One other Spitsbergen expedition must be mentioned. Lieut. Payer, who had been the moving spirit in the sledge journeys of Koldewey’s expedition, was bent on continuing his Arctic explorations. He found a coadjutor in Lieut. Weyprecht of the Austrian Navy, an officer of very high scientific attainments. They hired a small vessel of 70 tons, the Isbjörn, at Tromsö with the idea of following the Gulf Stream into an imaginary polar basin, by keeping to the eastward of Spitsbergen. Attempting to reach Gillis Land they found the fogs very frequent, preventing observations, and, on August 31st, 1871, they were in Lat. 78° 41′ N. Then sailing east they sighted Novaya Zemlya and returned to Tromsö in October.
Meanwhile the Norwegian sealers began to frequent Novaya Zemlya. Carlsen had reached the mouth of the Obi in 1869. In 1870 about sixty Norwegian sailing vessels went to the seas round Novaya Zemlya. Captain Johannesen circumnavigated these islands, and Captain Carlsen did the same in 1871. The information collected by the Norwegian fishermen induced Payer and Weyprecht to select this route for an expedition they had projected.
CHAPTER XXXII
FRANZ JOSEF LAND AND ITS EXPLORERS
The cruise in the Isbjörn was preparatory to a successful effort on the part of Lieutenants Payer and Weyprecht to raise funds for an Arctic expedition. Their plan was to round the north end of Novaya Zemlya and make discoveries to the eastward. Their vessel, the Tegethoff, fitted out at Bremershaven, was a steamer of 200 tons and 100 h.-p., with a crew of 22 men. They left Bremershaven on the 13th June, 1872, and sighted Novaya Zemlya on the 3rd August. By October the Tegethoff was closely and hopelessly beset, drifting about at the mercy of wind and tide, to the north of Novaya Zemlya. In the summer of 1873 the crew were fully engaged in seal hunting; and on the 30th August an entirely unknown land was sighted in 79° 43′ N. and 59° 33′ E. In November an island was reached by a party from the ship, and then the explorers entered upon their second winter of 1873–74.
Weyprecht cared most for his meteorological and magnetic observations, but Payer was very eager to explore the newly-discovered land, which received the name of Franz Josef Land. Payer paid a just tribute to M’Clintock in attributing such success as he attained to following the great sledge traveller’s advice. He prepared for a month’s journey, taking four sacks of provisions each containing sufficient for seven days for seven men, and they succeeded in obtaining some bear meat. He is clear as to the comfort of hot grog in the intense cold of the night. The sledging party, with dogs as auxiliaries, started on March 25th, and on April 12th, 1874, the furthest point was reached in 82° 5′ N., 165 miles from the ship. They returned to the Tegethoff on the 25th April, and some shorter excursions were afterwards made.
Payer’s general idea of this great discovery was that Franz Josef Land consisted of two masses of land, which were named Zichy and Wilczek after the two chief supporters of the expedition, separated by a channel which was named Austria Sound. It was afterwards found to consist of an archipelago of smaller and more numerous islands than Payer supposed. His furthest point was Cape Fligely, but the land he thought he saw further north, and called Petermann Land, has since been found not to exist.
As the ship remained immoveable in the summer of 1874, it was found necessary to abandon her and retreat in the boats. After a long journey over the ice, they launched the three boats on the open sea, were picked up by a Russian schooner, and arrived safely at Tromsö on the 3rd September. Lieut. Payer was an accomplished artist, as well as a sledge traveller; and in after years he painted several fine pictures illustrating some of the last and most pathetic scenes connected with the Franklin expedition.
The next addition to our knowledge of Franz Josef Land was supplied by that enterprising and persevering yachtsman Leigh Smith. He had a vessel built, suitable for ice navigation, which he named the Eira. She was a steamer of 360 tons and 50 h.-p., 150 ft. long by 25 ft. beam, manned by 25 men all told. Leigh Smith’s companions were Lofley the master, the surgeon Dr Neale, and Mr W. G. A. Grant. The great problem which Leigh Smith had to determine was whether there was a practicable route across the ice-laden Barentsz Sea, between Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya, to Franz Josef Land. Leigh Smith forced his way through the pack and sighted land on the 14th August, 1880—a new part of Franz Josef Land to the westward.
There were many large icebergs, but they were quite unlike those of Davis Strait, being flat masses like the Antarctic bergs. Leigh Smith and Grant landed at several places, making collections of the flora and of rock specimens. The extent of the new coast line discovered and explored was 110 miles, and of that seen 150 miles. There was great abundance of walrus and seals. This was one of the most important summer cruises ever made in the Arctic regions.
