162 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
favour of renewed exploration in the Arctic regions, and as an indication of 
the direction in which he thinks future attempts to reach the North Pole 
should he made. In furtherance of his general design he prefaces the 
description of his own voyage with a historical account of the progress 
of discovery in the region of Novaya Zemlya, which, brief as it necessarily is, 
contains an exceedingly interesting record of a long series of most gallant 
attempts to enlarge the knowledge of the geography of these inhospitable 
regions. 
As regards the exploration of the region around the Pole itself, Captain 
Markham is of opinion that the most hopeful direction for further research 
is along the west coast of the land discovered by the Austrian expedition 
under Weyprecht and Payer in 1872, and named by them, in honour of their 
Emperor, Franz Josef Land. The records of former voyages, and Captain 
Markham’s own experience in the Isbjorn, would seem to show that in 
August and September in ordinary seasons there would be no difficulty in 
reaching and exploring Franz Josef Land in a steamer; and as the southern- 
most point of that land is beyond 80° N. lat., it would certainly seem that in 
this direction we may with little trouble or delay attain a proximity to the 
Pole which was only reached with considerable expenditure of time and 
labour in our last expedition through Smith’s Sound. 
The Isbjorn, in which Captain Markham and his companion visited 
Novaya Zemlya and pushed a considerable distance further towards the 
north, was a little cutter of 43 tons burthen built for Arctic purposes in 
1870, and employed by the Austrian explorers, Weyprecht and Payer, in 
making a reconnaissance preliminary to their voyage in the Tegetthof. The 
description of the accommodations on board this little craft, and especially 
of the desagremens caused by the dirty and untidy habits of their Norwegian 
sailors, is by no means attractive ; nevertheless, the boat, small as it was, 
seems to have been admirably fitted for the purpose, although apparently 
rather too 1 lively ’ in a rough sea to be quite agreeable even to a captain in 
the British Navy. 
The travellers embarked at Tromso on May 18th, reached Novaya Zemlya 
on the 9th June, and remained about the shores of that island until the 5th 
September. They were prevented from navigating the Kara Sea by the 
presence of ice and the exaggerated idea of the danger involved in encoun- 
tering it entertained by the crew of their little vessel, especially two 
harpooners, who were regarded as ex officio authorities on the subject of 
ice-navigation, and who appear to have been rather pusillanimous when 
brought into contact with ice in any shape. Accordingly, when the Isbjorn 
quitted the northern extremity of Novaya Zemlya, her course was taken in 
a north-westerly direction, with the intention of bearing up towards Franz 
Josef Land, but ice was again met with about 78° N. lat. and the fears of the 
crew were again excited, although this time apparently with more reason, as 
Captain Markham himself seems to have come to the conclusion that there 
was pack-ice in front of them. On the 12th September, in the midst of ice and 
with foggy and rough weather, the travellers reached their most northern point 
in 78° 24' N.lat., or within about 100 miles of the southernmost part of Franz 
Josef Land ; but here the danger of being caught in the ice in so small a vessel 
and with only a month’s provisions on board made a quick retreat the most 
