276 ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. 



latitude than that which he succeeded in attaining, for he found, to his 

 chagrin, that he was being drifted to the south with greater rapidity 

 than he was making progress to the north. 



Success in this direction may, however, be achieved by dispatching 

 exploring parties with sledges and boats in the early spring, before the 

 disruption of the pack has taken place. This would, however, necessi- 

 tate a ship passing the winter on the north coast of Spitzbergen. With 

 Parry's valuable experience to guide them, I am confident they would 

 find no difficulty in surpassing that great navigator's highest position, 

 with every prospect, perhaps, of the discovery of land to the north- 

 ward. If my anticipations prove correct, then valuable and important 

 results will be obtained by an expedition sent to explore in this partic- 

 ular direction. 



Mr. Leigh Smith has, in addition to other good geographical work in 

 this neighborhood, attempted to circumnavigate the Spitzbergen group, 

 but so far this feat has not yet been achieved, nor has the position of 

 that somewhat mysterious island named on our charts Gillis Land ever 

 yet been reached. It was sighted and named in 1707 by the Butch 

 captain, Cornelius Gillis (or Giles), but he did not land on it. Its posi- 

 tion, as given by this navigator, was, however, placed on Van de Kue- 

 lin's map, published in 1710. In 1SG4 it was reported to have been 

 sighted by Captain Tobiesen, but he was unable to effect a landing. 

 Some geographers endeavor to identify it with Wiche's Land, which 

 was recently sighted by Mr. Leigh Smith from a high hill in Genevra 

 Bay, in Stor Fiord, Spitzbergen. I am inclined to think that what 

 Captain Gillis saw — if he saw land at all, which is perhaps doubtful — 

 was an extension of Franz Joseph Land, the nearest known point of 

 which is, after all, not more than about 120 miles from Spitzbergen. 

 Wiche's Land is situated too far south to be mistaken for Gillis Land, if 

 the latitude of the latter place is approximately correct on the chart. 

 It is not, I think, at all improbable that a chain of islands extends 

 between Gillis Land and Franz Joseph Land. 



While treating of Spitzbergen, I may mention that the latest scheme 

 by which the mysteries of the unknown region surrounding the north 

 pole are to be revealed to us comes from Sweden, for we are given to 

 understand that it has been proposed to undertake a voyage from 

 Spitzbergen to the pole in a balloon. But as I understand that Mr. 

 Andrce, the originator of this enterprise, will communicate a paper, on 

 his proposed expedition, to the congress, I will not further allude to it, 

 except to assure him of our heartiest wishes for the success of his 

 plucky and novel adventure. 



We now come to Franz Josef Land, which comprises a large territory, 

 but whether a continent or archipelago remains a geographical problem 

 for further elucidation and solution. The history of the discovery of 

 this land by the Austro Hungarian expedition, under the joint command 

 of Weyprecht and Payer, in 1873, reads more like a romance than a 



