The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1879-11-28
a strange Uorner oss5.e World.

It may be some time yet before fully
Significance Of the daring voyage the
Vega along the north coast OF Asia
WIKI reference to navigation, is full
known. Professor Nordenskjoid has
not yet reported his views upon that
point-he has merely told US a few
facts For instance, be says be has
discovered that the coast Of Siberia,
west of the Lena, vast plain, devoid
OF trees, ia the navigation to which an
encounter with inpenetrable icehoes is
generally to be feared. There are 20
great islands out to sea there to pre-
vent the wind from driving the ice
down toward the land and there are
9ast distances where few rivers empty
into the Polar Ocean, and By their
warm current, preserve space Of open
water along the shore For several
hundred miles in the vicinity of the
Lena, however, great rivers pour into
the Ocean aud large Islands lie of to
the uorthward and there is almost no
ice along shore East Of the Kolima,
toward BehriGg Strais, there are 40
great riverA and Although the climate
IS milder and the woodlands creep
down almost TO the sea, the frozen
a9esz oTAssae e-eeose.- ta-Lh=-St4 us.s;as1a Il
the fail and winter they are liable to
bar the way in shipping They give
Nordenskjold great trouble. aud on
the 25th OF September they left him
euchained in solid ice a few miles from
the open water uorth of Behring Strait,
and only one huudrad miles from the
strait itself They kept him then
eight weary months While communi
eating these facts the daring Swede had
not yet published conclusions then
agreed upon.
II be has left Us 10 the dark in re-
gard to the commercial navigation of
the Siberia coast, however, he has at
least taken the pains to reveal the in
teres,ing nature Of the region he has
just passed through When the ice
closed in upon the Vega, and left the
stout ship eDslaved in those northern
solitudes Prof Nordenskjold wrote a
letter 10 Dr. Oscar Dickson. the main
/ contributor toward the fitting out OF
the expedition, describing the scenes
along the coast The letter, dispatched
on the 20th Of February, has at least
reached its destination and IS now pub
li-hed in the London Standard. The
letter calls attention, in the first place,
TO a group Of islands which are very re.
u,arkable from scientific point Of view
. The Islands, the Nea Siberian, oper
the book ofthe history of the world a
a new place. The ground there i.
sirewn with wonderful fossils Whole
hills are covered with the bones Of tn,
mammoth, rbi0oceros, horses, uri, bi
sou. oxen, sheep, etc. The sea washes
up ivory upon the shores In this grouj
is possibly to be found the resolution
of the question Of the ancestry of th,
Indian elephant, aud important facti
with regard 10 the gertebrates which
existed at the time OF mans first ap
pearauce upon earth How came hor
ses aud sheep in u region now lockeo
in the fetters of an eternal winter, un
Inhabited by man, not supporting ami
mol liea IN anu form, and almost i'm
possible Of access? Prof Nordensk
jold was unable to solve the question
himself, and he suggests that it is 0
the utmost importance to science t
send light draught steel steamer I
these Islands for thorough explora
t;or