A Greenlander in his Kayak.
A great channel to the northwest, free from ice, was supposed to lead into an open polar sea. The theory of an open polar sea, however, has not yet been proved.
Grinnell Land was discovered, and a survey made of the lands bordering on Smith sound. Valuable facts in relation to the tides, climates, and plants were compiled, and a study was made of the Eskimos of Smith sound. Kane received gold medals from the Queen of England, the Royal Geographical Society of London, the American Congress, and the New York Legislature.
But Kane’s health, never of the best, now began to fail. He went to England, but while there grew rapidly worse. He then sailed for Havana, hoping that the balmy climate would benefit him; but it was too late for him to recover his health, and he died at Havana, February 16, 1857.
XI. NORDENSKJÖLD AND THE NORTHEAST PASSAGE
1878–1879
The next man to journey into the frozen North was Adolf Erik Nordenskjöld.[2] He was born in Finland and educated at its university; but when he was about twenty-two years of age he fell under the suspicion of the Russian government and was compelled to leave his native country. Nordenskjöld then took up his residence in Sweden, and in 1858 began his career as an Arctic explorer by going on a journey to Spitzbergen. Five voyages in the Arctic regions followed, during one of which Nordenskjöld visited Greenland and made an inland journey over the ice.
[2] Pronounced Norʹ den sheld.
The interior of Greenland is believed to be one vast glacier, moving slowly to the sea. This movement causes the formation of deep chasms and clefts which are almost bottomless, and which prevent the traveler from making rapid progress.
Notwithstanding the dangers and hardships of the journey, Nordenskjöld advanced thirty miles over the glacier to a height of twenty-two hundred feet above the level of the sea. Upon returning to the coast, he visited Disco Fiord, and then went home to Sweden.