fact that
it was his dream to take part in the enterprise, if only as a simple
sailor, and that he had a supreme and personal interest in the matter.
This only gave the greater weight to the excellent suggestions which he
made to the originators of the expedition, and he personally directed
all the preparatory labors.

It was agreed that a second vessel should accompany the "Nordenskiold,"
and that it should be like the "Vega," a steamship. Nordenskiold himself
had demonstrated that the principal cause of the failure of previous
attempts had been the employment of sailing vessels. Arctic navigators,
especially when on an exploring expedition, must not be dependent upon
the wind, but must be able to force their way speedily through a
difficult or perilous pass--and above all, always be able to take the
open sea, which it was often impossible to do with a sailing vessel.

This fundamental point having been established, it was decided also to
cover the vessel with a lining of green oak, six inches thick, and to
divide it into compartments, so that it would be better able to resist a
blow from the ice. They were also desirous that she should not draw too
much water, and that all her arrangements should be so made as to enable
her to carry a full supply of coal. Among the offers which were made to
the committee, was a vessel of one hundred and forty tons, which had
been recently built at Bremen, and which had a crew of eighteen men, who
could easily maneuver her. She was a schooner, but while she carried her
masts, she also was furnished with an engine of eighty horse-power. One
of her boilers was so arranged that it could burn oil or fat, which was
easily procurable in the arctic regions, in case their coal should fail.
The schooner protected by its lining of oak, was further strengthened by
transverse beams, so as to offer the greatest possible resistance to the
pressure of the ice. Lastly, the front of it was armed with a spur of
steel, to enable it to break its way through a thick field of ice. The
vessel when placed on the stocks, was named the "Alaska," on account of
the direction which she was destined to take. It had been decided that
while the "Nordenskiold" should pursue the same route which the "Vega"
had followed, that the second vessel should take an opposite direction
around the world, and gain the Siberian Ocean, by the island of Alaska
and Behring's Straits. The chances of meeting the Swedish expedition, or