lly picked men, with a full equipment for five years, in
every respect as good as modern appliances permit of, I am of opinion
that the undertaking would be well secured against risk. With this
ship we should sail up through Bering Strait and westward along the
north coast of Siberia towards the New Siberian Islands [8] as early
in the summer as the ice would permit.

"Arrived at the New Siberian Islands, it will be advisable to employ
the time to the best advantage in examining the conditions of currents
and ice, and to wait for the most opportune moment to advance as
far as possible in ice-free water, which, judging by the accounts of
the ice conditions north of Bering Strait given by American whalers,
will probably be in August or the beginning of September.

"When the right time has arrived, then we shall plough our way in
amongst the ice as far as we can. We may venture to conclude from
the experience of the Jeannette expedition that we should thus be
able to reach a point north of the most northerly of the New Siberian
Islands. De Long notes in his journal that while the expedition was
drifting in the ice north of Bennett Island they saw all around them a
dark 'water-sky'--that is to say, a sky which gives a dark reflection
of open water--indicating such a sea as would be, at all events, to
some extent navigable by a strong ice-ship. Next, it must be borne in
mind that the whole Jeannette expedition travelled in boats, partly
in open water, from Bennett Island to the Siberian coast, where, as
we know, the majority of them met with a lamentable end. Nordenskioeld
advanced no farther northward than to the southernmost of the islands
mentioned (at the end of August) but here he found the water everywhere
open.

"It is, therefore, probable that we may be able to push our way up
past the New Siberian Islands, and that accomplished we shall be right
in the current which carried the Jeannette. The thing will then be
simply to force our way northward till we are set fast. [9]

"Next we must choose a fitting place and moor the ship firmly between
suitable ice-floes, and then let the ice screw itself together as much
as it likes--the more the better. The ship will simply be hoisted up
and will ride safely and firmly. It is possible it may heel over to
a certain extent under this pressure; but that will scarcely be of
much importance. ... Henceforth the current will be our motive power,
while our ship, no longer a means