The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-01-27

is now engaged in the preparations for start next year (1S9S).
 As the result of Nansens voyage Dr. Nathorst thinks that there is but little probability of the discovery of fresh land areas in the vicinity of the Pole, and that the aim of future expeditions to the Arctic regions should be a thor ough scientific investigation of those lands, of which at present but little is known beyond the fact of their exist ence. Under this head may be men tioned the west coast of Ellesmere Land and Grinnell Land and the neighboring islands; also the shores of Jones Sound, in Artic America Further large tracts of the northeastern and north western coasts of Greenland remain to be examined, in spite of the admirable work of the Danish, Austrian and other exploring expeditions. But it is with Spitzbergen and the region east of 1t that previous Polar explorations on the part of Sweden have been most closely connected; and, though no fewer than twelve different Swedish expeditions, led by such men as Torrell, Norden- skiold, Nathorst, De Geer and others,
 have visited this region since 1858, and
 that it has been the field of work for expeditions from other countries as
 we'll, the most recent being that under
 Sir Martin Conway in 1SS6 1t yet offers,
 in Nathorst's opinion, rich harvest for scientific investigation.
 The west coast of Spitzbergen Is now fairly well known, but owing, to the ice coming from the east and blockad- ing the eastern coasts of the island, nothing has as yet been ascertained of their geological structure. The same
 obstacle has also prevented observa- tions on Stans Foreland (Edge Island),
 Barentz Land, North East Land, Kung
 Karis Land, and Ny Island; but it is
 probable that, given favorable condi-
 tions of the ice, @ steam vessel would be able to approach sufficiently near these islands to allow their geology at least to be made out. The exploration
 of these lands between Spitzbergen and Franz Josef Land is the main object of the expedition; but should this be frus- trated by the prevalence of the ice the
 research work would be carried on ir l Spitzenbergen itself, and more particu- larly study would be made of the | shell-banks and terraces, evidencing 3 | comparatively recent elevation of the land, and of the remarkable quaternary deposits which show that the climate of | the island, for certain interval after | the Ice Age, was warmer than at the | present time. Promising botanical re- suits might be also expected from ar
 examination of the valleys extending from the heads of the fiords, as, for ex- | ample those in Sassen Bay, Kdl Bay and Van Mijens Bay.
 A stout vessel of from $50 to 40( | tons and crew of thirteen men would | in Nathorst's opinion, be most suitable for the undertaking; and the scientific staff would consist of a geologist, bo
 tanist, two zoologists, one hydrographel
 and meteorologist, and one for cartog.
 raphy and photography. It it is not in.
 tended to winter in the Artic regions | but the vessel would be provisioned fol year, in case of accidents. The esti
 mated cost of the expedition is about
 $20,00O. It is proposed to reach Spitz
 bergen in the beginning of June, ant
 work there until the middle of August when it is hoped the ice will allow
 Kung Karis Land and the other isl l antis near it to be examined.-Nature.