The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-09-18
THE NORTHEAST PASSAGE,
Prof. NOrdenskjold's Great Discovery-Pre-
yfous Unsuccessful Attempts.
from the Chicago Tribune.l

Nordenskjold, and the arrival of the
Vega at Yokohama, in Japan, is one of
the greatest achievements of modern
skill and energy. The statement re-
ceived is very clear, and the brief time
necessary to make the voyage is marvel
Gus. The Vega left Gothenburg, Swe-
den, on the 4th of July, 1878. On the
Sth the Vega reached Tromso, Nor
wegian port on the Island of Lanew
There the Vega was joined by the steam
er Lena, and on the 25th of July both
vessels started. On Aug. they passed
through Yugor Strait, and Aug. drop
ped anchor at the mouth of the YienesSi
River. Three days were spent in port,
and on Aug. 26 the Vega anchored at
the mouth of the Lena River, four days
delay being occasioned by ice; after
several delays, the Vega crossed Kol-
lentcsh Bay on Sept. %, and on the 2Sth
was locked in the ice off the shore of
Tchuktchi. There they remained until
July Is, 1879, and on July 20 passed
through Behring's Strait. Deducting
the delays, and the time spent in port,
the time occupied in actual sailing from
Tromso, in Norway, to Behring'S Strait
was about fifty days. The sailing time
from Behring Island to Yokohama was
fourteen days. The Professor expresses
the opinion that the voyage from Europe
to Asia is certain and safe, and may, at
ter a little experience, be easily accom-
plished.
The success of this expedition revives
the interest in polar discoveries and at
tempts to explore the Arctic regions. In
these expeditions, covering a period of
nearly 400 years, many vessels and
many lives have been lost. The list and
chronology of these expeditions may be
of some interest at this time, though the
adventurous navigatOrs have, with few
exceptions, directed all their efforts to
discover 4 northwest passage through
the Polar Seas around the American
Continent. Not including the supposed
discoveries of the Icelandic yoyagers, as
far back as the year 1000, the first his
tOrical accounts begin after Columbus
had announced the discovery Of the New
World.
In 1897, the Cabots, in the search for
a northwest passage, advanced as high
as what is now known as Davis Strait.
In 15OO-1502, the brothers Contre-
raj made three voyages, losing many
lives. In 1908 Sir Hugh Willoughby
reached Nova Zembla, but with his
companions persisted in Lapland. Mar
tin Frobisher made several voyages
in 1576-'S-just 800 years ago; and in
1878 Sir Humphrey Gilbert tried the
work, but also failed. In 1857, Davis
discovered the straight which bears his
name. A northwest passage to India be-
came at this time of great Importance,
because Spain commanded all the other
routes. Barentz made three voyages,
perishing on the coast of Alaska in 1886.
Hendrix Hudson sailed in 1907, going
as far north as so deg. After trying
several times on that line, he cOasted
the continent for passage, and discOv-
cred the Hudson River, which he
thought for a time was the long-search-
ed-fOr route. In 1910 he entered Hud-
sons Bay, where, abandoned by his
companions, he persisted. In 1916 Baf-
fms Bay was explored. The Russians
also undertook the discovery of a pass
age to the northeast, and on one of
these expeditions Behring died, and
his companions wintered on Behring
Island. Several other expeditions
failed.
In 1743 Great Britain offered re-
ward of 100000 to the crew which
would find a passage through Hudson's
Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Expeditions
were numerous, each adding a little to
the previous stock of information. In
1776 Capt. Cook attempted the discov-
cry by entering the Polar Sea through
| Behring's Strait. At this time the of
fered rewards included one to the crew
(which would reach within 10 of the pole.
| In 1879 the Mackenzie River was disCOv-
cred. Capt. Ross and Lieut.. Parry
started to discover the northwest passage,
and Sir John Franklin sailed to pene-
trate to the North Pole. Parry and Ross
differed in their reports as to Lancaster
Sound, so Parry started on second ex-
petition, and passed through Melville
BAY. In 1921 Parry sailed third time,
and Sir John Franklin, who had, in
1919, left HudsOn's Bay on an overland
expedition, was to unite with him the last,
after three years travel, failed, and the
other proved equally fruitless. In 1928
four British expeditions were sent out,
one under Parry and another under
Franklin, and all of them were COM
paratively fruitless. So with another
expedition by Parry in 1927. An expe-
dition under Ross in 1881 reached and
fixed the position of the true magnetic
pole; this party was absent four years.
From this time to 1S47 operations were
mainly confined to explorations of the
American coast.
In May, 1915, Sir John Franklin and
Capt. CrOzier started in the ships Erebus
and Terror. On July 26, 1915, they
were seen by q whaleship about the
center of Bafin's Bay, waiting an open
ing into Lancaster Sound. That was
the last ever seen of the two ships.
Franklin's intended route was through
Lancaster Sound, thence westward, and
thence to Behring's Strait. Two years
having passed without reports of him,
various British expeditions started in
search, all of which failed to find any
trace of him. In 1850, at Cape Riley,
were found some traces of winters
residence. In 1858, DIR. Kane started on
his expedition. In these researches il
was found there was continuous water
passage from Baffin's Bay to Davis
Strait. Franklin's fate was not definite
" known until 1855.
In 1860 was the Hayes American ex-
petition, and in 1864 Halls. German
and Swedish expeditions were sent out
in 1S67-'S-'9 and 20, and all failed to
add any thing to the general Informs
ton. Since 1872 there have been many
expeditions of more or less importance
sent out by Norway and Sweden. An
Austrian expedition in 1873 discovered