Geographic Notes 



389 



Game was found in abundance; a hun- 

 dred musk oxen were killed for food. 

 The most serious loss suffered by the 

 party was that of the death of Surgeon 

 Draskrug, whose body was buried in the 

 ice. Several cases of illness were suc- 

 cessfully treated by Captain Sverdrup 

 after the death of the surgeon. 



According to the meager reports issued 

 through the press dispatches, " the dis- 

 tricts explored were the southern and 

 western coasts of Ellesmereland and the 

 hitherto unknown districts west of that 

 region. The boiler of the Ft am shows 

 signs of usage, but everything is in 

 good order." 



The vessel left Gothaab, Greenland, 

 August 16, but an accident to the ma- 

 chinery compelled her to make the 

 homeward passage entirely under sail. 

 On September 28 the Fram entered 

 Christiania harbor under the escort of 

 warships and pleasure steamers, and 

 was saluted by the fort and welcomed 

 by thousands of spectators. The latest 

 advices announce a reception to Sver- 

 drup and his companions given by the 

 Geographical Society on September 30, 

 at which the Captain was decorated 

 with the Order of the Grand Cross of 

 St Olaf, while Seaman Peter Hennik- 

 sen (who had participated also in the. 

 Nansen Arctic expedition) received a 

 gold medal, and other members of the 

 expedition received silver medals. The 

 dispatches quote Sir Clements R. Mark- 

 ham, president of the Royal Geograph- 

 ical Society of Great Britain, as regard- 

 ing Captain Sverdrup' s expedition as 

 the most important since that of Sir 

 John Franklin. 



The geographic results of the Sver- 

 drup expedition remain to be described. 

 According to Sir Clements Markham, 

 as reported in the dispatches, the expe- 



dition skirted three thousand miles of 

 coast, of which half was newly discov- 

 ered land. Unquestionably the surveys 

 will supplement those of Peary and 

 others, and with them bring into the 

 domain of actual knowledge a large part 

 of Arctic America. 



THE BROOKS ALASKAN EXPEDITION 



DR A. H. BROOKS, of the U. S. 

 Geological Survey, has just re- 

 ported by wire the successful termina- 

 tion of a notable season's work in Alas- 

 kan exploration. Entering by way of 

 Cook Inlet, he so laid his course as to 

 divide the largest unexplored area in 

 Alaska. This he traversed, skirting 

 the base of Mount McKiuley and mak- 

 ing fresh observations on this culminat- 

 ing point of the North American conti- 

 nent, coming out on the Tananak. The 

 brief telegraphic report indicates that 

 the plans for the work were successfully 

 carried out, without serious casualties. 



REPORTED ENTRANCE OF LHASSA 



IT is currently reported in Hamburg 

 that one of the seven Japanese 

 Buddhist priests who have been endeav- 

 oring to enter Tibet has succeeded, and 

 that he is now in Lhassa. It is said that 

 this priest went in from Darjiling, and 

 that two others are approaching the sa- 

 cred city from Mongolia. The third party 

 passed up the Yangtse Valley toward 

 the frontier about a year ago, but their 

 present whereabouts are unknown. 



Miss Eliza R. Scidmore, Foreign Secre- 

 tary of the National Geographic Society, 

 is in Hamburg as a delegate from the 

 Society to the Thirteenth International 

 Oriental Congress. 



