ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 349 



voyages and journeys of Baron Toll in the archipelago of New Siberia, 

 where he eventually perished. Vaguer is the knowledge had of the explora- 

 tions of A. K. Volossovich between the Lena and the Kolyma, and of T. P. 

 Tolamchef eastward from the Kolyma to Bering Strait. The surveys of 

 Tolamchef had an important though indirect bearing on the discovery of 

 Nicholas Second Land, for it was his favorable report on the possibility of the 

 sea-route via Bering Strait that led the Imperial government to despatch 

 the recent squadron under Commander Wilkitzky. Thus it happened that 

 Wilkitzky adds his name to the roll of fame in the annals of the Russian navy. 

 The extent of Nicholas Second Land and its exact relations to Crocker 

 Land and the sought-for land of Stefansson, are not clearly understood by 

 the general public. This is largely due to the inaccuracies and exaggera- 

 tions which marked the original announcement of this discovery. Pub- 

 lished in haste, the accounts were discussed with even greater precipitation. 



One geographer, doubtless inaccurately reported, was heralded by the 

 press as authority for the statement that the new land would prove to be 

 "the same as discovered by Rear-Admiral Peary." It was added that 

 "Peary claimed to have discovered what is probably the west side of it, 

 while the Russians may have discovered the east side." 



Fortunately this inaccurate newspaper report did not gain large cur- 

 rency. A mere glance at the chart of the Arctic regions — rarely accessible 

 — discloses that Crocker Land and Nicholas Second Land are more than 

 twelve hundred miles apart. It is another physical fact that the "Fram" 

 drifted across the eastern half of the north-polar basin along a route that 

 lies between the two lands. 



In some quarters there arose doubts as to whether or not Stefansson 

 had been forestalled in his aims by Wilkitzky as Scott had been by Amundsen 

 in the Antarctic. That the Canadian authorities were at first in doubt as 

 to the true relations of the two lands, was asserted by the daily press. 



Fortunately such fears and apprehension are groundless. Nicholas 

 Second Land can in no way extend eastward to such an extent as even to 

 approach the lands which are believed to exist in the million square miles of 

 unknown regions within the Arctic circle. Crocker Land is situated in the 

 western hemisphere, in about 104° west longitude, while Nicholas Second 

 Land is in the eastern hemisphere, in about 100° east longitude. The two 

 lands are therefore on diametrically opposite sides of the north-polar ocean. 



Meanwhile, on the report of Commander Wilkitzky it is known that 

 Nicholas Second Land is not of continental dimensions, but rather is a 

 narrow land, probably of closely-joined islands. It may perhaps be some 

 two hundred miles long by forty or fifty wide, having possibly half the area 

 of the islands of Nova Zembla. 



Certainly all readers of the American Museum Journal will rejoice with 

 the writer that our Canadian friends, with their able leader Stefansson, have a 

 free andunvisited field of exploration open to their Arctic expedition of 1913. 



