the Pole to the north of our Canadian Dominion—could not have been investigated as it has been.
But not only does all this magnificent supply of fresh food from Arctic land animals depend on the luxuriant vegetation there, but some of the plants are actually adjuncts to the food supply, notably scurvy-grass and sorrel, both of which are pleasant and healthy vegetables, and both of which help to ward off scurvy. Lichens have even been used as food for men crossing barren wastes where hardly any other plant existed, and when animals were not there to be hunted or difficult to secure. Franklin, Richardson, and Back maintained life by eating "an old pair of leather trousers, a gun cover, a pair of old shoes with a little 'tripe de roche' that they succeeded in scraping off the rocks."
The success of Polar expeditions depends not only on selecting a good set of healthy men, but also, once the expedition is in the field, on maintaining that good health and even on improving it. Scurvy has been the deadliest enemy of Polar expeditions, whether they have been for hunting or for exploration. Spitsbergen and other Arctic lands are one huge cemetery containing the remains of scurvy-stricken men and women who have died through ignorance and obstinacy, and even within the last few years many hunters have
