H THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 



Gundersen, the first which brouojht carfjoes of grain from t'ae 



o o o 



Yenisei to Europe.^ 



When the Ver/a was bought for the expedition it was de- 

 scribed by the sellers as follows : — 



"The steamer Vega was built at Bremerhaven in 1872-73, 

 of the best oak, for the share-company ' Ishafvet,' and under 

 special inspection. It has twelve years' first class ^s I-I- Veritas, 

 measures 357 register tons gross, or 299 net. It was built and 

 used for whale-fishing in the North Polar Sea, and strengthened 

 in every way necessary and commonly used for that purpose. 

 Besides the usual timbering of oak, the vessel has an ice-skin 

 of greenheart, wherever the ice may be expected to come at 

 the vessel. The ice-skin extends from the neighbourhood of 

 the under chain bolts to within from 1"2 to 1'5 metres of the 

 keel. The dimensions are : — 



Length of keel ... 37'6 metres. 



Do. over deck 43'4 ,, 



Beam extreme 8'4 ,, 



Depth of hold 4'6 „ 



"The engine, of sixty horse-power, is on Wolff's plan, with 

 excellent surface condensers. It requires about ten cubic feet 

 of coal per hour. The vessel is fully rigged as a barque, and 

 has pitch pine masts, iron wire rigging, and patent reefing 

 topsails. It sails and manceuvres uncommonly well, and under 

 sail alone attains a speed of nine to ten knots. During the 

 trial trip the steamer made seven and a half knots, but six 

 to seven knots per hour may be considered the speed under 

 steam. Further, there are on the vessel a powerful steam- 

 winch, a reserve rudder, and a reserve propeller. The vessel 

 is besides provided in the whole of the under hold with iron 

 tanks, so built that they lie close to the vessel's bottom and 

 sides, the tanks thus being capable of offering a powerful 

 resistance in case of ice pressure. They are also serviceable 

 for holding provisions, water, and coal."^ 



We had no reason to take exception to this description,^ 

 but, in any case, it was necessary for an Arctic campaign, such 

 as that now in question, to make a further inspection of the 



^ The first cargo of goods from Europe to tlie Yenisej was taken thitlier 

 by me in the Fmer in 1876. The first vessel that sailed from the Yenisej 

 to the Atlantic was a sloop, The Daivn, built at Yeniseisk, commanded by 

 the Russian merchant captain, Schwanenberg, in 1877. 



■•^ In order to obtain sufficient room for coal and provisions most of these 

 tanks were taken out at Karlskrona. 



^ The consumption of coal, however, was reckoned by Captain Palander 

 at twelve cubic feet or 3 cubic metre an hour, with a speed of seven 

 knots. 



