Page:Proposed Expedition to Explore Ellesmere Land - 1894.djvu/28

29 Swedes were cast away in sight of its shore, their shipwreck would have been merely an unpleasant accident. As it is, one can not think of their situation without dismay. Yet it is by no means certain that they are lost, for the food supply of that land is ample for so small a party, provided they were able to obtain it. If their rescue involved great risk and expenditure, its omission might seem excusable; but when it can be accomplished with almost no risk, by what is probably the cheapest Arctic expedition ever planned, and which, moreover, promises to yield a rich harvest of scientific facts and no inconsiderable economic advantages, and to establish a safeguard against all future disasters to whalers and to explorers—it would be a disgrace to humanity if the rescue were not attempted. The sympathy of America can not fail to go out to the young scientists sprung from the hallowed cradle of our Aiyan race, the storied Norseland, which in the morning of its history sent Leif Erikson to discover our shores, and which in recent times gave us another Ericsson, whose Monitor helped to save the Union. In all the movements which tend to bring nations closer together, America has ever taken the lead. A thrill of brotherly feeling passed through the English nation when an American expedition went in search of Sir John Franklin; and America in turn felt herself drawn closer to the mother country when the British Government gave its best Arctic ship to aid in the rescue of the Greely party. The world will ring with applause, and the growing sense of brotherhood among the nations will receive an additional impulse, if an American expedition brings back the lost sons of Sweden.

Where is the capitalist who will write his name on what promises to be one of the brightest pages of Arctic history?