- dred years; namely, to find a northeast passage to the
Pacific. Supported by King Oscar of Sweden and by Mr. Oscar Dickson of Gothenburg, Nordenskjöld sailed from Tromsö in his ship, the Vega, July 21, 1878, accompanied by three other vessels. Two of the vessels left him at the mouth of the Yenisei and proceeded up that river, while the other, the Lena, accompanied the Vega eastward. The fog caused the sailors more trouble than the ice, but one day the mist rose, showing a dark ice-free cape. Then Nordenskjöld knew that he had succeeded in reaching the northernmost point of the Old World, Cape Tcheliuskin (Chelyuskin).
More than a century earlier, Lieutenant Tcheliuskin, a Russian officer, had succeeded in reaching this most northern point of Siberia, traveling overland by sledge. Many explorers had tried to reach Cape Tcheliuskin by water, but up to this time all had failed. Nordenskjöld and his companions were very proud of their success. Flags were hoisted, salutes fired, and the officers drank toasts in honor of the occasion.
A heap of stones, called a cairn, was erected on shore as a memorial, and soon the two vessels started again on their journey eastward. When the mouth of the Lena river was reached, the ship Lena headed toward it and, after exploring the river, returned home.
After parting from the Lena, the Vega continued her voyage to the New Siberian islands and thence along the coast of Asia, nearly to Bering strait. When within a day's journey of the strait, the Vega was beset in the ice; and, much to Nordenskjöld's regret, he was obliged to pass the winter at the very entrance to the Pacific ocean. Had he been a few hours earlier, he might have forced his way through the ice and completed the northeast passage
