These islands and these forbidding seas which surround them have a history. … Suffice it to say that deeds have been done here as great in valour as any that led to the conquest of Mexico, the acquisition of Peru, or the opening up of the better known portions of Canada; but, unlike the captains and conquerors to the south, these explorers have come and gone, leaving behind them little trace of their passage. They pillaged no cities, they robbed no temples, and the only treasure that they brought back was an incomparable record of human courage and endurance.
Eastern Arctic Patrols, 1925-1929