GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



353 



season by the "William Barentz and the Isbjorn, 

 two small schooners. The results of the nu- 

 merous explorations made in that part of the 

 arctic seas, from those of William Barentz in 

 1594-'96 down to the Austrian expedition of 

 Weyprecht and Payer and the above-mentioned 

 voyages of the Dutch explorers on the William 

 Barentz, show that while the limit of the ice 

 extends down to the 76th and 74th degrees of 

 latitude in June and July, in August there is 

 open sailing to 74 30' N"., and in September 

 the ice recedes to the 79th parallel. At that 

 season a vessel may probably reach, by way of 

 the Barentz Sea and the western coast of Nova 

 Zerabla, the southeast point of Franz Joseph 

 Land, and may then advance along the unex- 

 plored western shore of that body of land, 

 which, by the analogy of windward arctic 

 coasts, should be free from ice. Franz Joseph 

 Land extends at least beyond the 83d parallel, 

 as was established by the observations of Lieu- 

 tenant Payer. The coast will offer a harvest 

 for geological, botanical, and zoological inves- 

 tigations. Depots can be established at Cape 

 Nassau and at Edge or Wythe Islands to retreat 

 upon before the final advance in September. 



The William Barentz departed on her arctic 

 cruise on May 5, 1878, under the command of 

 Lieutenant A. de Bruyne, of the Netherlands 

 navy, with Lieutenants Beynen and Speelman, 

 Surgeon Van Anrooy, Dr. Sluyter as zoologist, 

 and W. G. A. Grant as photographer, and 

 manned by eight men. On June 18th they 

 sighted Spitzbergen, after taking soundings 

 and collecting specimens of ocean organisms 

 on the course from Jan Mayen Island. On 

 July 27th they came to Amsterdam Island. 

 They came to the impassable ice in lat. 80 18' 

 N. The thermometer sank below 5 C. On 

 July 15th, they reached Bear Island, and found 

 a store left for them by the Norwegian steamer 

 Voringen. They then proceeded to Vardo and 

 commenced their cruise in the Barentz Sea. 

 The weather was excessively stormy up to 

 July 27th. They reached the edge of the ice 

 in lat. 77 54' N., Ion. 44 20' E., and cruised 

 along it for ten days. A heavy gale then drove 

 them back, and they proceeded to Nova Zem- 

 bla, and lay at anchor several days in the Ma- 

 tochkin Shar. On August 25th they went to 

 Cape Nassau and made another advance, until 

 chey reached the ice in lat. 78 17' N., Ion. 55 

 14' E., which was the highest point attained in 

 this sea. On September 23d they had returned 

 to Hammerfest, and on October 12th were in 

 Amsterdam. Their first northward cruise was 

 along the 45th meridian. The ice, as observed 

 in their ten days' cruise along the pack, was 

 heavy and hummocky to the westward, but to 

 the east the floes were thin and mnch rotted 

 by the action of the sea and rain. The heavy 

 west ice seemed to have been brought down 

 by the polar current, and was being pressed 

 against the east coast of Spitzbergen. Lieuten- 

 ant Beynen formed an opinion that a steamer 

 might push through to the north between the 

 VOL. xviii. 23 A 



westward pack and the light floes to the east, 

 in about the 44th meridian. 



Captain Tyson, of the schooner Florence, 

 returned to Provincetown, Mass., on October 

 26th, not finding the supplies at Disco which he 

 awaited. Passing through Cumberland Strait, 

 and taking aboard a number of Esquimau men 

 and women according to the projected plans, 

 the Howgate Expedition made for Disco. The 

 voyage was most difficult and dangerous ; the 

 weather was tempestuous and the sea filled with 

 ice-floes. For 200 miles they had to make their 

 passage through the ice. After waiting some 

 time for the vessel which should bring supplies, 

 Captain Tyson determined to return home. 

 The passage to Cumberland Strait was this 

 time one of still more terrible danger. Tem- 

 pest after tempest, each one more furious than 

 the last, drove the little vessel helplessly be- 

 fore them, amid great blocks of ice which each 

 instant threatened to knock the stanch craft 

 to pieces. Had she been less solidly built, she 

 could not have endured the racking she was 

 subjected to. The mariners despaired of their 

 lives. After passing through the strait, and 

 taking a fortnight's rest, they sailed for St. 

 John, and encountered new storms on the voy- 

 age, as they did again after leaving that port 

 on October 12th ; and to add to the distress, 

 the provisions gave out. The greatest cold 

 observed during the expedition was 50 Fahr. 



An expedition, a part of whose mission is to 

 search for the lost records of the Franklin Ex- 

 pedition, has left America in the Pandora ; it 

 is supported by the proprietor of the "New 

 York Herald " newspaper. 



The exploration of the island of Jan Mayen 

 by the Norwegian North Sea Expedition, under 

 Captain Wille, furnishes an improved account 

 of that almost unapproachable island. The 

 soundings made by the expedition show a 

 depth in the seas around Jan Mayen of 1,760 

 fathoms between it and Norway, over 2,000 

 fathoms in the direction of Spitzbergen, over 

 1,300 fathoms toward Greenland, and over 

 1,000 fathoms toward Iceland. The direction 



