Ixiv GENERAL SU.MMARY OF SCIENTIFIC AND 



ject of a ])rofital>le fishery. Ca])taiii AVolls, wlio accompa- 

 nied Mr. Smitli, still remains of the opinion that the Spitz- 

 bergen route to the pole is the most eligible, 



Anotlier expedition to Spitzbergen was that of Dr. Richard 

 von Drasche, who left Tromso on the 30th of June, in a small 

 vessel, with tlie sjjecial object of making some geological ex- 

 plorations, and, reaching the southern part of West Spitzber- 

 gen on the 10th of July, arrived in Bell Sound on the 16th. 

 Here he met Professor Nordenskjuld, then on a boat expedi- 

 tion to the North. Much of the time was spent at Amster- 

 dam Island and Prince Charles Foreland, the expedition re- 

 turning: to Ilammerfest on the 27th of AuGfust. 



Nothing very definite has so fiir been brought to light in 

 1873 in reference to the region east of Spitzbergen, although 

 visited by many Norwegian hunting and fishing vessels. It 

 is, however, probable that Professor Mohn, of Christiania, 

 who is in communication with most of these parties, Avill 

 before lono- make some communication as to their results. 



Of Xova Zembla and the Sea of Kara, nothing new is 

 known, although, as having been visited equally Avith the 

 seas east of Spitzbergen by Norwegian vessels, something 

 may yet be learned. 



The Russian Siberian arctic expedition, under Tscheka- 

 nowski, and well provided Avitli specialists, reached Jerbo- 

 chotsclio, the last Russian settlement on the Tunguska (lat. 

 01 17' N.), on the 20th of June, and proceeded to the explo- 

 ration of the surrounding countrv. Much information was 

 obtained in regard to geology and natural history, and large 

 collections sent to St. Petersburg. The party expected to 

 return to Irkutsk about the end of October, and then soon 

 to start again on a united journey to a station on the Tun- 

 guska, from which to carry on the exploration of the Olenek 

 and Lena. The prime object of the expedition appears to be 

 principally the accurate determination of the courses of the 

 two rivers just mentioned. 



No advices whatever were received during 1873 from the 

 Tegethoff^ of the Austrian expedition, which left Bremerha- 

 ven on the 13th of June, 1872, nnder Payer and Weyprecht. 

 The party expected to Avinter on the coast of Siberia, and 

 thence extend their travels northward. Tlie vessel was last 

 met with on the 29th of August, steaming eastward, oif Cape 



