CH. XLl] 
Sir Martin Conway 
lost. She was re-floated and thoroughly repaired, and 
Lieut. Hoffmann conducted the voyage of 1882. The 
two last voyages in 1883 and 1884 were commanded 
by Lieut. Dalen. The impetus that Koolemans Beynen 
had given to Dutch Arctic enterprise must have been 
great, seeing that these voyages were continued for six 
years after his death 1 . Useful scientific work was done 
during all the voyages, and it is much to be regretted 
that the good work was not continued and its scope 
extended by the people of the Netherlands. 
Although the scientific exploration of a country such 
as Spitsbergen after its discovery and the delineation of 
its coasts, mountain ranges, and islands, hardly comes 
within the scope of the present work, mention of some 
important work in this group cannot be omitted. In 1898 
the Swedish and Russian expeditions began the measure- 
ment of an arc of meridian in Spitsbergen, which was 
completed in 1890. In 1890 also, Dr Nathorst made 
an important circumnavigation of the Spitsbergen group, 
thoroughly exploring Giles Land, and the Wiche Islands. 
There have been numerous visits of yachts, as well as 
vessels coming with scientific objects; even a company 
has been formed to work the veins of coal discovered. 
But the most important recent Spitsbergen work has 
been the expedition in 1896 to cross the main island 
for the first time. Up to that time the interior of Spits- 
bergen was practically unknown. 
Sir Martin Conway undertook this achievement with 
four companions — Mr Garwood, a mountaineer and 
geologist ; Dr Gregory, the author of The Great Rift 
Valley of Africa] Mr Trevor Battye, who had previously 
made a very thorough survey of Kolguev Island in 1894 2 , 
as geologist; and Sir Martin's cousin, Mr H. E. Conway, 
as the artist. The expedition was quite successful and 
a valuable and very interesting narrative describing 
the interior of Spitsbergen was the result. The route 
was from Advent Bay to Agadh Bay on the east coast. 
The party also visited the north coast and Walden 
1 Lady Markham's translation of the Life of L. R. Koolemans Beynen 
by Charles Boissevain was published by Sampson Low in 1885. 
2 Author of Ice-bound on Kolguev. 
