416 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



marmots, and of Lagomya alpinus, a species of 

 gnawing animal the size of a large rat, and re- 

 markable for the care with which during the 

 summer it gathers provisions for the winter. 

 The mountain is separated from the sea by a 

 narrow terrace, from fifty to one hundred feet 

 high, on which stood a few tents, and which, 

 as it happened, was adorned with an extraor- 

 dinary display of flowers. In a very short time 

 and within the space of a few acres Dr. K jell- 

 man here collected a hundred different species 

 of flowers, many of which he had not previ- 

 ously found on the Tchuktch Peninsula. On 

 the sides of the mountains there were still some 

 patches of snow-drift, and from the summits 

 one could see large masses of ice continually 

 drifting backward and forward on the Asiatic 

 side of Behring Strait. Dr. Stuxberg made 

 the ascent of one of the neighboring mountains. 

 On the way he came across the dead body of 

 a native laid out upon a stone grave of the usu- 

 al Tchuktch form. By the side of the dead 

 lay a broken gun, a spear, arrows, a tinder-box, 

 pipe, snow-screen, issil (a tool used for remov- 

 ing the ice-rubbish when cutting an ice-hole), 

 and sundry other things considered necessary 

 for the departed in a better world. The body 

 had been lying here since the previous summer. 

 From Nunamo the course of the Vega was 

 shaped for Port Clarence, on the American 

 side of Behring Strait, where the ship an- 

 phored in the afternoon of July 22d, after a 

 passage across a sea covered with drift-ice on 

 the Asiatic side and quite free from ice on the 

 American side. Port Clarence is a very large 

 but excellent harbor, situated immediately to 

 the southeast of Cape Prince of Wales. It was 

 the first real harbor in which the Vega had 

 anchored since she left Actinia Harbor on 

 Taimyr Island, August 18, 1878. On the 26th 

 the Vega steamed out of Port Clarence, and, 

 favored by good weather, proceeded to recross 

 Behring Strait, her next destination being Sen- 

 javine Strait, situated about 115 nautical miles 

 to the southwest of East Cape. During the pas- 

 sage across, soundings were taken, also sam- 

 ples of water for analysis, as well as the tem- 

 perature at various depths. The dredge or 

 trawl was lowered frequently, with the most 

 satisfactory results. In the course of the 28th 

 the Vega stopped, not, as had been at first in- 

 tended, in Glasenapp Harbor, which was filled 

 with unbroken ice, but at the entrance of the 

 most northerly fiord, Konyam Bay. The inner 

 part of this bay was also covered with ice, the 

 breaking up of which on the 30th nearly brought 

 the Vega's voyage to an abrupt conclusion by 

 pressing her against the land. Happily the 

 movement was seen in time, and the ship re- 

 moved to a part of the fiord free from ice. 

 The southeastern shore of Konyam Bay, near 

 which the Vega was anchored for a few days, 

 was a waste bog, the breeding-place of numer- 

 ous cranes. Farther inland, the low-lying hills 

 were composed of granite, and above them 

 rose several mountain-summits of trachyte for- 



mation, about 2,000 feet high. The zoologists 

 and botanists, finding the harvest on the neigh- 

 boring strand but scanty, proceeded in the 

 steam-pinnace to the north side of the bay, 

 where they discovered grassy slopes decked 

 with tall shrubs and a great variety of flowers ; 

 and Dr. Kjellman increased his collection of 

 the larger plants of northern Asia by more 

 than seventy species. Here also the first land 

 mollusca on the Tchuktch Peninsula were met 

 with. Three reindeer Tchuktch families had 

 set up their summer tents at the outlet of a 

 deep brook on the northwestern shore of 

 Konyam Bay. Their manner of life differed 

 but little from that of the coast Tchuktches 

 near the Vega's winter-station, and their dress 

 was also the same, with the exception of small 

 bells which they wore on their belts. On July 

 31st the expedition anchored off the north- 

 eastern shore of St. Lawrence Island, called 

 by the Tchuktches Engna. At some distance 

 from Senjavine Strait the last drift-ice was 

 seen. The island seemed to offer no good 

 harbor ; so, after devoting a f e w days to an 

 exploration which yielded an abundance of 

 zoological and botanical specimens, the Vega 

 continued her journey on the 2d of August, 

 and on the 14th dropped anchor in an indiffer- 

 ently sheltered harbor on the northwest coast 

 of Behring Island. Here again the naturalists 

 succeeded in gathering a rich harvest of inter- 

 esting specimens, among others a large collec- 

 tion of the bones of the supposed extinct sea- 

 cow (Rhytina Stelleri). The Vega left Beh- 

 ring Island in the evening of August 19th. 

 During the early part of her cruise toward 

 Japan, and while the ship was sailing with the 

 cold current which flows from the north, the 

 wind was favorable, the weather mild, and the 

 temperature of the sea-surface between 9 and 

 11 C. But on the 25th, when in latitude 45 

 45' N". and longitude 156 E., the temperature 

 of the water began to rise rapidly ; and on the 

 28th, in latitude 40 N., longitude 147 41' E., 

 the thermometer recorded a surface tempera- 

 ture of 23-4 C. This showed that the Vega 

 had left the Arctic current which had hitherto 

 aided her progress, and had entered what has 

 been called the Gulf Stream of the Pacific 

 Ocean, known as the Kuro-Siwo. The winds 

 now became less favorable, the weather op- 

 pressively hot in spite of violent squalls ac- 

 companied by thunder and showers of rain, 

 and on the 31st the mainmast of the Vega was 

 struck by lightning. In the evening of Sep- 

 tember 2d the Vega anchored in the roadstead 

 of Yokohama, and on the 15th the three learned 

 societies of Japan, viz., the Tokio Geographical 

 Society, the Asiatic Society of Japan, and the 

 German Asiatic Society, received Professor 

 Nordenskjold and his companions at a great 

 banquet given in Tokio, in the large hall of the 

 Koku Dai Gaku, and presided over by H. I. H. 

 Prince Kita-Shirakawa-No-Miya. 



The Dutch Arctic Expedition, consisting of 

 the schooner "William Barents, commanded by 



