eratum. The intelligent
liberality of two Scandinavian gentlemen, and the assistance of the
Swedish government, enabled him to organize his expedition upon a plan
which he believed would insure its success.

It was on the 21st of July, 1878, that Nordenskiold quitted From-sae, on
board of the "Vega," to attempt to reach Behring's Strait by passing to
the north of Russia and Siberia. Lieutenant Palanders, of the Swedish
navy, was in command of the vessel, with the instigator of the voyage,
and they had also a staff of botanists, geologists, and astronomical
doctors.

The "Vega," which had been especially prepared for the expedition under
the surveillance of Nordenskiold, was a vessel of five hundred tons,
which had been recently built at Bremen, and carried an engine of
sixty-horse power. Three ships were to accompany her to successive
points on the Siberian coast, which had been previously determined upon.
They were all provisioned for a cruise of two years, in case it might be
necessary for them to winter in those arctic regions. But Nordenskiold
did not conceal his hope of being able to reach Behring's Strait before
autumn, on account of his careful arrangements, and all Sweden shared
this hope.

They started from the most northerly point of Norway, and the "Vega"
reached Nova Zembla on the 29th of July, on the 1st of August the Sea of
Kara, and on the 6th of August the mouth of the Gulf Yenisei. On the 9th
of August she doubled Cape Schelynshin, or Cape North-East, the extreme
point of the continent, which no vessel had hitherto been able to reach.
On the 7th of September she cast anchor at the mouth of the Lena, and
separated from the third of the vessels which had accompanied her thus
far. On the 16th of October a telegraphic dispatch from Irkutsk
announced to the world that the expedition had been successful up to
this point.

We can imagine the impatience with which the friends of the Swedish
navigator waited for the details of the expedition. These details did
not reach them until the 1st of December. For if electricity flies over
space with the rapidity of thought, it is not the same with the Siberian
post. The letters from the "Vega," although deposited in the post-office
at Irkutsk, at the same time that the telegraphic message was
dispatched, did not reach Sweden until six weeks afterward. But they
arrived at last; and on the 5th of December one of the principal
newspapers of Sweden published an account