The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-02-25
Nordenskiold's Last Arctic Voyage.


We were informed some time ago by cable
that the second attempt Of Prof. NoRDEN-
SKIOLD to utilize the northeast passage to
Siberia had proved successful. Full nc
counts of his voyage are now at hand, and
they will be found to have an important
bearing, not so much ON the development of
commerce with Northern Asia, as ON the
future route Of Polar exploration.
1t must be borne in mind that NoRDEN-
sKIoLDs discovery forms an epoch in Arctic
geography, because the Swedish savant has
demonstrated the existence of an open Polar
sea In quarter where the concurrent tcst-
mony Of navigators had placed a permanent
and impcnctrable field Of ice. II Is more
than three centuries since STEPHEN Bur-
ROUGH, commissioned by the English Mus
covite Company To seek maritime passage
20 the dominiOns of the Great Khan. pro-
nounced hopeless the project of travcrsing
the Kara basin; and although in 1908 HEN
Dirk HUDSON did succeed in reaching tho
mouth Of the Oh, the time of year chosen for
his voyage was too early, and therefore he
too returned in ignorance of the free water
which might have been found north of
the gulf. The equally abortivo results of
mulated in an axiom that n northeast pas
sage to China is chimera, and that of all
possible avenues to the pole the least prac-
ticable is the route through the Siberian
ocean. The vast deposit of Ice encountered
by explorers In the sO-called Karian Bay
between the eastern coast of Nova Zcnbla
and the Samoyed peninsula, was supposed to
be unbroken and proof against the influence
ola Arctic summer Indeed, it came to be
known as the ice house" par erceUencc
and so lately as last year an eminent gcog
rapher of st. Petersburg had contro-
versy with DR.. PErERMANN respecting the
prOpriety Of the epithet.
The reluctant and captious reception given
by parlor goographers TO paradoxical dis
coveries and of which Capt SpEKE and
other explorers OF central Africa have had
such unpleasant experience, was exempli-
fed also In this instance. Moreover, just
rs slave merchants and ivory seekers were
the veritable pioneers OF African travel, so
the first intimation OF an open sea beyond
Nova Zembla came from Norwegian walrus
hunters, who insisted that they found no diff
fculty during the month Of August in push
Ing their smacks far to the east and north of
that frozen island. Their assertions, how
ever. were discredited until in the summer
of 1875 Prof. NoRDENsKIoLD followed In
the track OF these adventurous fisher
men, crossed tho Kara gulf in a
small sailing vessel and accomplished
the return trip from the Ycnissei to Ham
merfcst In the short space Of ten days. Even
then, many geographers declared that the
feat could not DO repeated, precisely as his
contemporaries said Of MAGELLAN's success
In sailing round the world that no man in
the future would be rash enough to copy
him. 1t was to dissipate, once for ALL this
prejudice, and prove that the Siberian ocean
Is navigable during part of every summer,
quite as much as TO further a commercial
project, that the Swedish traveller some six
months ago, undertook second voyage.
We have before US the diary OF DR.. ANTON
STUXBERG, who accompanied NORDEN-
SKIOLD, from which it appears that tho
expedition left the port OF Tromso in
the steamer Ymer on the 25th OF last
July. Within forty-cight hours the party
doubled tho North Cape, and occupied but
three days in tho transit thence TO
Nova Zenbla, casting anchor on the 30th
OF the month in the Matotschkln strait
NHl'll S'N'lo lllt lNlu lSlhi'lS mug
collective name In another day they
had traycrscd this sound and entered
the Kara SEA, which for tho moment they
found blocked in this direction by masses Of
drift lee. Now, the navigator who, like
BURROrGH and so many subsequent cX-
plorere, should be deceived by this circum-
stance and permit himself TO infer that the
whole gulf was chokel with ico, would
naturally turn back in dn~ppir aud bring
home mistaken conclusions. The simple
tact WAS, however that the arrival of the
travellers was liltle premature. Taking
southern course and skirting tho eastern
coast OF Nova X'mL,'.. Keeping his vessel in
the free shore wntol between the land nHa
tho lee pack NoRpfNsKIoLD easily made
his way TO tho so-callcd Harlan Gate Il
species Of natural sluice at the southern OK
tromity Of the husn. From this point,
steering east, lie passed the floating Ice