The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-04-02

| ana Europe by tnlS route hb carly us ITO DeRlH-
ming of the seventeenth century. Barents's
third voyage. in 1896 81 did not extend the field
Of discovery beyond making known TO us
Spitzbr gen. and the Dutch explorer as Is well
| known. succumbed to n Nova Hcmba winter.
From this time forth the Hollanders. hav-
| ing succeeded in opening maritime com
muncation with tho East indies by way OF
| tho Cape Of Good Hope, ceased to take much
| interest In the problem Of northeast passage.
| During the seventeenth century, indeed. some
| attempts we're made to follow in Barentss track,
| but nothing more was accomplished II we OK
! cept the voyage OF Roulc who In Nordcnskiod's
| opinion, may have reached Franz Joscrs Land.
and sailed along its coast to n very high lati-
| tudc for those regions However this may be,
| IL is certain that the ignominious result Of
| Woods voyage. undertaken in the reign OF
| Charles H., operated 40 strongly TO deter west
ern Europeans from now Efforts In the same
direction that nearly two hundred years
| elapsed before an expedition was again sent
out with the distinctly declared intention
| (aftcrwarl disavowed. however, OF achieving
northeast passage. This was the famous Aus
| trian expedition Of Payer and Weiprecht in
iS72-H which failed. indeed, to penetrate far to
the eastward, but which formed an epoch in
| the history Of Arctic exploration 10y the dis
covery OF Franz Josefs Land, and by many
valuable researches touching the natural CON
ditons of the Polar lands.
| Considered as n northeast voyage under
| taken by the navigators Of western or central
| Europe, the Austrian expedition was the i'm
mediate predecessor OF that Of the Vega. We
must bear In mind however that three
centuries before Nordcnskiolds demon
stration Of the feasibility OF contn-
uous passage around Asia, commercial
voyages had often been undertaken by the
| population OF North Russia. from the White
| Sea and tho Plethora, to the Oh and the Yene-
| sci. sometimes wholly by sea round Yalmal,
| but most frequently partly by sea and partly
| by land transport over that peninsula. There
I is reason TO believe however. that toward the
close of tho seventeenth century the Russian
| hunting voyages to Nova Zcmbla had already
| fallen of considerably. while the commercial
voyages between the White Sea and the Oh and
! the Ycncsc had almost wholly ceased. 1t was
natural enough that after the complete con-
| quest Of Siberia the land route over tho Ural
| Mountains should be preferred to the unsafe
! maritime route across the Kara Sea. At
all events. we do not know Of n single
| Russian voyage in this part Of the Polar Ocean
during the period which elapsed from the ship
wreck Of Rodivun IvHnov in 1890 to what is
known As the great northern expedition"
which, duringthc years 1734-37. undertook to
survey the whole country lying between the
White Sea and the Oh. OF the Russian voyages
prosecuted during the next century and a half.
! the most noteworthy was that Of Krusenstrcn,
Jr.. in 1860. who furnished the first complete
| sketch OF n passage from west to east over the
Kara Sea Soon after this voyage a now era
began IN the navigation of Kara waters,
brought about by the Norwegian hunters being
/ compelled to abandon SriUbcrgcn and seek for
new fields Of gain on and beyond Nova Zcmlla.
Carlson was the first Norwegian hunter to visit
Nova Zemha. and in 1868 he penetrated the
Kara Sea. being Immediately followed by other
Noithmcn. and by the English sportsman Mr..
John Paiser, who in 1869 sailed acro ssthc Kara
basin. Two years after. one Mack. a walrus
hunter, in the schooner Pole Star penetrated
eastward further than all his predecessors,
reaching 50 81 east longitude.
But it was not until 1873 that the prob
lem of the northeast passage was carried
another step toward solution by NOrden-
skiold. who in Notwithstanding sloop. the
Proven. succeeded in sailing through tho
lugor Schar and over the ico-frce Kara Sea
as far a. the mouth Of the Yonesei. From this
point he went in boat up the river to Soa-
strobskoi where he fell in with a Russian river
steamer in which lie aftcrward travelled to
leneseisk. BY this voyage of 1878 Norden-
skiold was the first who proved the possibityof
Ia the mouths OF the great Siberian rivers. One
Of the objects which the old northeast voyagers
had aimed at was thus at last accomplished
! md that in way which promised to be OF
great practical utility TO the whole Of
siberia. 1t was still supposed however
in some quarters that tho success Of tho
/ Proven depended on an accidental ccmbina-
| ton OF fortunate circumstances which would
not soon occur again. In order 10 show that
D ,l,t 4,
I his second voyage 10 the Icnesoi in 1876. in
which. with the steamer Ymcr. he went not
only Ia tn" mouth Of the river. but w the river
as far As IL north latitude. 1t i worth noting
! that on this occasion he lief, New York on July
| /. and had arrived at the mouth Of the Nrncsci
by Aug. 10. After such demonstrations Of the
route practical ity several purely commercial
voyages to the oh and the lcncsei were under
taken. 81 which We need cite but two viz that
Of the steamer Louise. commanded by Can't
Dahl. which, in 1877. made the first voyage
from England to Tobo!sk, and that OF tho sloop
Dawn, Capt Schwanenhcrg. which WAS tho
first vessel to sail from the town Of Ycnososk
to Europe
Such. then was the condition u the problem
u the northeast passage when Nordens kiold
left the harbor of Karlskronn in the Vega June
~. 1879 on his third voyage Of discovery. As
We have seen. the navigahiity Of tn" Polar
Ocean from the White Sea 10 the mouth II the
lcnrsci had been demonstrated ON the other
hand Off the northwestern coast of Siberia the
waters Of the Arctic Sea had been repeatedly
traNcrscd by whaling vessels which passing
through BehrinE Strait. had proceeded west
eriy as far rs Cape Chcyuskn 1t WIS tho
vast tract Of ocean. not known 10 have been
ever travcrscd by man. and believed 10 be un-
travcrsable, and which stretches from the
Ncncsci to tho cape Just mentioned that Nor
donskiold proposed To penetrate with the Vega.
and it is this pivotal part of his supreme
achievement on which we would now fix at
tcntion.
On Aug, 2 1873 Nord"nsklold. after exploring
Naygats Island and the Yalnal peninsula
(which Investigations, although interesting.
cannot be- noticed here, came to anchor AT Port
Dickson. some miles northwest Of the mouth Of
the ienese There was no time 10 be lost. and
three days later the Vega and her cunsort, the
Lena, shaped their course westwardly again.
On Aug 10 after sailing and stcaming along the