Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1874-10-15
Austro. Hungarian Polar Discoveries.

To Austrian enterprise belongs the
honor of having discovered the most
northern land yet reached by polar ex-
petitions. The narrative of the adven-
turers on the Tegetthoff, as related in a
telegram from Capt. Payer to the Neue
Freie Press, is full of history to all
who have followed the interest of Arc
tic explorations. Capt. Payer and
Lieut.. Weyprecht have secured for
themselves and for Austria permanent
lease of fame. In leaving Bremen June
Is, 1872, their expectations appear to
have been limited to the hope of ex-
ploring the coast of Northern Siberia,
and did not include the intention of
reaching much higher latitude. Count
Wilczec conveyed to them some stores
and provisions in his yacht while they
were off the coast of Nova Zembla, and
left them there on the following August,
provisioned for three years. From that
time till their return nothing was heard
from them, except in the negative evil
dence of Capt. Isaksen, Norwegian
fisherman, who satisfied himself, by cir
Communicating the northern extremity
of Nova Zembla without finding traces
of them, that the explorers had depart
ed thence.
During two years they continued to
make the Tegetthoff their home-two
winters in which the night was seven
months long. In the summer of 1873,
they made desperate endeavors to free
their ice-bound vessel, but their work
of saving and blasting met no success.
Carried onward by the ice-pack, in the
fall they were unexpectedly conveyed to
200 nautical miles north of Nova
Zembla. They spent the winter of
1924 at distance of three miles from
this land, without any harbor, in lat.
70 deg. 81 min. n, long. SO deg. E.
Between March and May of the
present year, they made the series of
excursions on sledges over this noun
famous country which have so rebound
ed to their credit; these extended from
70 deg. 81 min. to above SO deg. The
new-found country was named in honor
of the Emperor, Francis-Joseph Land.
It's longitudinal development is at least
10 deg, and from the highest mountain
tops they were unable to peceive any
boundary. 1t is principally plateau,
the height being 5000 feet; the most
elevated portion visited was in lat. 50
deg. 5 min. The difficulties encoun-
tered in crossing the glaciers and broken
ice are represented as extreme. The
most northerly point, in lat. SO deg,
was named Cape Vienna.
Life in those dreary solitudes was not
attractive they failed to find any con.
siderable amount of game, and vegeta
ton was exceedingly scanty. Even III
the sound adjoining, driftwood was
scarce and only icebergs were abund
ant. The mountains consist of dolor.
ite-certainly not a cheerful mineral
The temperature during the sledge ex
cursions fell to So deg. Fab. below zero
and on the vessel to 81 deg. The ict
lifted their vessel, and she became un
seaworthy. On May 20 they at length
resolved to abandon her, and began {
journey of SO days in boats and sledge'
that was5full of danger. At 70 miles
from the North Cape Nassau, in lat
" deg. 40 min., they left the pack-ic'
forever behind them, and on Aug. l.
were skirtipg along the coast of Nov;
Zembla in the open sea. But the da.
of their deliverance was at hand. o.
Aug. "a they hailed the little Russial
schooner Nikolaj, Capt. Feodor Boro
min, which safely landed them at Var
doe, on the Norwegian ceast.