] (', SIBKKIA. 



Ill' iIk! Aciiiloiiiy of Sfifjircs, Slnciik, zoold^'isi, who was soul at tlu- initiative' of ilie Grand 

 I)iiko Constantin, tiif-n Piosidcnt of tlif Aradcmy, and lastly the onv(ty of the liotanical Gar- 

 ilciis, Miixiiiinv, huiMiii^l. Tliis expcdiiinii iciidcrcd incalcuhible service to the scientific knowl- 

 cdf/c of tlio nri<»"- J he l-lastfiii Siiicriaii iuarich wliifli siihs(;f|ii('ntly bfcame the most prom- 

 iiK'iit, local centre of r-iiltnn' in Masleni Siiieria and its frontiers ilid not cea.se its useful 

 activity, and at a later [leriod the distriel was explored in all i)arts hy lueal scientists sent 

 under tli(! pntteetion of the S<n'iety ami at its exj)ense. Anion^^ these explorers mention may 

 ])('. made of Cliekaiiovski, Dyhovski, I'otanin, Yadrintsev, Kropotkin, Cherski, Dindiir. K'nr- 

 zhinski and many ntliers. 



Ill L'ciieial, diiriii^r the last thirty years, an independent effort is already wbservuble on 

 ihe part of the local Siberian maj-mates to investif,'ato the prodnctivc powers of their vast 

 country, Amonp those persons who have enriched themselves by a prudent exploitation of the 

 iiaiiiral wealth of Siiieria there arc many who have shown themselves the patrons of every 

 scientilic exploralinn ami darinf,' enterprise which could briuiL,' advantage to Siberia. Some 

 of these persiiiis, like A. IM. Sibiriakov and M. K. Sidorov have spared neither labour 

 nor nioiiey inr the exploialion ami disecvery of a sea route to the mouths of the Siberian 

 rivers, whilo others lik(! I. M. Siiiiriakov and lukachev have spared no expense for the 

 support and even equipmenl of scientific expeditions to the little known Siberian outlying 

 provinces and adjacent parts of Central Asia, to the exploration of which the Russian Geo- 

 ^M'aphical Society has given particular attention. 



During the last twenty-five years not only Russian, but also Scandinavian, English 

 anil American navigators, have been greatly attracted by the question of the investigation of 

 the climatic conditions of the Arctic Ocean with the object of establishing a regular sea route 

 to the months of the great Siberian rivers. As early as 1868 and 1869 the first successful 

 endeavours to penetrate into the Kara sea were made by Swedisli traders. The most conven- 

 ient time of year for this was found to be the early autumn, when the Kara sea is most 

 free from ice. Xordenskjold"s scii'uliiic expiMJition in 1875 showed that the niuiiih of the Yenissei 

 is accessible in autumn, naturally for a very short time, and with the exception of particularly 

 unfavourable years: and that for trading purposes it would be necessary to erect warehouses 

 at tlie niouth of the river where the unloading and loading of the vessels could be effected in 

 a few days. In 1873 to 1879 Kordenskjold's famous expedition was efpiipped with the active 

 cooperation of the Siberian magnate Sibiriakov. This expedition was the first to succeed in 

 navigating along the entire Siberian coast and passing through the Behring straits into the 

 Pacific Ocean. This expedition which extended over a space of two years, was naturally a 

 triumph to science, but as yet it only proved, that although it is possible under particularly 

 favourable circumstances to navigate through the Arctic Ocean along the entire Siberian 

 coast, even in one year, yet with the exception of the above mentioned access to the 

 mouth of the Yenissei, this coast cannot serve for regular maritime or mercantile relations. 

 The heroic endeavours of the last American expedition under Captain Long, whose vessel the 

 «Jeanetta» was lost on the coast of the Xovo-Sibirsk islands and the survivors only saved 

 after the death of Captain Long by Russians at the mouth of the Lena in 1881, proved the 

 same truth. In the meantime the climatic conditions of the entire Arctic Ocean have now been 



