Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/75

 XI. NORDENSKJÖLD AND THE NORTHEAST PASSAGE

1878-1879

The next man to journey into the frozen North was Adolf Erik Nordenskjöld. He was born in Finland and educated at its university; but when he was about twenty-two years of age he fell under the suspicion of the Russian government and was compelled to leave his native country. Nordenskjöld then took up his residence in Sweden, and in 1858 began his career as an Arctic explorer by going on a journey to Spitzbergen. Five voyages in the Arctic regions followed, during one of which Nordenskjöld visited Greenland and made an inland journey over the ice.

The interior of Greenland is believed to be one vast glacier, moving slowly to the sea. This movement causes the formation of deep chasms and clefts which are almost bottomless, and which prevent the traveler from making rapid progress.

Notwithstanding the dangers and hardships of the journey, Nordenskjöld advanced thirty miles over the glacier to a height of twenty-two hundred feet above the level of the sea. Upon returning to the coast, he visited Disco Fiord, and then went home to Sweden.

About the time that Nordenskjöld reached home, the Swedish government decided to send a sledge expedition