28 G. AiiDiiup. 



attempt to reach the coast somewhat further nortli. He gave this 

 up, however, and on September 9th he arrived at Rejkjavik in Iceland Ч 



Before considering the next expedition to the east coast of Green- 

 land, Nansen's daring exploit of crossing Greenland on skis in 1888 

 may be mentioned. To achieve this Nansen had to land somewhere 

 on the east coast and this he accomplished by working his way in 

 with great daring and energy in a boat set out from the ship луЬ1сЬ 

 had carried him to the ice-edge. During his stay on the east coast, 

 before he went up on to the inland ice, Nansen only journeyed, how^ 

 ever, in the districts travelled over by Holm and Graah, and his 

 expedition could in consequence only extend our knowledge of the 

 east coast to a small extent -. 



The splendid result of Holm's expedition contributed without 

 any doubt to the realisation of the expedition by sea which was 

 proposed in Normann's plan. This was set on foot already in 1891 ^. 

 The leader of the expedition was First-lieutenant of the Navy C. Ryder 

 with First-lieutenant of the Navy H. Vedel as second in command. 



On June 7th 1891 the expedition set out with the hired Norwegian 

 vessel "Hekla" of Tonsberg, which had been specially constructed 

 to contend with the ice in the Arctic Sea. On July 9th the Hekla 

 stood in through the ice and on the 20th Ryder landed at Cape Broer 

 Ruys. On the same day the voyage was continued southwards and 

 on August 2nd the Hekla steamed into Scoresby Sound. On August 

 8th the anchor was dropped in a small harbour on Danmarks Island, 

 about 100 miles inside the mouth of Scoresby Sound. From here 

 various boating expeditions were made. On the 20th the Hekla raised 

 anchor and stood out towards the mouth of the fjord with the object 

 of finding a place, where the expedition could be landed and its stores 

 discharged. From here, namely, the intention was, that Ryder 

 should sail by boat down along the coast and explore the unknown 

 stretch between Cape Brewster and ca. 66° N. lat. But the ice condi- 

 tions prevented this and on the 23rd the Hekla again anchored in the 

 harbour of Danmarks Island, where Ryder resolved to overwinter. 



During the winter the charting and exploration of the enormous 

 fjord-complex, which is formed by the inner branches of Scoresby 

 Sound, was completed by means of numerous boat and sledge jour- 

 neys, a work, the magnitude of which can best be understood, when 

 we remember, that Scoresby Sound is the largest fjord-complex in 

 the world. 



Owing to the ice Ryder was unable to leave Danmarks Island 

 before the 8th of August 1892. On the 13th Cape Brewster was passed 



1 A. E. Nordenskiöld: Den andra Dicksonska Expeditionen til Clron- 

 land. Stockholm 1885. 



- Fridtjof Nansen. Paa Ski over Grönland. Kristiania 1890. 

 ' Meddelelser om Grönland, Bd. XVII. 



