oceed with the expedition which he had
been studying for years, the discovery of the North-East Passage.

Sebastian Cabot was the first adventurer in the work destined to be
accomplished by the Swedish explorer. More than three hundred years ago
Cabot equipped three ships for the "Merchant Adventurers," and put them
under the command of Sir H. Willoughby and Chancelor in 1553. This
ended in disaster. In 1580 the "Muscovy Company," as the "Adventurers"
called themselves, sent out Arthur Pitt, who could not open the "pack"
ice. Barentz, who tried three times, in 1593, 1595, and 1596, was
closed up in the ice of Novaya Zemlya, and perished. Henry Hudson tried
in 1607-8. The Danes made the attempt in 1653. Captain J. Wood also
sailed to the unhospitable shores of Novaya Zemlya, and so terrified
people by his descriptions that they gave up the attempt in despair.

Thus the North-East Passage became a dreaded and a sealed course to the
mariners of all nations. It was deemed impossible to break through the
icy barrier; and the Russians made the attempt only to prove the
assertion by failure. But when Nordensk'iold had reached the Kara Sea,
and the Yenissei River, he began to think he could also solve the
long-tried problem of the North-East Passage eastwards to the Pacific.

Assisted by his liberal friend, Mr Oscar Dickson, and supported by King
Oscar the Second of Sweden, and M. Sibiriakoff, a Siberian landholder,
Nordenskiold purchased the steam-whaler _Vega_--a name now celebrated
throughout the civilised world. She was equipped and manned under
Government auspices, and provisioned for two years. She sailed from
Gothenburg on the 21st of July, accompanied by the steamer _Lena_,
commanded by Johannesen from Tromsoe. There were also supply vessels in
company, but our narrative (which is compiled from "Nordenskiold's
Voyages," and other sources) will deal with the _Vega_, and incidentally
with the _Lena_, till she parted company at the mouth of the river whose
name she bears. In the expedition were included many scientific
gentlemen, and the crews were composed of picked men.

The vessels rounded the North Cape, and on the 29th of July sighted
Novaya Zemlya. Then they passed the Yergar Strait and entered the Kara
Sea, the immense gulf lying between Novaya Zemlya and the north point of
the Asiatic continent, Cape Chalyaskin. On the 31st of July the little
fleet was united at Chabarook (Charbarova). The vessels