NORDENSKJOLD'S DISCOVERIES IN THE ARCTIC.

Colonist, Volume XXIII, Issue 2630, 22 November 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

NORDENSKJOLD'S DISCOVERIES IN THE ARCTIC.

(From the..'Alia ; California.) , In the light of information brought from Bebring Strait; by tbe supply-schooner of the Bennett Arctic-Expedition;-'the following'article on-the 'importance of the discoveries made by "-Professor -Nordenskjold will behead*with'interest. It is prepared by a close > observer' of ■ tbe course of the Swedish' explorer:— -;' , 1 frequently been asked'bjr ignorant would-be utilitarians and persons disposed to ignore1 the value df all scientific research, who nive nr;perhaps opened'^tf' atlas since -thefr1 school dayß," least 'of all;examined a mapooff f the northerh,half of Asia, what particular benefits would result, from explorations in the cold, inhospitable regions which Professor Nordenskjold has selected as the -field of his discoveries. ' It is impossible as jet to answer the question in all its plentitude; so far we can only say that we have unmistakable signs that civilization and commerce will lose no time to follow and reap harvests, when the great Swedish pathfinder has pointed out the way. .It is truej it .leads through realms, where the sway of the sun-god is but feeble and evanescent;""where-Borean Winter with dimness, if not complete darkness, rules supreme the greatest part of the year; nevertheless where gain is the goal, commercial enterprise will have the difficulties and civilization have its share of the profits. From foreign journals before us, we gather a number of significant facts, going to prove that already at this early day, the above mentioned great twin lovers for the welfare of mankind are in motion, working iv this iastanee with tbe same regularity as they ever did. . Among these facts we may mention concessions granted by the Russian Government and the forming of a joint stock company for the establishment' of factories and fisheries on the Murman Coast,-where tbe ocean is teaming with whales, seal, sal'moiv herring, ' and other fish of superior quality. Aa to the whales, Captain Svend Foyni a Norwegian mariner, has ah establishment on the Varanger-fjord, an arm of the Arctic sea, when his annual catch of whales'amounts in number to l 0() and over. The proposed new whaling ground, however lying south-seutheast of Warangar, is far '■more extensive aad whales more plentiful, offering an almost inexhaustible supply. Through the many navigable rivers, such as Ob, Yenisey, Lena and others, with thoir numerous feeders,-whose 'sources, well up, far back in tbe interior of Asia, Siberia will undoubtedly seek an outlet,'long needed for her agricultural produce and other products of her soil and industry, giving a new incentive to enterprise in a country,' the southern parts of which are far from being the sold, unproductive'tegidn we"are apt to imagine, when.the.nameof Siberia reaches our ears. Several months—ago the steamer Louise, ' Oapt.'Burmeister, • with -an assorted cargo, touched-at Bergen; in Norway,' on her'way to Siberia^nd in* less thatf a u month six other - steamers, reported as chartered for English account, wereto^procee-l in 7 ballast to the mouth of the Ob, to load grain.• The Danish steamer Neptune, of 400 tons burthen; which; last' year visited Siberia, has also, this Summer, left Hamburg, for the same destination. - :Then, according: to Russian journals, three vessels—the Ob, Tjumen, and;;Nades-hda— Siberian built for the !Rd«»iaa merchant Trapesnikov's account—were lying at Santarovo, at the confluence of the rivers Ob and Irtisch; on the Brd-July/ready to run down .the river. Ob and through the Arctic Ocean, sto proceed to the Ob's cargo consisting of 27,000 puds Wheat, the Tjumea's of .18,000 puds tallow arid 16,000 puds wheat, and that of the'Nadeschda of 710 .casksrf spiritsl and! some wheat—the three crews numbering together 40 -persons. A singlewyige to* -England is said to be enough' to5 cover" the i cost' of building - the SthreA.c-'aft^ 'and* it- may 'coasequehtly be .-expected that this branch_bf- industry/ once started, will swell into magnitude and'-have a great 'future.- "If" -we^sonstder " —thus the S^ Petersburg—paper concludes- from which this U ( taken—" that .the .Sea of Kara, but afew^yearaAgo, wasjlpoked upon as; an impenetrable, mass |pf ice, (^he: change t now presenting itself ii; truiytst^rAlin^.'.' „:>u ••> , Againi a,correspondentfofYthe'^ot a prominent Russian Journal,; writes from in Siberia.pn the came .subject,-; as follows:— '*" Professor Nordenskjold's Arctic expeditions have already begun to. exercise * baosfioial influuuce iv tbt relations of 8U

beria. While travelling on a" steamboat j from Tjumen to Tomsk, I was surprised by the aight of two schooners, lying at anchor on the outskirts of the village of Demiansk, in the Province of Tobolsk/The scl o mers had taken in full cargoes, and were ready to sail. They belonged to a merchant in Irkutsk, owning also a third schooner, lying at present at the village of Samarovo, at the confluence of the rivers Irtisch and Ob. The threo vessels will this Summer depart for London, with cargoes of wheat, tallow and spirits. They are t> be foi • ved by tw > Bteamers to Obdorsk, whence they set sail for London. They are built in a ship-yard in Tjumen, at time in full activity. The masters of the vessels are Germans of Letts. The new route discovered by Professor Nordenskjold will certainly exercise a mighty influence ou the future material development of Siberia, though so far it-has disastrously affected trade in Tomsk and Irkutsk. While we are still busily engaged in preparations for establishing custom stations at the mouth of the Ob, English vessels sail past to Tomsk, where they are not required to pay any impost duty, but sell their goods at a considerably lower price than the Kussian merchants, who take their wares from Moscow, and hence have to submit to heavy expenses on account of the distant land transportation. The English sell, for insiance, silk-reps in Tonsk at five roubles per arschinen (a Kussian measure), while the very same goods cost in Moscow as much. If, then, two roubles are added for transportation, and 50 kopeks as profit, it is clear the Kussian shop-keepers cannot sell their reps less than 7.50 roubles. In Irkutsk the English sell their Chester cheese at 50 kopeks a pound, while the same commodity in Moscow costs 64 kopeks a pound. From this may be seen bow ruinous English competition proves to our business men before. Custom Houses are established in Siberia harbors. So far the Golos. Will not these items, which by chance have come within our notice, convince sceptics that Professor Nordenskjold's labors will not prove quite bo,barren of results as they apprehend ? They ought, it Beems to us, in a measure to shake their unbelief. In contradiction to. the- opinion of those bent upon undervaluing Professor NordenBkjold's deserts and discoveries? we quote from the high authority oi the A^vesburger. Allgemeine Zeitung the concluding ; remarks of a long and able article on the, subject, which lately appear in that eminent journal; they read as follows:— " The year 1879 will behold the return of Nordenskjold and bis companions to their homes. The whole civilised world will hail thorn as the first to have performed the voyage, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, doubling the North Coast of the Old World, and we Bball. all have been witnessing one of the greatest achievements of the last few centuries. In our globed annals of discoveries will stand inscribed in - golden letters, united for all times:—' Nordenskjold and the jNortheast Passage.' "