New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-12-27
ARCTLC ENPLORAT[ON.

The coming year will probably witness
great revival of enterprise in penetrating the
frozen North. Very recent dispatches, an
nouncing the successful voyage of Captain
Virgins between Tobolsk, the capital of 81
IBERIA, and st. Petersburg, Russia, will add the
stimulus of commerce to the attractions OF
discovery. They promise to Northern Europe a
new route for trade with China, and to Russia
a new path of competition with England for
the control of Asia There can be scarce
~ any doubt that Russia will grasp
so excellent an opportunity. In addition to
the success of the voyage in respect to its i'm
mediate object, Captain Virgins reports, ac-
cordng to the dispatch, that there is a route
to the North Pole, with open sea all the way.
This is probably n great exaggeratlon. for
which il is not worth while to trace the re-
sponsiblity until details Of the voyage come
to hand. If Captain Virgins had sailed far
enough north to ascertain that the pathway to
the Pole was open, the fact of his having
reached a high latitude would undoubtedly
have been telegraphed. There is nothing in
the exigences of voyage to the Obi and
Jenisei Rivers requiring ship to go further
north than latitude TAP.
The establishment of commerce upon the
Arctic Ocean and the frequent passage of YES
sells up the Gulf of Obi will greatly facilitate
explorations northwaId of NOvaya Xemlya
Those Of Licutenants Weyprecht and Payer
were made by way of the western side of that
island, and extended far beyond it, sighting
land as high as $50. The open water report
ed now by Captain Virgins is probably on the
eastern side of NOvaya Zemlya, but it was
not the opinion of the Austrian explorers that
the Pole could be reached by sailing north
ward in those regions. So far as they were
able to ascertain, further progress would be
Distracted by ice, or by land. But their dis
coyery of the region named Franz Joseph
Land, within the Arctic Circle, has aroused
desire for further exploration. which must now
be intensified, and will probably take definite
shape before next Summer
The programme of Swedish Arctic expedi
ton has recently been announced in full. The
vessel is n whaling steamship, the Vega. Cap
tain Palander will be in command. -Four
scientific observers will accompany the expe-
dition; including these and the officers and
crew, the Vega is not expected to carry more
than thirty persons. The expense will be
shared by the Swedish Government King Os-
car, and two private gentlemen. The plan is
to start next July from GOthcnburg, Sweden,
and sail eastward through tho Arctic Sea to
Behring Strait; through that strait to the
Pacific thence down the eastern coast of
Asia, and back by way of the Indian
Ocean, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean
and the North Atlantic, to GOthenburg.
There is novelty in the notion of thus sailing
Al, nj A.io nd
if successful the voyage will include going
around Cape Tcheliuskin, an exploit which
has never yet been accomplished. The north
cm coast of Siberia has been imperfectly ex-
plorcd along the vast space between the Kara
Sea and Behring Strait. In the Arctic Ocean,
north of that coast, the chief, if not the only
discoveries, have been the New Siberian group
of islands, partly traced out by Russian eX-
pedition in 1S22-localities rich III the fossil
ivory Of the mammOth-and Kellett or Wran-
gcll Land, found by Captain Long in 1867
The quantities Of ice i'll this portion of the
Arctic Ocean have discouraged attempts at
seeking there q passage to the Pole.
The time of starting of the main body of
the Howgate expedition from this country
will perhaps be determined by the reports
lIOln iHc lltpdl dtOiy cApcuItoH, Nui'H Ntht
in the schooner Florence, last Summer; and
those reports will certainly influence tho choice
of location for the colony on the shore of
Smiths Sound. While the chief endeavor of
the Howgate colonists will be directed toward
Polar research, it is probable that subordinate
expeditions will be planned to solve other
problems in the North, by means of the