SPITSBERGEN
EXPEDITIONS BEFORE 1872
We have seen how flourishing the Spitsbergen whale fishery became and
how admirably its history was written, the Dutch by Zorgdrager, and the
English by Scoresby. But when the annual slaughter began to make these
animals scarce there was eagerness to discover new fishing ground.
Theunis Ys was one of the most experienced navigators in the ice to
the eastward, and one of the first who sought for whales in that
direction. Captain Willem de Vlamingh followed him in 1664 and even
rounded the northern point of Novaya Zemlya, reaching a latitude of 82°
10′ N. Along the north coast of Spitsbergen the Dutch whalers never
went east of the Seven Islands, which they discovered, or of Hinlopen
Strait. This is conclusive from the evidence of Martens in 1671, a most
reliable authority as regards the seventeenth century. But early in
the eighteenth century, two Dutch captains, Cornelis Giles and Outger
Rep, went far to the eastward and Giles or Gillis sighted what has
since been called Gillis Land. He also found that what is now known as
Hinlopen Strait was not an inlet as had been supposed but a navigable
strait[138].
The Russians took the lead in Spitsbergen in the eighteenth century,
their plan being to form a depôt in Bell Sound. In 1764 Lieut.
Nemtinoff was sent to build houses and to land stores there, to
form a base whence to push through the ice to the Pacific. In the
following year the expedition under Captain Vassili Tschitschagoff,
of which Nemtinoff’s voyage was the precursor, left Archangel. But
Tschitschagoff had the misfortune to meet with a bad ice year and did
little or nothing. He tried again in 1766 and got as far north as 80°
28′, but he was stopped by the ice, and the project was given up as
hopeless. A party of Russians in charge of stores had twice wintered in
Bell Sound.
For a century the eastern side of Spitsbergen remained almost unknown.
It is to the Norwegian sealing captains, and to Professor Mohn of
Christiania, who watched over and utilised their work, that most of our
knowledge of this side is due. The Norwegian fishery dates from about
1820, but for many years they kept on the west side, only by degrees
working along the north coast to the eastward. In 1863, however,
the adventurous Captain Carlsen completed the circumnavigation of
Spitsbergen for the first time. In the next year Captains Tobiesen,
Aarström, and Mathilas were not so fortunate. They made their way down
the east coast, but, becoming closely beset, were obliged to abandon
their vessels and retreat in boats up Hinlopen Strait, traversing
700 miles before they were picked up. In 1872 Captain Altman sailed
up the east side from the south, and sighted Wyche’s Land, which was
discovered by the English in 1617. It proved to be composed of three
islands. Captain Nils Johnsen succeeded in landing on one of these
islands, and named a lofty cliff Cape Nordenskiöld. In 1872 Captain
Nilsen in the _Freia_ also sighted the Wyche Islands, naming a high
mountain Harfagrehangen, it being the thousandth anniversary of
Norway’s union into one kingdom.
The scientific researches of the Swedes in Spitsbergen were begun
in 1858. They were undertaken to institute a preliminary survey for
measuring an arc of meridian, and also for geological and biological
collections. In 1864 Nordenskiöld and Duner took astronomical
observations at eighty different positions on shore, and fixed the
heights of numerous mountain peaks. In 1868 the Swedes, in the steamer
_Sofia_, reached the latitude of 81° 42′ N. and in 1870 Baron von
Heuglin and Count Zeil, in a vessel commanded by the Norwegian captain
Nils Isaksen, explored Edge and Barentsz Islands, and Freeman strait,
which divides them. They found a vast accumulation of drift-wood on the
southern shore of the strait.
English yachts have also frequented the Spitsbergen seas, since
Mr Lamont set the example in 1858. In 1864 the yachting voyage of
Mr Birkbeck was of interest, because he was accompanied by the
distinguished ornithologist Professor Newton of Cambridge. One of the
greatest of Arctic yachtsmen as a scientific explorer was Mr Benjamin
Leigh Smith, who in 1871 explored the north coast of Spitsbergen, the
Seven Islands, and North-east Land, and attained the high latitude
of 81° 24′ N. in 18° E. He also made voyages to Spitsbergen in
1872 and 1873. In the latter year he was in the _Diana_ yacht with
several friends, while Captain Walker took the _Sampson_ to Cobbe
Bay, to fall back upon in case of accidents. He also took several
deep sea soundings, and did most useful work in relieving the Swedish
expedition. Leigh Smith’s enthusiasm lay deep, and he was not without
inventive talent. The result of his practice as a navigator was the
invention of an instrument to facilitate the computation of time at
sea from the usual sights taken for that purpose, and also to act
as a check on errors when the time has been computed in the usual
manner[139]. Such a man was likely to leave his mark. He did so. By his
observations he corrected the longitudes, and considerably extended the
north coast of North-east Land to the eastward.
The Swedish expedition of 1872, under Professor Nordenskiöld, was
composed of the steamer _Polhem_, the brig _Gladan_, and the steamer
_Onkel Adam_. The _Polhem_ was commanded by Lieut. Palander. He, with
other officers and professors, were to remain through the winter at
Mossel Bay in a dwelling-house of six rooms, taken out in pieces.
Sledges and 40 reindeer were shipped at Tromsö, with 3000 sacks of
reindeer moss. Unluckily the animals all escaped soon after they were
landed, and the two other vessels, detained by the ice, were obliged
to winter with the _Polhem_. Six fishing vessels were also frozen in.
In April Nordenskiöld and Palander started on a sledge journey with
14 men. Rounding Cape Platen on North-east Land, they struck inland,
and marched across the snow-covered hills to Hinlopen Strait which they
crossed, and so got back to Mossel Bay. They were away 60 days. In the
summer Leigh Smith arrived in the _Diana_ and supplied the crews with
fresh provisions. The Swedish expedition returned to Tromsö on August
6th, 1873.
One other Spitsbergen expedition must be mentioned. Lieut. Payer,
who had been the moving spirit in the sledge journeys of Koldewey’s
expedition, was bent on continuing his Arctic explorations. He found a
coadjutor in Lieut. Weyprecht of the Austrian Navy, an officer of very
high scientific attainments. They hired a small vessel of 70 tons, the
_Isbjörn_, at Tromsö with the idea of following the Gulf Stream into
an imaginary polar basin, by keeping to the eastward of Spitsbergen.
Attempting to reach Gillis Land they found the fogs very frequent,
preventing observations, and, on August 31st, 1871, they were in Lat.
78° 41′ N. Then sailing east they sighted Novaya Zemlya and returned to
Tromsö in October.
Meanwhile the Norwegian sealers began to frequent Novaya Zemlya.
Carlsen had reached the mouth of the Obi in 1869. In 1870 about sixty
Norwegian sailing vessels went to the seas round Novaya Zemlya. Captain
Johannesen circumnavigated these islands, and Captain Carlsen did the
same in 1871. The information collected by the Norwegian fishermen
induced Payer and Weyprecht to select this route for an expedition they
had projected.