The daily gazette., 1879-10-08
4 Strange Corner Of the World.

with reference 10 naVlSatlOn, S Iuly |
known. Professor Nordenskjold has no.
yet reported his views upon that point.
lie has merely told a few facts. For in
stance, he saws he has discovered that
the coast OF Siberia west of the Lena is a
vast plain, devoid of trees. in the naviga-
ton to which an encounter with impene-
trable icefloes is generally TO be feared.
There are no great islands out TO sea
there to prevent the wind from driving
the ice down toward the land and there
are vast distances where few rivers emp
w into the Polar Ocean, and by their
warm current, preserve space OF open
water along the shore. FOl several hun
dred miles in the vicinity of the Lena,
how ever, great rivers pour into the ocean
and large islands lie of to the nOrthw ard,
and there is almost no ice along shore. |
East of the Kolima, tOwald Behring |
Strait, there are no great rivers, and
although the climate Is mildcr and the
woodlands creep down alm'st to the sea
the frozen foes crowd closer to the shore
and in the fall and winter they are liable
to ba the way to shipping. They gave
| Nordenskjold great trouble, and OH the
27th of September they left him enchain-
| ed in solid ice few miles from the open
water north Of Behring Strait. aud only
| 1870 miles from the st ait itself. They
kept him there eight weary months.
| While communicating these facts the
daring Swede has not yet published his
conclusions thereupSn.
II he had left us in the dark in regard
to the commercial navigation of the 81
be,ian coast, however, he has at least
taken the pains to reveal the Interesting
nature of the region he has just passed
through. When the ice closed in upon
the Vega, and left the stout ship enslav-
ell in those north IN solitudes, Prof. ssor
NordrnskjOld wrote letter to DIR. Ga
car Dickson, the main contributor tow
ard tie fl ting out of the expedition, de-
scribing the scenes along the coast. The
letter despatched on the 20th Of Febru-
ary, Las at last reached It's destination,
and is now published in the London
Standard: The letter calls attention, in
the first place, to a group OF Islands
which are very remarkable from scien-
tifc point of view. These islands the
New Siberian, open the book of history
Of the world at a new place. The
ground there Is strewn with wonderful
fossils. Whole hills are covered with
the bones of the mammoth, rhinoceros,
uri, b son, oxen, sheep, &c. The sea
washes up ivory upon the shores. In
this group Is possibly to be found the
solution Of the question of the ancestry
Of the Indian elephant, and important
c facts with regard to the vertebrate:
which existed at The time of mans frs
appearance upon earth. How came
horses and sheep in region now locked
in the fetters of an eternal winter, unin
llabted by man, not now supporting
animal life in any form, and almost i'm
possible of access? Professor Nor
= densk jold was unable to solve the ques-
tion himself, and he suggests that 1t is
of the utmost Importance to science tC
send light draught steel steamer tC
those islands for IA thorough eXplora
tion
At Cape Schelagskof the Vega passed
the point where the Siberian merchan
Schalawrotf ended his persistent and in
trepid attempts to reach Behring Strai
from the River Lena by lonely death
with his whole company Of men in hu
on tie snow-clad shore. Upon rounding
> his cape Nordenskjold met the first ma
liv seen along that whole coast. The,
b spoke tongue utterly unknown. Not
compre, ,ensible sentence could they Ut
ter in any European Language. The
lived in tents pitched on the sand bank
sepal ating the lagoons peculiar to thi
coast from that of the sea. A hardy, jo
vial, handsome race, fur-clad, keen a
barter, ignorant of the value of money
and preferring red flannel shirt fe,
brass buttons and the pice of TIN foil o.
a cake of soap to golden rabbles and sill
yer cvin, they live an active and health
\ life. use stone and bone implements, an
are without trace of religion in thei
; customs. Their tents are double, on
/ within the other. The children are Ia
tally naked within the inner tent; an
, were often seen outside, running abOu
g on the frozen ground, with the tempera
; ture down below 32 degrees. The VIC
: men wear nothing when within the tent
! except glrdle, and the men have shave
' heads, A remarkab e similari y was nc
: ticed between the implements, dresse
/. and customs of these people and those c
y the Equimaux and North American LII
:; dians. The people are the Tschuktschers
Though armed with stone and boz,
= weapons, and though wild and Inherent
they evidently have history. The
drove of the original inhabitants 20
years ago, the Onkilons, whose houses
places of sacrifice, circles Of moss-grow
bear skulls and weapons are still to b
found almost everywhere OH the coast.
Lieutenant Nordquist devoted hiInsel
to learning their language. These IL
dians are on the original highway be
tween the cradle of the human race an
he home of the aborigiues ofthenorther
par. of North America, and 1t IS nc
\. thought the resemblance between theI
ie and the Greenlanders is accidental. Til
arrival of the Vega on the Tschulitsche
| coast was an event like the landing o
Columbus in the New World. 1t was a
=, unprecended occurrence, and made ser
sation throughout the region.
:. East of the Lena Professor Nordensk
iold found on shore no scattered block
of stone such as are distributed over
lie continent by glaciers and such as ar
found elsewhere in Siberia. The fac
was held to point to the absence of Lam
-, cut to SEA north of that coast, and it eX
e. cites anticipations as to the possible dis
,e coyeries which are to be made by rh
% Jea, ette. Not the least of the peculiar
4, n tie. of this strange region is the fact tina
It. the coast appears to be rising slowly ou
N of the sea. The inhabitants have
H. ! shift their villages at times nearer to tn
be- edge of the water, which is gradually II
cedipg from them. Professor Nordensl
iold's letter is full of facts like these, an
. tbc scientific world will walt with. imps
| c...lor ,.uhlioatsN,, ,,r tl,a "a,