28 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
From what I have thus stated, it follows,— 
That the ocean lying north of the north coast of Siberia, 
between the mouth of the Yenisej and Tschaun Bay, has never 
been ploughed by the keel of any proper sea-going vessel, still 
less been traversed by any steamer specially fitted out for 
navigation among ice : 
That the small vessels with which it has been attempted 
to traverse this part of the ocean never ventured very far 
from the coast: 
That an open sea, with a fresh breeze, was as destructive for 
them, indeed more destructive, than a sea covered with drift 
ice : 
That they almost always sought some convenient winter har¬ 
bour, just at that season of the year when the sea is freest of 
ice, namely, late summer or autumn : 
That, notwithstanding the sea from Cape Chelyuskin to 
Behring’s Straits has been repeatedly traversed, no one has yet 
succeeded in sailing over the whole extent at once: 
That the covering of ice formed during winter along the coast, 
but probably not in the open sea, is every summer broken up, 
giving origin to extensive fields of drift ice, which are driven, 
now by a northerly wind towards the coast, now by a south 
wind out to sea, yet not so far but that it comes back to the 
coast after some days’ northerly wind; whence it appears 
probable that the Siberian Sea is, so to say, shut off from 
the Polar Sea proper, by a series of islands, of which, for the 
present, we know only Wrangel’s Land and the islands which 
form New Siberia. 
In this connection it seems to me probable that a well- 
equipped steamer would be able without meeting too many 
difficulties, at least obstacles from ice, to force a passage this 
way during autumn in a few days, and thus not only solve a 
geographical problem of several centuries’ standing, but also, with 
all the means that are now at the disposal of the man of science 
in researches in geography, hydrography, geology, and natural 
history, survey a hitherto almost unknown sea of enormous 
extent. 
The sea north of Behring’s Straits is now visited by hundreds 
of whaling steamers, and the way thence to American and 
European harbours therefore forms a much-frequented route. 
Some few decades back, this was, however, by no means the case. 
The voyages of Behring, Cook, Kotzebue, Beechey, and others 
were then considered as adventurous, fortunate exploring ex¬ 
peditions of great value and importance in respect of science. 
