THE NORTH-EAST PASSAGE. 5 



tions here mentioned appears to be attributable to 

 the circumstance that they always returned too 

 soon. The experiences of later times show that the 

 Arctic seas are most free from ice during autumn, 

 immediately before it freezes anew. One cannot 

 calculate with any certainty upon the Kara Sea 

 being navigable before the first days of August, 

 and it seems to remain so until the beginning of 

 October, or perhaps even later. 



After the English expedition of 1676 there occurs 

 an interval of nearly 200 years without any endea- 

 vour to make the ]SI"orth-east Passage. The country 

 that now took up the great question was Austria, 

 which, in 1872, sent out an expedition subsidised 

 by private individuals. The ship bore the name of 

 Admiral Tegetthoff, and was commanded by Lieut. 

 "\Veytprecht, who was accompanied by Lieut. Payer, 

 as leader of all land excursions. Of the vessel's 

 being frozen in on the west coast of Novaya Zemlia, 

 of its wonderful drifting with the ice, and consequent 

 discovery of a new land, and of the crew's fortunate 

 escape, it is not necessary here to speak, as a work 

 has been recently published in which the whole is 

 admirably described. The attempt made by this 

 expedition to reach the North-east Passage proved 

 unsuccessful, inasmuch as it gained no point farther 

 than its predecessors with the same object. 



A more fortunate issue has been reserved for the 

 thirteenth expedition, organised to circumnavigate 



