POLAR REGIONS 325 eigh mith. -irden- sicild fcl the
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]?sage. another voyage in the "Pandora" to the entrance of Smith Sound. Lieutenant Koolemans Beynen, a young Dutch officer, who had shared Young s two polar voyages, on his return successfully endeavoured to interest his countrymen in polar discovery. It was wisely determined that the first expeditions of Holland should be summer reconnaissances on a small scale. A sailing schooner of 79 tons was built at Amsterdam, and named the "Willem Barents." In her first cruise she was commanded by Lieutenant A. de Bruyne, with Koolemans Beynen as second, and she sailed from Holland on the 6th May 1878. Her instructions were to examine the ice in the Barents and Spitzbergen Seas, take deep-sea soundings, and make natural history collections. She was also to erect memorials to early Dutch polar worthies at certain designated points. These instructions were ably and zealously carried out. Beynen died in the following year, but the work he initiated has been continued. Every year from 1878 to 1884 the "Willem Barents" has made a polar voyage, and has brought back useful scientific results. In 1879 the Dutch succeeded in sighting the coast of Franz-Josef Land. In 1879 Sir Henry Gore-Booth, Bart., and Captain A. H. Markham, B.N., undertook a polar cruise in the Norwegian schooner "Isbjorn." They sailed along the west coast of Nova Zembla to its most northern point, passed through the Matotchkin Shar to the east coast, and examined the ice in the direction of Franz-Josef Land as far as 78 24 N. Captain Markham brought home collections in various branches of natural history, and made useful observations on the drift and nature of the ice in the Barents and Kara Seas. In 1880 Mr Leigh Smith, who had previously made three voyages to Spitzbergen, reached Franz-Josef Land in the screw steamer "Eira." It was observed that, while the Greenland icebergs are generally angular and peaked, those of Franz-Josef Land are vast masses quite flat on the top, like the Antarctic bergs, and from 150 to 200 feet high. The " Eira " sailed along the land to the westward, and discovered 110 miles of new coast line as far as the western extreme of the south side of Franz-Josef Land, whence the land trended north-west. A landing was effected at several points, and valuable collections were made in natural history. In the following year the same explorer left Peterhead on July 14 ; Franz- Joseph Land was once more sighted on the 23d July, and the "Eira" reached a point farther west than had been possible in her previous voyage. But in August the ship was caught in the ice, was nipped, and sank. A hut was built on shore in which Mr Leigh Smith and his crew passed the winter of 1881-82 ; and on June 21, 1882, they started in four boats, to reach some vessels on the Nova Zembla coast. It was a most laborious and perilous voyage. They were first seen and welcomed by the " Willem Barents " on 2d August, and soon afterwards were taken on board the " Hope," a whaler which had come out for their rescue under the command of Sir Allen Young. Professor Nordenskiold, when he projected the achieve ment of the north-east passage, was a veterau polar explorer, for he had been in six previous expeditions to Greenland and Spitzbergen. In 1875 he turned his atten tion to the possibility of navigating the seas along the northern coast of Siberia. Captain Wiggins of Sunderland was a pioneer of this route, and his voyages in 1874, 1875, and 187G led the way to a trade between the ports of Europe and the mouth of the Yenisei river. In June 1875 Professor Nordenskiold sailed from Tromso in the "Proven," reached the Yenisei by way of the Kara Sea, and discovered an excellent harbour on the eastern side of its mouth, which was named Port Dickson, in honour of Mr Oscar Dickson of Gothenburg, the munificent supporter of the Swedish expeditions. It having been suggested that the success of this voyage was due to the unusual state of the ice in 1875, Nordenskiold undertook a voyage in the following year in the " Ymer " which was equally successful. By a minute study of the history of former attempts, and a careful consideration of all the circum stances, Professor Nordenskiold convinced himself that the achievement of the north-east passage was feasible. The king of Sweden, Mr Oscar Dickson, and M. Sibiriakoff, a wealthy Siberian proprietor, supplied the funds, and the steamer " Vega " was purchased. Nordenskiold was leader of the expedition, Lieutenant Palander was appointed commander of the ship, and there was an efficient staff of officers and naturalists, including Lieutenant Hovgaard of the Dutch and Lieutenant Bove of the Italian navy. A small steamer called the "Lena" was to keep company with the "Vega" as far as the mouth of the Lena, and they sailed from Gothenburg on the 4th July 1878. On the morning of 10th August they left Port Dickson, and on the 19th they reached the most northern point of Siberia and of the Old World, Cape Severo or Tchelyuskin, in 77 41 N. On leaving the extreme northern point of Asia a south-easterly course was steered, the sea being free from ice and very shallow. This absence of ice is due to the mass of Avarm water discharged by the great Siberian rivers during the summer. On 27th August the mouth of the river Lena was passed, and the " Vega " parted company with the little "Lena," continuing her course eastward. Professor Nordenskiold very nearly made the north-east passage in one season. Towards the end of September the "Vega" was frozen-in off the shore of a low plain in 67 7 N. and 173 20 W. near the settlements of the Tchuktches. During the voyage very large and important natural history collections were made, and the interesting aboriginal tribe among whom the winter was passed was studied with great care. The interior was also explored for some distance. On July 18, 1879, after having been imprisoned by the ice for two hundred and ninety-four days, the " Vega " again pro ceeded on her voyage and passed Behring Strait on the 20th. Sir Hugh Willoughby made the first attempt in 1553. After a lapse of three hundred and twenty-six years, the north-east passage had at length been accom plished without the loss of a single life and without damage to the vessel. The " Vega " arrived at Yokohama on September 2, 1879. In 1879 an enterprise was undertaken in the United Schwatka States, with the object of throwing further light on the sad history of the retreat of the officers and men of Sir John Franklin s expedition, by examining the west coast of King William Island in the summer, when the snow is off the ground. The party consisted of Lieutenant Schwatka of the United States army and three others. Wintering near the entrance of Chesterfield Inlet in Hudson s Bay, they set out overland for the estuary of the Great Fish River, assisted by Eskimo and dogs, on April 1, 1879. They only took one month s provisions, their main reliance being upon the game afforded by the region to be traversed. The party obtained, during the journeys out and home, no less than five hundred and twenty-two reindeer. After collecting various stories from the Eskimo at Montreal Island and at an inlet west of Cape Richardson, Schwatka crossed over to Cape Herschel on King William Island in June. He examined the western shore of the island with the greatest care for relics of Sir John Franklin s parties, as far as Cape Felix, the northern extremity. The return journey was com menced in November by ascending the Great Fish River
for some distance and then marching over the intervening