6io 



NATURE 



{Oct. 23, 1879 



Hinlopen Strait, where one of the vessels lay for some 

 time, the divergence between the marine fauna of East 

 and West Spitzbergen was very striking. Here were 

 found animals belonging exclusively to the fauna of 

 Greenland, seen exceedingly seldom or never on the west 

 coast. As an example of the flora to be found in Spitz- 

 bergen and of the thoroughness with which the expedition 

 did its work, we quote the following passage from Mr. 

 Leslie's volume : — 



" After various excursions had been made the Magdahna 

 sailed from the Norways on the 25th, and after passing 

 Kobbe Bay and South Gat, the sound between Danes' 

 Island and the mainland, anchored in Magdalena Bay. 

 Here, at a height of 2,300 feet above the sea, the following 

 plants were found growing, Cochlearia fenestrata, Ceras- 

 iium alpinum, Luzula hyperborea, and several saxifrages ; 

 lower down, small soft tufts of the Arctic willow, Alsine 

 biflora, and several grasses. Out of the gravel there rose 

 nearly a foot high here and there the uncommon 

 Saxifraga hieracifoUa and Pedicidaris hirsuta with its 

 reddish head, alternating with yello* Ranunculi and 



bright red patches of the graceful Silene acaulis, of which, 

 however, a flower here and there had begun to pale under 

 the powerful rays of the sun, which had already caused 

 several Draba and the here uncommon Arabis alpina to 

 go to seed. High up on the fell grew the beautiful 

 Erigeroti uniflorus. By the side of the small streams 

 that flowed from the top to the bottom of the mountain 

 were mosses, Saxifraga rivularis, Stellaria eduardsi, and 

 two species of Poa. It is remarkable that the vegetation 

 diminishes quite inconsiderably with the height above the 

 sea, so that almost all the plants that grow near the beach 

 thrive as well at a height of 2,000 feet. The continual 

 sunlight and the insignificant difference in temperature 

 are undoubtedly the causes of this. 



" The large granite blocks and broken stones, of which 

 is formed the peculiar beach by which the fells are here 

 almost always separated from the sea, are quite concealed 

 by the most luxuriant moss and lichen vegetation. The 

 grey covering, often six inches thick, is for the most part 

 composed of lichens : Spharophoron fragile and Cladonia 

 gradlis,StereocaHlonpaschale,Cetrariaislandica—lCQ\3iad 



Dredging under the Ice in Winter. 



moss — Bryopogon jubahon, Alectoria thulensis, Umbili- 

 caria arctica, Solorina crocea and many others ; and 

 among mosses of Racomitrium lanuginosum, with stalks 

 nine inches long, Encalypta rhaptocarpa, Gymno- 

 tnitria and Brycs, Polytrichuni alpinum and Dicranum 

 fuscescens, &c. While the sloop lay in Magdalena Bay 

 Cape Mitre was visited, a promontory which Scoresby 

 ascended one of the few times he landed on Spitzbergen. 

 When he had reached the summit, he was obliged to sit 

 astride the ridge in order to keep his place. On July 31 

 the Magdalena again put to sea, and the same day 

 anchored in Cross Bay. In this neighbourhood the first 

 known fern on Spitzbergen was found — Cystopteris 

 fragilisP 



In the neighbourhood of King's Bay, was found a seam of 

 coal, together with impressions of leaves and other parts 

 of plants, showing that there was a period in the develop- 

 ment of the globe when spreading forests, compose J, it 

 would appear, chiefly of broad-leaved trees, resembling 

 maples, everywhere covered the valleys and mountain- 

 slopes, where now, if they be not entirely filled with thick 

 beds of ice, the Arctic willow, creeping inch high along 



the ground, is the only representative of plants of 

 nature of trees. 



Thus sailing from one point to another, making boat 

 and land excursions, dredging and collecting plants, 

 animals, fossils, and minerals, and studying ice and other 

 physical conditions, the members of the expedition carried 

 on their work, returning only when the ice threatened to 

 lock them in for the winter. This is a fair example of 

 the methods and results of the various expeditions in 

 which Nordenskjold has been engaged. 



In the third expedition to Spitzbergen, in which 

 Nordenskjold was engaged, that of 1864, he himself was 

 leader. The vessel was an old but strongly-built gun- 

 boat, the Axel Thordsen, of 26^ tons, part of the object 

 of the expedition being to complete the preliminary 

 survey to ascertain the possibility of measuring an arc of 

 the meridian. On this occasion the expedition succeeded 

 in landing on Bear Island, but on a subsequent expedition 

 it was explored for five days. On the visit of 1864 

 Nordenskjold inserted^a water-mark at the Burgomaster 

 Port, to register the rise of the land, which is going on in 

 Spitzbergen as in other Arctic lands. After attempting 



