March 9, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



131 



THE PRESENT CONDITION OF 

 EXPLORATION. 



Those readers who wish to follow the reports 

 and news of explorations in distant lands ma}^ 

 find some assistance in the following condensed 

 statement concerning the more important recent 

 expeditious in the uncivilized parts of the world. 

 "We here note those travellers who have lateh' 

 completed their field-work, and returned home, 

 and whose narratives are recentlj^ published or 

 still awaited ; those who are still in the field, 

 from whom occasional reports are received, 

 often only after a time of trj-ing silence ; and 

 those who are now planning to enter new 

 ground . 



Arctic regions. — The situation of parties 

 in the arctic regions at the beginning of 1883 

 is about as follows, as far as known. Of the 

 Jeannette expedition, the remainder of the 

 original part}' were about to begin the home- 

 ward journej', together with ensign Hunt of 

 the Rodgers. At last accounts they were en 

 route from Irkutsk to Orenburg. Messrs. 

 Harber and Schutze of the navy were expect- 

 ed at Irkutsk, in April, with the remains of 

 DeLong and his party, intending to start for 

 home as soon as the caskets arrived. A bill 

 has been introduced into Congress to pension 

 Mrs. DeLong ; and another to indemnify those 

 who lost personal effects on the arctic expedi- 

 tion of the Badgers, and to reward the friendly 

 natiA'es who preserved the lives of the party 

 during the winter after the burning of the ship. 

 Mr. Leigh Smith of the Eira expedition has 

 presented the Geographical societ}' of London 

 with £1,000, in recognition of its interest 

 in arctic work. The arctic exploring vessel 

 Dirafna, commanded bj' Lieut. Hovgaard of 

 Nordenskiold's party, bound for Cape Cheliu- 

 skin or Franz Josef Land, was beset in the 

 Kara Sea, near Kara Strait, in the latter 

 part of August. Several propositions have 

 been made to organize an expedition for the 

 purpose of communicating with her and with 

 the Dutch international meteorological party 

 on the Varna, also impeded by ice in the same 

 xacinit}'. As nearlj- as can be judged from 

 rather confused telegrams which have been 

 received, no relief-partj' has actuallj' been 

 organized ; though correspondence between the 

 Danish and Dutch authorities has taken place, 

 and the Danish captain Normann has visited 

 St. Petersburg on that business. It has been 

 reported that Larssen, one of the Jeannette 

 survivors, had been engaged to make the at- 

 tempt ; and the last news appears to be, that 

 nomads from the Petschora river-mouth report 



that the vessel was in good order, and had 

 arrived from the coast of Novaia Zemlia to 

 remain for the winter. 



The situation at the international polar 

 stations for simultaneous meteorological and 

 magnetic observations was favorable when last 

 heard from, except in the case of the Novaia 

 Zemlia parties. The Aiuerican station at 

 Ladj' Franklin Baj', the most northern and the 

 first-established of all, has not been communi- 

 cated with, owing to ice in the northern part 

 of Smith Sound ; but, being fuUj' provisioned 

 and equipped for three years, the party are be- 

 lieved to be in good condition. The German 

 station at Kingava, Curaberland Inlet, was suc- 

 cessfully established in the autumn of 1882, 

 under Dr. William Giese. Observations are 

 in progress at Godhaab, in West Greenland, 

 under Lieut. Paulsen's direction. Dr. Snellen 

 in the Varna, with the Dutch expedition which 

 aimed at reaching Dickson Haven, near the 

 mouth of the Yenisei, reported beset in the 

 Kara Sea, near Kara Strait, in the last week 

 in August, will doubtless have established a 

 station on the land of Novaia Zemlia if not re- 

 leased by the end of the season. With or near 

 them was the Danish arctic expedition, on the 

 steamer Dimfna, commanded bj' Lieut. An- 

 dreas Hovgaard, mentioned above. The Aus- 

 trian expedition, commanded bj' Lieut. E. v. 

 Wohlgemuth, succeeded in estabhshing its sta- 

 tion by Aug. 15, on the island of Jan Mayen, 

 in a ravine on the southern slope of the Vo- 

 gelberg, named Wilczek valley, after the pro- 

 moter of the expedition. The latest data from 

 the Russian expedition to make a station at 

 the mouth of the Lena was, that all was pro- 

 gressing favorablj', and that the part}', under 

 the command of Lieut. Juergens, had reached 

 its destination. Of the subsidiary station, pro- 

 jected by the imperial geographical society at 

 Moller Bay, under the direction of Lieut. An- 

 dreieff, no positive news has been received 

 here ; but it is asserted that thej- had reached 

 and would winter in Novaia Zemlia. The Fin- 

 nish station on the shores of the White Sea 

 began operations Aug. 15. Mahlenberg, with 

 the Swedish expedition, were safelj' established 

 at Wyde Baj-, Spitzbergen ; while the obser- 

 vations of Steen, at Bosekop, near the North 

 Cape of Norway, have been going on quietl}' 

 for some time. Capt. Dawson with his party 

 were well on their waj' toward Fort Rae, in the 

 Hudson Bay territory, when last heard from. 

 The exact localit}' finally decided upon by the 

 Anglo-Canadian part}' is not j-et known. The 

 U. S. part}' at U'gla-ami, near Point Barrow, 

 Alaska, were visited and recruited during the 



