Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/210

Rh 19%} Coast of Banks Island and the tremendous polar pack, until he was within sight of the position attained by Parry in his first voyage from 1’.-.1flin's Bay. llere M‘L‘lurc’s ship was ﬁnally iced up in the Bay of God's Mercy. On the return of Austin's expedition, the same ships were again sent out under Captains Belcher and liellett by Bafliu's Bay; and .I‘Clintock, Osborn, Meeham, and Hamilton, _ who were once more in the front rank of searchers, sur- passed even their former efforts. Mecham discovered a record left by .I‘C‘lure on .Ie1ville Island which revealed his position, and thus he and his officers and crew, by marching from their abandoned ship to the “ Resolute ” and returning to England with the expedition of Belcher and Kellett, were enabled to make the l'orth—lVest Passage partly by ship and partly sledging over the 1ce. They all retunied in 1851. But the concluding search was made by Sir Leopold M‘Clintock in the “Fox” fron1 1857 to 1859, when he found the record on King William Island, and thus discovered the fate of Franklin. These search expeditions added innnensely to our knowledge of the Arctic regions, and established the true method of explora- tion. Sea voyages in the summer season are useful for re- (}EOG1{,l’HY [1-nou1:I~:ss or mseovi-:RY. whence they made a sledge journey to the nortliward as far as 77°, and explored a deep fjorl in about 73° 1.5’ N. during the navigable season. English yachtsmen, notably Lamont and Leigh Smith, were also in the ﬁeld; and the latter made important corrections of the charts of North- East Land. and Payer in the Austrian steamer “Tcgethotf.” Sailing in 1872.’, they were beset in the ice to the north of Novaya Zemlya during the winter of 1872-73, and were drifted northwards until, on August 31, 1873, they sighted a pre- viously unknown country. It proved to be very extensive, and was named Franz Josef Land. In March 1874 Lieutenant Payer started on an extended sledge journey, in the equipment of which be closely followed .l‘Clintock’s system. He discovered a great extent of coast—line, and attained a latitude of 82° 5' N. at Cape Fligely. The Austrian explorers were eventually obliged to abandon the “Tegethoﬂ',” reaching Norway in September 1874 3 but their expedition was a great success, and they added an ex- tensive region to the map of the known world. I11 England the very important branch of geographical Engli But by far the most important and successful .usti voyage in this period was that of Lientenants Weyprecht :‘_'Pet 101]. research relating to the Arctic regions was neglected by the A_"°l-1' Government during this interval of ﬁfteen years, while A meri- °.“1‘°‘ cans, Swedes, Norwegians, Germans, Austrians, and English ' connaissances, but efficient polar work can only be achieved by wintering at a point beyond any previously reached, and sending o11t extended sledge parties in the spring. After the return of lI‘Clintock, England neglected the great work of Arctic exploration for ﬁfteen years ; but a deep interest was taken in the discovery of the unknown polar regions by other nations, and numerous efforts to explore them were made in the interval. In 1853-55 Dr Kane, with the American brig “ Advance,” wintered just within the entrance of Smith Sound, and sent an exploring party for some distance up the east side of the channel; and in 1860-61 Dr Hayes wintered near the same spot, and made a sledge journey up the west side. Ten years afterwards Captain Hall, accompanied by Dr Bessels, a German scien- tiﬁc explorer, sailed in the “ Polaris ” in August 1871, and succeeded in making his way up the channels leading north from Smith Sound for 250 miles, wintering in 81° 38' N. Captain Hall unfortunately died in the autumn of 1871, and his comrades returned after suffering great hardships. The “Polaris” was abandoned, but she had attained the highest latitude ever reached by any vessel up to that date. In the direction of Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya the Norwegian walrus hunters made many daring vovages. They circumnavigated both those masses of Arctic land, and yearly frequented the hitherto closed Sea. of Kara. The Swedes, under the lead of the accomplished and indefati- gable Nordenskiold, have made voyage after voyage to yachtsmen were making praiseworthy efforts with more or less success. The resumption of English Arctic research on an adequate scale is due to the exertions and arguments of Admiral Sherard Osborn from 1865 until 1875. He set forth the valuable results to be obtained, and the means of success. Basing his arguments on long experience, he showed that it was necessary for success that an expedition should follow a coast-line, that it should pass beyond any point previously reached and there winter, and that the work should be completed by extended sledge parties in the spring. .At length an expedition was ﬁtted out on these principles, the Smith Sound route was selected, and in May 1875 the “Alert” and “Discovery” sailed from Portsmouth under the command of Captain Nares. regards the ice navigation the success of the expedition was complete. Captain N ares, in the face of unparalleled diffi- culties, brought the ships to a point farther north than any vessel of any nation had ever reached before, wintered the “Alert” in 82" 27' N., and, in the face of still greater difficulties, brought both vessels safely home again. The extended sledge—travelling called forth an amount of heroic devotion to duty, and of resolute perseverance in spite of greater obstacles than had ever been encountered before, which axld a proud page to the history of English naval AS Naiet Spitz- Spitzbergen, and afterwards to the north-east. The ﬁrst enterprise. The_exploring parties were led by Commander berg“ Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen was in 1857, the second Markham and Lieutenants Aldrich and Beaumont. Ad- Mark- gfgrel in 1861, the third in 1861, the fourth in 1868, consisting vancing over the great frozen Polar Sea, Markham reached ham‘ L ' highei of the steamer “ Sophia,” which reached the highest latitude 83° 20' 26" N ., the highest latitude ever attained by any lntitud ever attained by a vessel trying the Spitzbergen route, namely, 81° 42' N. In 1872 a ﬁfth expedition started, and Nordenskiiild then passed his first winter in the Arctic regions, and gained experience of sledge—travelling in the spring, exploring a large area of North-East Land. Ex- perience also proved that the Spitzbergen route was not one by which large results could be secured, although the scientiﬁc researches of the Swedes in Spitzbergen itself were most valuable. In 1875 therefore Professor N ordenskiiild made his ﬁrst attempt towards the north-east, reaching the mouth of the Yenisei ; and in 1876 he n1adc:an equally successful voyage in the same direction. The Germans also entered the ﬁeld of Arctic enterprise. In 1868 Captain Koldewey made a summer voyage to Spitzbergen, and in 1869-70 he went in the “ Germania ” to the east coast of Greenland, accompanied by Lieutenant Payer, wintered at the Pendulum Island, discovered by Clavcring in 1823, human being. He thus won the blue ribbon of Arctic dis- covery. Aldrich discovered 200 miles of coast to the wcst-- ward, while Beaumont added to our knowledge of the north coast of Greenland. The results of the Arctic expedition of 1875-76 were the creation of a young generation of ex- perienced Arctic oﬂicers, the discovery of 300 miles of new coast-line and of a large section of the Polar Ocean, the attainment of the highest latitude ever reached by man, a year’s magnetic and meteorological observations at two stations both further north than any before taken, tidal observations, the examination of the geology of a vast region and the discovery of a fossil forest in 82° N., and large natural history collections representing the fauna and ﬂora of a new region. The return of this memorable expedition again incited Dutch In the summer of 1878 Arm‘ our neighbours to further efforts. the Dutch entered the ﬁeld, and the schooner “ William “'°’k'