Searching for the ends of the Earth
The early explorers into the Arctic Circle were not actually looking for the Arctic. They were searching for a shorter sea route north from Europe to the riches of Asia:
`The North-east Passage’ – a sea route going east, along the top of Scandinavia and then over the top of Russia.
`The North-west Passage’ – a route going west over the top of North America.
From initial interest in 1576, when Queen Elizabeth I of England sent Martin Frobisher off to find a north-west passage to China, it took more than 300 years for explorers to navigate the North-west Passage, and many died in the attempt.
Sir John Franklin
Then in 1817 the British government offered a prize of £5,000 to whoever could find a North-west passage. Many sailors set out but failed to find it. In 1845 the Royal Navy organized a big expedition led by John Franklin which was hailed as the greatest Arctic expedition of all time but Franklin fell victim to the extreme cold and died in 1847.
There followed other naval expeditions to search for the North-west Passage in the first half of the 19th century, including those by John Ross, William Parry, James Clark Ross and Sir Robert McClure who was credited with the discovery of the Northwest Passage by sea in 1815.
These extraordinarily brave men faced uncertain dangers as they quite literally sailed into the unknown in order to find an uncharted `passage’ that may or may not exist.
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