176 Arctic and Antarctic Exploration [part i 
It was in 1734 that trained and educated explorers 
first began to take the place of pioneer Cossacks. Where 
English and Dutch had failed, Russian officers, after 
persevering attempts and the loss of more than one 
vessel, succeeded. They made the voyage from Archangel 
to the Obi. Then vessels were built at Tobolsk, and 
after one failure, when his vessel was wrecked, Lieutenant 
Owzin reached the mouth of the Yenisei in 1737. He 
was succeeded by Lieutenant Minin, who surveyed the 
course of the Yenisei from Yeniseisk to the mouth, and 
sent Sterlegoff on a voyage northward, who reached a 
latitude of 75 0 26' N. 
It was the object of the Russian Admiralty to examine 
the whole of the Siberian coast either in sailing vessels 
or by the use of sledges, and for this purpose they divided 
the coast into sections to be undertaken by different ex- 
peditions. Vessels called kotchys were built in the Siberian 
rivers, but the most successful work was done by sledge 
travelling. The native methods were adopted, and the 
narti of the Tunguses and Tchuktches became the explor- 
ing sledge of Russian officers. The runner of a Siberian 
narti of the best construction is 5 feet 10 inches long, its 
width 1 foot 9 inches, height of runner lof inches. The 
runners are of birch-wood, and the upper surface of the 
sledge of willow shoots, woven together. All the parts 
are fastened with hide thongs. Before use the sledges 
are turned over and water is poured on the runners to 
produce a thin crust of ice which glides easily over the 
snow. In summer these ice runners (wodiat) cannot be 
used and whalebone is sometimes substituted. A well- 
loaded sledge requires a team of 12 dogs, and they will 
drag 1260 lb. in spring, but 360 lb. is a heavy load in the 
intense cold of winter. 
The earliest attempt to round the extreme northern 
point of Siberia from the east side was made by Lieutenant 
Prontchishcheff, who sailed down the Lena from Yakutsk 
in 1735, accompanied by his wife. Hampered by ice, they 
were obliged to winter at the mouth of the Olenek. In the 
next season Prontchishcheff forced his way nearly to the 
extreme point, but he found the ice quite impenetrable. 
He and his wife died at their winter quarters, leaving 
the command to the mate Chelyuskin, who returned. 
