Abstract
MR. LEIGH SMITH, during his Arctic cruise in his yacht Eira, has evidently done some very good work this summer. After cruising about the east coast of Greenland and in the neighbourhood of Spitzbergen, finding the ice-pack too dense and too far south to get far north without danger—although he reached 79°40′ N. in 46°50′ E., the farthest point yet reached in that direction—Franz-Josef Land was reached on August 14. Here much exploring work was done. Land was found stretching away west and north-west from that discovered by the Austrians. A fine harbour, called after the Eira, was found in 80° 5′ 25″ N., 48° 50′ E., and several excursions were made from this basis, among the numerous fjörds that pierce the mainland north and north-west. From the point named by the last Dutch expedition Barentz Hook, land was traced westwards some no miles, and from the extreme north-west point reached land was sighted forty miles further north-west. In the sea between were several large and small islands, all covered with glaciers and snow-fields, with bluff black headlands on the southern exposure, covered with vegetation. Several Arctic flowers were collected and brought home; a number of soundings and dredgings were made, yielding interesting results, and two bears which were caught have been sent to the Zoological Gardens. Evidently there is here a considerable archipelago, if not continuous stretch of land, giving some support to Petermann's theory that the Pole is probably surrounded by numerous islands. It is stated that Mr. Leigh Smith goes back next year; we trust he will reach Eira Harbour early, and be able to still further extend our knowledge of these new Arctic lands.
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Geographical Notes . Nature 22, 596–597 (1880). https://doi.org/10.1038/022596a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/022596a0