67 
REVIEWS. 
THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION OF 1870.* 
E VERYONE who is at all interested in the proposed Arctic exploration 
for which our Government are at the present moment preparing-, 
should read the graphic account of the recent expedition of the German 
explorers, which has been so well related by Captain Koldewey and his 
several junior officers, and so well translated into English and edited by the 
Rev. L. Mercier, M.A., and H. W. Bates, F.L.S., of the Geographical Society. 
It must be confessed at' first that the results of the expedition are somewhat 
small, that is, as regards the amount of discovery either in the domains of 
geography, biology, or physics ; at least, if we are to regard the present 
work as a faithful and full narrative. Still, as an historic account of the 
grave disasters suffered, and the patient determination of ihe men to bear 
with all risk and danger in making their way to the extreme latitude of 77°, 
it cannot be excelled. When to this we add that in point of excellence and 
number of engravings it is almost unsurpassed, that the book is simply one 
mass of illustrations, some of them exquisitely coloured, we shall have said 
enough to urge our readers immediately to possess it. 
The general facts of the expedition may be briefly summed up as follows : 
On the 15th of June, 1869, the two vessels, the Germania , a steamer of 
about 600 tons, and a small schooner, the Hansa, left Bremen haven, in 
the presence of the King of Prussia, Prince Bismarck (then Count yon B.), 
General von Moltke, and others, and were towed out of harbour by a couple 
of tugs. In the evening they fairly started on their journey northwards, 
their intention being to explore the east coast of Greenland as far as lati- 
tude 77°. It was originally thought that both vessels could keep together 
throughout the voyage. However, fate decided otherwise. The two vessels 
some time in July lost each other for a few days as they approached the ice. 
The loss was followed by a reuniting, when the crews of both were exces- 
sively rejoiced at the result. They parted company, however, the next day, 
and never met together again, and this was on the 20th of J uly, after mid- 
* “The German Arctic Expedition of 1869-70; and Narrative of the 
Wreck of the Hansa in the Ice.” By Captain Koldewey, Commander of 
the Expedition, assisted by Members of the Scientific Staff. With numerous 
Woodcuts, Maps, Portraits, and four Chromo-lithographs. Translated by 
the Rev. L. Mercier, M.A., and Edited by H. W. Bates, F.L.S., Assist. Sec. 
Royal Geographical Society. London : Sampson Low & Co., 1874. 
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