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23

Siberia, chiefly by ships passing through Behring's Strait, next call for attention. The Lena was discovered by Cossacks in 1630; and the Jana by Busa, in 1638, and in 1639 he proceeded east to the Tshendoma River. About this time, also, Ivanoio discovered the Indigirka, and followed the coast to the Alaseia, in 163° E. Staduchin coasted from the mouth of the Kolima to Cape Chelagskoi, which is in about 70° N. In 1648 Deschnew passed from Cape Chelagskoi to the Gulf of Anadyr. In 1710 Permäkow heard of the Liakhow Island off the Svätoi-Nos, and subsequently made an unsuccessful attempt to explore it. In 1770 Liakhow discovered the group of islands bearing his name, but their correct positions were first ascertained by Anjou in 1823. The largest islands are called Kotelnoi, New Siberia, and Fadejevkoi. The Herald Islands, in 71° 26' N. and 175° 16′ W., were discovered by Capt. Kellett in 1849, but doubts were thrown on the facts. It is probably the land to which Wrangell had previously alluded as sometimes visible from Cape Yakan. In 1867 portions of this land were seen by several captains. Captain Bliven saw land north-west of Herald Island, extending as far north as 72° N. The coast has been distinctly traced for one hundred miles or more, and portions sighted, which would give it a length of more than five hun

dred miles. It is believed to be inhabited.

north it extends has not been ascertained.

How far

This, then,

is the most northern land known in this region, and is almost as northerly as the Liakhow Islands.

The voyages in search of the North-East Passage and in the Spitzbergen Sea may now be resumed. The last we noticed was Burrough's. Pet did little more than follow in his footsteps, the principal novelty being the discovery of the southern passage of Vaigatz, known as the Strait of Nassau, in 1580. About this time some English vessel had crossed the Sea of Kara, and had thus gained the mouth of the Obi. Barentz, in 1594, coasted along the west side of Nova Zembla, from Langenes to the islands of Orange. In 1596 he and Rijp discovered Bear or Cherie Island, in 74° 30′ N., and soon after the Spitzbergen group of islands. They followed the south coast of North East Land, passed through the Hinlopen Strait, and doubled the north end of New Friesland and West Spitzbergen, in 80° N. In 1607 Henry Hudson attempted to sail straight across the Polar Sea. He struck the east coast of Greenland, in 67° 30′ N., and after proceeding north for seven or eight leagues he saw a headland, which he named Young's Cape. He continued on a N.N.E. course, and at his farthest point, which he considered to be 73° N., he saw land, which he called

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Hold - with - Hope. nearly a week in a general northerly bearing, and on June 27 again saw land, which he named Newland or Greenland, but which seems to have been Spitzbergen, near Vogelhoek, in 78° 53′ N. For the next fortnight he tacked about. In July he seems to have advanced as far north as the Seven Islands, but the ice prevented him from reaching a higher latitude. In 1766 Tchitschakoff went to Spitzbergen, and attempted to reach the Pole, but was stopped by ice at 80° 28' N. Captains Phipps and Lutwidge, with Horatio Nelson among their crew, renewed the attempt in 1773. Ice only was visible from the summit of a mountain on one of the Seven Islands. They reached 80° 36′ N. in 2° E. and 80° 48′ N. in 20° E., and had failed in penetrating any part of the pack edge in the intervening region. On August 7 the ice at the edge of the pack was twenty-four feet thick. In 1776, Pagès is said to have reached 81° 30' N. to the north of Spitzbergen. In 1806 Captain Scoresby reached as high as 81° 30′, and reported that the sea was open for many leagues to the E.N.E.; but as his object was whales, he made no attempt to see how far north this open water extended. Captain Brook surveyed the north coast of Spitzbergen in 1807. In 1818, Captains Buchan and John Franklin went north in two old whalers, and penetrated the

Beyond this he continued for

pack for thirty miles, the highest latitude reached being 80° 34′ N. In 1823, Sabine and Clavering went to Spitzbergen, and along the coast of Greenland, from the Bay of Gaal Hanke, which Scoresby had seen, to Pendulum Island and beyond, as far as 75° 12′ N., from which point land could be followed as far as about 76°. It was on Spitzbergen and Pendulum Island that Sir E. Sabine conducted his well-known pendulum experiments. In 1821 Admiral Lutke surveyed the coast of Nova Zembla as far as 75° 45′ N., and, in 1822, as far as Cape Nassau, in 76° 35′ N., but he could not double the Cape owing to the ice. In 1824 he examined the edge of the Polar pack, from Nova Zembla to 43° 49′ E., and found it to be continuous in about 76° N. In 1827 Sir E. Parry sailed in the Hecla past Hakluyt Headland, and as far as 81° 5' N., without seeing any appearance of the pack to the north; the date being June 14. The ship was anchored in Hecla Cove, 79° 55′ N. A journey was then attempted in boats which were specially adapted to act also as sledges. The northern boundary of floating ice was reached in 81° 12′ 51′′ N., on June 23. The travelling was exceedingly difficult, as the ice was very loose and rotten. On July 11 firmer ice was reached. On July 20 the ice was still floe ice, such as a steamer could get through. On July 23 the

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27

highest latitude, 82° 45′ N., was attained, and then Parry was obliged to return, owing to the efforts of his men to proceed north being almost counterbalanced by the southerly drift of the ice. No land was seen to the north; the only indication of such was some mud in holes of the ice in 82° N. Parry succeeded in reaching the highest latitude that has yet been attained either by ship or by travelling over the ice. From 1835 to 1840 a scientific commission, under the direction of Gaimard, explored and drew up voluminous reports on Iceland, Greenland, and Spitzbergen. From 1858 onwards the Swedes have been making most extensive explorations in Spitzbergen and the surrounding seas. They have accumulated an immense store of valuable scientific information. have made regular surveys of the Spitzbergen Islands. In 1864, Messrs. Nordenskiöld and Duner completed the survey for measuring an arc of meridian in high latitudes, as a means of ascertaining the true figure of the earth. In August, 1868, the sea off North Cape was almost entirely free from ice. The highest latitude reached in the ship was 81° 42′ N. in 17° 30′ E., which is higher than Parry's farthest or even Pagès'. No land was seen, but in several places the ice was black with stones, gravel, and earth. In October another effort was made to advance north in the Sofia.

They