Polar Exploration - Bruce - 1911.djvu/249

Rh Land, Novaya Zemlya, and possibly also in Jan Mayen, East Greenland, and the shores of northern Canada and Siberia. This form of research is one of the most valuable forms of exploration yet to be accomplished. The station should in each case be provided with a moderate-sized steam or motor launch.

Now, turning our attention to the South Polar Regions, we find the most interesting field in the world for exploration, especially with modern methods. Almost everything south of 40° S. requires thorough investigation and overhauling, and vast stores of information are to be gathered both from sea and land. And let us not neglect too much the sea, more especially since we are a sea-faring and sea-loving nation. The pride and glory of our past is largely due to the intrepidity and alertness of our seamen. Yet with all this, not only the public generally, but even many scientific people think much more of an accidental discovery of land than of any amount of hard, plodding work carried on at sea. So much so that if an expedition investigates 150 miles of unknown land it is said to have made "important geographical discoveries," whereas, if it investigate, with equal if not greater detail, 150 miles of unknown sea, it will be said that the expedition made "no geographical discoveries." The reason is that, especially in