The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1880-05-04
From the N. Y. Herald.I
The Kara Sea Route to Siberia.

Professor Nordenskjold's exposition
of the results of his great Northeast
Passage, as given in the Herald of the
10Th, describes the navigation of TIE ST.
berian coast line in no roseate hues, but.
presents conclusive evidence OF new.
pathway of commerce, 1t must be con-
ceded that for the ordinary merchant,
man the voyage through the Siberian
Arctic seas will always be attended with
more or less risk, and trading ships built
expressly for that service, manned by
those not unacquainted with Arctic nav
legation, will be required before the re-
sources Of Siberia will be effeclnally
reached at the mouths of the Obi and
Yenesei rivers, as they mingle with the
cold ocean. But, now that the Vega has
"broken the ice' and demonstrated the
accessibility of these Siberian gateways,
the commercial problem is. reduced to
questions of the times and circumstan-
ces under which repetition of her voy,
age from Europe to the mouth Of the
Yenesei is most feasible. Though ulte.
rior exploration is needed fully to settle
these points Nordenskjold only reiter-
ates the general conclusion of Arctic
voyages when he fixes on the months Of
August and September as freest from
ice. In 1874 Captain Wiggins, sailing
from Dundee in the steamer Diana on
June 3, passed around the North Cape
entered Kara Sea, exploring it for sew,
eral weeks, and reached the mouth ol
the Obi August 5, returning to Scotland
in September. The. year following hs
repeated the voyage in the steamer
Thames as far as the mouth Of the Yen
esei; up to September no ice obslruc.
ton was met, and he returned safely
home, deeply impressed with the con,
viction that the mouths of these two
Siberian rivers we're destined to be i'm
portant trade centres. sd W 9gtFl IL
The Obi and Yenesei valleys fufrux
the great continent in north and south
direction for three thousand miles. each
of them covering ON area as large as tht
Mississippi Valleys They both dis
charge their winter accumulation of ict
in the first half of June and are ihel
navigable for considerable distances
from the sea until September. The
Igreat Siberian steppes between the Tobol
and the Obi, one thousand miles across
according to the recent report OF Mr.
Markham, the English explorer, is ca
lpable Of yielding exhaustless quantitie:
of wheat, fax, wool and hemp at prices
that sound merely nominal, and this able
lgeographer concludes that the Obi
which is most easily reached, will prove
the better OF the two great rivers as 8
commercial inlet to the Siberian grana.
Tries. North of the sixty. second paral
lei the country yields but little vegeta-
ton, but the vast region bordering the
upper Obj is soil of rich black mould
over which the "brief but bright and ar.
dent summer" of the high latitudes il
felt with magical effect. Alter the re-
cent experience of European famines i,
will be strange indeed If a vigorous and
sustained effort is not made to reap the
commercial benefits accruing from Nor
denskjold's exploration of the only
available approaches to this undeyeIoped
but not unfavored region. II for CEN
turies whaling fleets have found it lucra
tive to brave the dangers of polar ice,
almost up to the shores of Spitzbergen,
why may not commerce profitably util-
ize the new route by Kara Sea TO Sibe-
riaa