3-052-602 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Swedish Arctic exploring ship Vega among icebergs, 1880. 'Professor Nordenskjöld's recent grand achievement of navigating the Arctic Seas north of Asia, and passing eastward through Behring's Strait down into the Pacific Ocean, has been crowned with a triumphal welcome at his arrival home...The voyage...consisted of two stages; the first being the passage from the port of departure to that part of the Siberian coast...[near] the mouth of the river Lena...They passed Cape Chelyuskin, the most northerly point of the Continent, on Aug. 19, 1878, and the mouth of the river Lena was reached on Sept. 7...on Sept. 28, the Vega became fixed in the ice at...Koljutschin Bay...and the further progress of the expedition was checked during the winter months. With the return of the brief Arctic summer, the vessel was released, and Nordenskjöld, boldly pushing his way eastwards through unknown waters, succeeded with comparative facility in skirting the coast, and, rounding the northern capes of Kamschatka, was enabled to direct his course southwards into the North Pacific Ocean, arriving on Sept. 2 at Yokohama, in Japan. The object of the expedition was thus accomplished, and the feasibility of making the North-East Passage conclusively demonstrated'. From "Illustrated London News", 1880.