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490
IV. EDUCATION AND MENTAL CULTURE IN SWEDEN.
The greatest renown in geographical exploration won by Swedes has been in the
Arctic Zone. The Swedish expeditions to those regions have inaugurated a new era
in polar research, inasmuch as the object in view has been not merely to collect
geographical data but to carry on an all-round and systematic inquiry into nature
as it appears in that quarter of the globe. Most of the expeditions have thus been
provided with a numerous staff of scientific men; moreover, as a school of experience
for natural scientists the journeys to Arctic regions have been of great importance.
Swedish Polar Exploration may
be said to date its origin from the
journey to Spitzbergen made in 1837
by 5. Lovén (1809 95). Then came
one to Iceland in 1857 by Otto Torell
(1828/1900), a first journey to
Spitzbergen in 1858 by Torell and A. E.
Nordenskiöld (1832 1901), one to
Greenland by Torell in 1859, followed
by the great Spitzbergen Expedition
of 1861, headed by Torell and with
Nordenskiöld and eight other naturalists
on board; they made thorough
investigation of the northern and western
portions of the archipelago. A third
Spitzbergen Expedition started in 1864
under the leadership of Nordenskiöld;
the chief object in view on that occasion
was to discover the feasibility of
measuring degrees with Spitzbergen as a
base; a fourth expedition under the
same leadership took place in lSiSS.
With the iron steamer the Sophia, a
latitude of 82° 42’ N. was reached that
year, a record being thereby established.
In 1872 Nordenskiöld started off once
more to Spitzbergen at the head of a
large expedition, to try, if possible, to
get yet farther north. The plan drawn up was, to winter in Spitzbergen and
then in the spring to start off across the ice with reindeer from the northernmost
parts of the archipelago. Certain mishaps that could not have been foreseen
rendered this project abortive, and all that was done towards carrying it out was
an excursion across the inland-ice in the North-East Land, undertaken by
Nordenskiöld and L. Palander (born 1842), an excursion that yielded considerable fruit.
Spitzbergen and the adjacent islands having been tolerably well explored in
the course of these journeys, Nordenskiöld next (in 1875) turned his attention
eastwards to the Kara Sea, that had up to that time been regarded with so much
dread. In the year named, he reached the mouth of the Yenisei in a common
sailing vessel for whaling and repeated the experiment a year later with the same
success, this time in a steamer. The experience thus gained giving support to
the supposition of a North-East Passage being feasible, Nordenskiöld planned the
celebrated expedition which has taken its name from the vessel engaged, the Vega.
Under the command of Palander and with a large staff of scientists on board,
the vessel left the harbour of Karlskrona on June 22, 1878. The calculations
made proved to be justified throughout: the waters skirting the northern coast of
Asia were free from ice and allowed of the Vega’s rapidly passing the mouth of
the Yenisei, the northernmost point of Asia, and the mouth of the Lena, serious
Otto Torell.
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