Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/19

 other nations to pass. Thus they succeeded in controlling all the rich Eastern trade, and were growing very wealthy and powerful.

The English and the Dutch, who were also anxious to obtain a share of the rich commerce with the East, saw the importance of finding a northern route to India; consequently they experimented by sailing northeast along the coast of Europe and Asia. The route which they sought was known as the northeast passage.

England sent out the first expedition in 1553, but the severity of the weather prevented the ships from making much progress. Several other vain attempts were made by the English, and then the Dutch took up the work; but they failed, too, and for a time the search for northern passages to the Indies was abandoned.

The total absence of the sun from the Arctic regions during a large part of each year makes the climate severe and the country desolate. Direct sun rays are necessary to insure warmth, and the regions within the Arctic circle receive at the best only slanting rays.

In the temperate zones the sun is never exactly over-*head. For people who live within the tropics it is over