130 Nordenskiold on the Swedish Arctic Explorations of 1868. [Nov.26^ 



intention was to employ this favourable circumstance for making a last 

 attempt to go northward, and if this should prove to be unsuccessful to 

 winter at Seven Islands. This plan was frustrated by an accident similar to 

 that which happened to the expeditions of Buchan and Ross in 1818. 



The calm that during the summer prevails in the Arctic Sea gave way 

 after September 23rd to almost uninterrupted stormy weather, which 

 caused such a violent and irregular sea on the border of the pack that it 

 was impossible to .advance without exposing the ship to be instantly crushed 

 by the large rolling hummocks. Consequently we were obliged to lay to 

 under the 81st parallel, waiting for better weather and a calmer sea. How- 

 ever, everywhere on the surface of the sea large pieces of ice were scattered, 

 dangerous by their rolling movement, their hardness (the temperature was 

 — 14° 5 Centigrade), and the obscurity that prevailed at night. During a 

 south-easterly storm on April 24 oar steamer was so vehemently thrown 

 against such a hummock that a large leak ensued, which forced us to make 

 as soon as possible for land. After hard work in keeping the steamer 

 afloat, we reached Amsterdam Island, where the leak was provisionally 

 caulked so as to enable us to reach a safer harbour in Kings Bay the follow- 

 ing day. Here we had the ship down, and the damage was repaired as well 

 as possible. 



October 12 we left this harbour, going through a large field of new 

 ice. Evidently the season was tuo far advanced for further enterprises to 

 the northward ; besides, our steamer, having got two ribs broken, was 

 no longer strong enough for a new encounter with the ice ; and as a wintering 

 only on Seven Islands could not be of an interest great enough to outweigh 

 the loss of time, privations, and dangers unavoidably associated with it, we 

 resolved to employ the yet tolerably open sea around the southern part of 

 Spitzbergen to make an attempt to reach Giles Land. But being, at Thou- 

 sand Islands, prevented by ice from penetrating further, we turned south- 

 ward and reached Tromso, April 19, after having at Beeren Eiland sustained 

 a severe storm, during which our steamer was quite ice down by the waves 

 that washed over. 



During our cruize in the polar basin interesting observations were ob- 

 tained on the temperature, currents, &c. of the sea, and a number of care- 

 fully examined deep soundings were made with an apparatus resembling the 

 'Bulldog' apparatus of M'Clintock, by the intelligent and intrepid com- 

 mander of the ' Sofia,' Captain Baron v. Otter, and I hope soon to be able 

 to present you a copy of his map on these subjects, the position of the ice, &c. 



As you already know by the letter of Dr. Malmgren, the scientific re- 

 sults of the first part of our expedition have been very satisfactory, and I 

 hope also that its second part will give important information about several 

 arctic questions. 



By the expeditions of Tsehitschayoff (17^5 & 1766), Phipps, Buchan, 

 Franklin, Scoresby, Sabine, Clavering, Parry, Torell, &c, it was already 

 long ago proved that in the summer compact masses of drift-ice prevented 

 vessels from penetrating far into the polar basin. But during the most 



