54 o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and his companions." Of the series of voyages to Spitzbergen, " Na- 

 ture" says: "These expeditions were not undertaken for the mere 

 purpose of creating a sensation by the foolhardy feat of attempting 

 to reach the pole at all hazards. Geographical discovery certainly 

 formed a part of the programme of all the expeditions in which Xor- 

 denskiold has been engaged ; " and it contrasts the results of the first 

 importance, and obtained with a modest expenditure strongly with 

 those of r< the expensive and elaborately equipped expedition in the 

 Alert and Discovery." Speaking in 1879, while the last expedition 

 was still in progress, " Xature " said, " Comparatively young as Pro- 

 fessor Xordenskiold is, he has done an amount of work rarely accom- 

 plished even in a long life-time." And in February of this year, re- 

 viewing his whole work, it said : " Thus no one man has done half so 

 much as Baron Xordenskiold for a scientific exploration of the Arctic 

 regions. The most striking characteristics of his various expeditions 

 have been the small expense at which they were conducted, their mod- 

 est but carefully considered equipment, the clear and scientific meth- 

 ods on which they were planned, and the wealth and high value of the 

 results obtained." Baron Xordenskiold is now preparing for another 

 expedition. 



Baron Xordenskiold represented the capital of Sweden in the Diet 

 from 1869 to 1871, and was instrumental in bringing about some im- 

 portant legislative measures for the promotion of science. 



Personally, Baron Xordenskiold is a genial man. His modesty 

 and aversion to public display, which are well known and recognized, 

 are quite remarkable in his " Voyage of the Vega," where he shuts his 

 personality wholly out of sight, and devotes his attention, with an ex- 

 clusiveness which is rare among travelers, to the account of what he 

 observed and learned. Yet he loses no occasion to introduce his com- 

 panions and their labors, and to give them full credit. So complete is 

 his sinking of himself that it has been impossible to find anything in 

 that work with which to illustrate his personality for the purposes of 

 this sketch. 



