732 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



dinner, to which were invited the President of the Portuguese 

 Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the members of the 

 Diplomatic Corps, and others, ending in the evening with a 

 grand reception. On Monday the 15th we were present by 

 special invitation at a meeting of the Geographical Society, at 

 which the newly-returned African travellers, Brito-Capello 

 and IVEN, gave addresses. Here I had besides the great pleasure 

 of meeting the famous African traveller, Major Serpa Pinto. 

 The King at the same time honoured us with decorations, and 

 at its meeting on the 10th March the Portuguese Chamber of 

 Deputies resolved, on the motion of the Deputies Ennes 

 and Alfredo, to express its welcome and good wishes in a 

 congratulatory address to the Vega men. 



We weighed anclior again on the 15th March. We were 

 favoured at first with a fresh breeze and made rapid progress, 

 but at the entrance to the Channel we met with a steady head- 

 wind, so that it was not until the evening of the 25th March, 

 considerably later than we had counted on, that we could 

 anchor in the harbour of Falmouth, not, as was first intended, 

 in that of Portsmouth. We thus missed some preparations 

 which had been made at the latter place to welcome us to the 

 land which stands first in the line of those that have sent 

 out explorers to the Polar Seas. We besides missed a banquet 

 which the Royal Geographical Society had arranged in honour 

 of the Vega expedition, at which the Prince of Wales was to 

 have presided, and which now, in the midst of the Easter 

 holidays and a keenly-contested parliamentary election, could 

 not be held.^ Our stay in England, at all events, was exceedingly 

 pleasant. Palander and I travelled on the night before 

 Good Friday to London, where we were received at the railway 

 station by the Swedish minister. Count Piper, and a large 

 number of our countrymen living in London. Count Piper 

 carried me to my future host, the distinguished Secretary of 

 the Geographical Society and famous Arctician and geographical 

 writer, Clements P. Markham, who did everything to make 

 my stay in London as pleasant and instructive as possible. 

 Saturday was spent in paying visits. On Easter Sunday Consul- 

 General Richter gave a lunch in the Continental Hotel, to 

 which a considerable number of Scandinavians and Englishmen 

 were invited. The same evening we dined with the famous 

 Arctic traveller. Sir Allen Young. On Monday we were 

 invited by the Earl of Northbrook, President of the 

 Geographical Society,^ to his country seat, Stratton, near 



1 Further particulars on this point are given in the Annual Address on 

 the Progress of Geograpliy by the Right Hon. the Earl of Northbrook 

 {Proceedings of the Royal 'Geographical Society, 1880, p. 401). 



^ During our visit to London we had no opportunity of taking part in 

 any of the meetings of the Society, but some time after the Society gave 



