The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and
Europe, Volume I and Volume II, by A.E. Nordenskieold

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Title: The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II

Author: A.E. Nordenskieold

Release Date: January 20, 2008 [EBook #24365]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA ROUND ASIA AND EUROPE. VOL. I.

[Illustration: OSCAR, II ]

THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA ROUND ASIA AND EUROPE
WITH A HISTORICAL REVIEW
OF PREVIOUS JOURNEYS ALONG THE NORTH COAST OF THE OLD WORLD

BY A.E. NORDENSKIOeLD

TRANSLATED BY ALEXANDER LESLIE

_WITH FIVE STEEL PORTRAITS, NUMEROUS MAPS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS_

IN TWO VOLUMES--VOL. I

London
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1881

TO HIS MAJESTY
KING OSCAR II.
THE HIGH PROTECTOR OF THE VEGA EXPEDITION
THIS SKETCH OF THE VOYAGE
HE SO MAGNANIMOUSLY AND GENEROUSLY PROMOTED
IS WITH THE DEEPEST GRATITUDE
MOST HUMBLY
DEDICATED

BY A.E. NORDENSKIOeLD.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

In the work now published I have, along with the sketch of the
voyage of the _Vega_ round Asia and Europe, of the natural
conditions of the north coast of Siberia, of the animal and
vegetable life prevailing there, and of the peoples with whom we
came in contact in the course of our journey, endeavoured to give a
review, as complete as space permitted, of previous exploratory
voyages to the Asiatic Polar Sea. It would have been very ungrateful
on my part if I had not referred at some length to our predecessors,
who with indescribable struggles and difficulties--and generally
with the sacrifice of health and life--paved the way along which we
advanced, made possible the victory we achieved. In this way besides
the work itself has gained a much-needed variety, for nearly all the
narratives of the older North-East voyages contain in abundance what
a sketch of our adventures has not to offer; for many readers
perha