her ikke strække langt til. De norske Skibe, somfortrins- 



vis besøge disse Farvande. ere Sælfangerne. Fra disse kan 

 man fremdeles vente Bidrag til Kundskab om Havets Vejr- 

 forhold, der efterhaanden ville sætte os istan d til at lære 

 disse vigtige Momenter for Dyrelivet og Havboernes Van- 

 dring at kjende. Sælfangemes Ophold i disse. Egne fore- 

 gaar dog kun til en Del af Aaret, Marts til .luni. og til- 

 dels langt Nord og inde i den med Drivis belagte Del af 

 Havet, som udgjør den allernordligste Del af det Felt. 

 hvortil vi ber sigte. Endel norske Fartøjer fare tildels et 

 godt Stykke udenfor Kysten' til og fra Arkhangel om Som- 

 meren. Også a fra en Del af disse kunde man erbolde 

 meteorologiske Iagttagelser. Hvad der paa denne Maade 

 kunde indvindes at Oplysninger, vil det meteorologiske In- 

 stitut bestræbe sig for at lade komme til Nytte for den 

 attraaede Kundskah om Havets Vejrforbold. Videre end 

 •til saadanne Iagttagelser kunne Handelsmannens Bestræ- 

 belser ikke naa. Det bar vist sig. at der med Maalingen 

 af Havets Temperatur i Dybet om Vinteren for Sælfan- 

 gerne er forbunden særegne Vanskeligbeder. der have gjort 

 mere end en Skibsforers ufortrødne Bestræbelser til Intet. 

 Mere kunde vistnok udrettes, om en Videnskabsmand med- 

 fulgte et saadant Fartøj. Men da denne ikke kunde diri- 

 gere Skibet hen til de Steder, hvor hans Undersøgelser 

 vikle være af størst Interesse, og Sælfangerne. som nævnt. 

 opholde sig den meste Tid udenfor det Felt. der nærmest 

 skulde være Gjenstand for den mest lovende Undersogelse. 

 vil ogsaa et saadant Middel blive for kortaekkende. 



Vi blive saaledes staaende ved den Overbevisning, at 

 Vndersogelsen af Havet vestenfor Norge, for at blive effec- 

 tiv. maa udfores ved en dertil bestemt og udrustet viden- 

 skabelig Expedition. Som Forbillede for en saadan staa 

 de Britiske Expeditioner med "Porcupine" og ••( 'ballenger". 

 Den sidste. der gjælder alle de store Verdenshave og har 

 en stor kraftig Dampcorvet til sin Disposition. er udrustet 

 med alt hvad der til dens Øjemed kan fordres og er sit 

 Land i enhver Henseende vrerdig. Saa storartet et Appa- 

 rat vil til Undersøgelsen af vort Hav ikke være nødvendigt, 

 Vi ville i enhver Henseende være hjulpne med en Expedi- 

 tion saadan som den med "Porcupine". 



Fra den Norske Stats Side har der, uagtet saamange 

 a f vore Interesser knytte sig til Havet, ikke været fore- 

 taget nogen Expedition af videnskabelig Art til de os aller- 

 nærmest omgivende Have. Undersøgelsen af de for vore 

 nordlige Egne saa vigtige Fangstfelter i Nordishavet hai- 

 ene og alene været overladt til den private Foretagsomhed. 

 som her foruden de rent praktiske Resultater have med- 

 bragt skjonne Resultater for Videnskaben. saa vel for Geo- 

 grafien som for Naturvidenskaben. Vi kunne nævne Carl- 

 sens Omsejling af Spidsbergen. hans Lndtrængen i det kariske 

 Hav, hans og Tobiesens samt senere Altmanns. Nilsens og 



to tbeir full extent the limited means iiow at our disposal. 

 would certairily fail of its object. The Norwegian vessels 

 tli:it aavigate those regions are mostly sealers. From tliis 

 source we may indeed still hope to lean) further valuable 

 particulars of meteorological phenomena, whicb maj event- 

 ually Lead us to a juster estimate of tbeir influence mi 

 animal life and the migratory instincts observed in 

 the inhabitants of the deep. Meanwhile, the sojourn of 

 our sealing-ships in those high latitudes is contined to part 

 of the year only (from Marcb to June), the vessels 

 keeping. too. nearly the whole time. among the drift-ice, 

 which constitutes the extreme northerly limit of the tract 

 referred to. Moreover. the Norwegian ships that trade to 

 Archangel. and which could also furnish meteorological ob- 

 servations from the open sea. do not extend tbeir voyages 

 beyond the summer months. Of all information from 

 these sources. the Meteorological Institute will of course 

 take advantage, to extend our knowledge of the causes 

 determining the weathér at sea. With other and more in- 

 . tricate observations it does not lie in the power of the 

 merchant-navy to furnish us. Observing the temperature 

 at any considerable depth in winter. is attended with very 

 great difficultv. so great indeed as to have rendered worth- 

 less more than one captains indefatigable exertions. True. 

 greater results might be obtained were a gentleman whose 

 profession was science to accompany such a vessel : hut 

 even in that case he could not shape her course and visit 

 the best localities for observations: besides, the Norwegian 

 sealers keep most of the season without the tract which, in 

 preference to any other section ofthoseNortheruSeas.it is 

 desirable to select as the tield of exploratory research ; and 

 hence the alternative offered has little to advocate its adoption. 



ln face of the facts set forth above. we will em- 

 phasize our previously expressed conviction. that, in order 

 to investigate effectively the tract of ocean stretcliing west 

 of the shores of Norway, a special expedition must be 

 despatched. As models we have the "Porcupine" and "Chal- 

 lenger" Expeditions. The latter, which has for its object 

 the exploration of the great Oceans of the globe. is fur- 

 nished with a powerful steam-corvette. has been fitted out 

 on a scale commensurate with its importance, and is in 

 every way worthy of the British Nation. But means so 

 exteiisive and costly are not required for investigating 

 the Norwegian Seas ; an Expedition similar. for instance, 

 to that sent out with the "Porcupine." would certainly be 

 adequate for the attainment of the end proposed. 



Though so nianv of our national interests are directly 

 connected with the sea. no Scientific Expedition has vet 

 been undertaken by the State to those parts of the ocean 

 that lie next adjacent to the Norwegian coast. The ex- 

 ploration of the extensive sealing-grounds in the Arctic 

 Ocean has been lett altogether to private enterprise, which. 

 apart from merely practical results. has enriched Science 

 in the several branches of geography. physics. and natura! 

 history. As a few instances in point. we have only to 

 mention Carlsens circumnavigation of Spitzbergen, his ex- 

 ploring voyage far into the Kara Sea. and the discovery. 



