Chapter XIX
Hong Kong and Canton--Stone-polishing Establishments at Canton--Political Relations in an English Colony-- Treatment of the Natives--Voyage to Labuan--Coal Mines there --Excursion to the shore of Borneo--Malay Villages--Singapore --Voyage to Ceylon--Point de Galle--The Gem Mines at Ratnapoora --Visit to a Temple--Purchase of Manuscripts--The Population of Ceylon--Dr. Almquist's Excursion to the Interior of the Island.
Some days after our arrival at Yokohama the Vega was removed to the dock at Yokosuka, there to be protected by coppering against the boring mussels of the warm seas, so injurious to the vessel's hull; the opportunity being also taken advantage of by me to subject the vessel to some trifling repairs and alterations in the fitting up, which were desirable because during the remainder of our voyage we were to sail not in a cold but in a tropical climate. The work took somewhat longer time than was reckoned on, so that it was not until the 21st September that the Vega could leave the dock and return to Yokohama. It had originally been my intention to remain in Japan only so long as was necessary for the finishing of this work, during which time opportunity could be given to the officers and crew of the Vega to rest after the labours and sufferings of the long winter, to receive and answer letters from home, and to gather from the newspapers the most important occurrences that had taken place during our fourteen months' absence from the regions which are affected by what takes place in the world. But as appears from the foregoing narrative, the delay was longer than had been intended. This indeed was caused in some degree by the difficulty of tearing ourselves away after only a few days' stay from a people so remarkable, so lovable, and so hospitable as the Japanese, and from a land so magnificently endowed by nature. Besides, when the Vega was again ready for sea, it was so near the time for the change of the monsoon, that it was not advisable, and would not have been attended with any saving of time, to sail immediately. For at that season furious storms are wont to rage in these seas, and the wind then prevailing is so unfavourable for sailing from Japan to the southward, that a vessel with the weak steam-power of the Vega cruising between Japan and Hong Kong in a head-wind might readily have lost the days saved by an earner departure. On the other hand, in the end of October and the beginning of November we could, during our passage to Hong Kong, count on a fresh and always favourable breeze. This took place too, so that, leaving Nagasaki on the 27th October, we were able to anchor in the harbour of Hong Kong as early as the 2nd November.
There was of course no prospect of being able to accomplish anything for the benefit of science during a few days' stay in a region which had been examined by naturalists innumerable times before, but I at all events touched at this harbour that I might meet the expressed wish of one of the members of the expedition not to leave eastern Asia without having, during the voyage of the Vega, seen something of the so much talked of "heavenly kingdom" so different from all other lands.
For this purpose, however, Hong Kong is an unsuitable place. This rich and flourishing commercial town, which has been created by England's Chinese politics and opium trade, is a British colony with a European stamp, which has little to show of the original Chinese folk-life, although the principal part of its population consists of Chinese. But at the distance of a few hours by steamer from Hong Kong lies the large old commercial city of Canton, which, though it has long been open to Europeans, is still purely Chinese, with its peatstack-like architecture, its countless population, its temples, prisons, flower-junks, mandarins, pig-tailed street-boys, &c. Most of the members of the expedition made an excursion thither, and were rewarded with innumerable indescribable impressions from Chinese city life. We were everywhere received by the natives in a friendly way,[385] and short as our visit was, it was yet sufficient to dissipate the erroneous impressions which a number of European authors have been pleased to give of the most populous nation. One soon saw that he has to do with an earnest and industrious people, who, indeed, apprehend much--virtue and vice, joy and sorrow--in quite a different way from us, but towards whom we, on that account, by no means have the right to assume the position of superiority which the European is so ready to claim towards coloured races.
The greater portion of my short stay in Canton I employed in wandering about, carried in a sedan-chair--horses cannot be used in the city itself--through the streets, which are partly covered and are lined with open shops, forming, undoubtedly, the most remarkable of the many remarkable things that are to be seen here. The recollection I have of these hours forms, as often happens when one sees much that is new at once, a variegated confusion in which I can now only with difficulty distinguish a connected picture or two. But even if the impressions were clearer and sharper it would be out of the question to occupy space with a statement of my own superficial observations. If any one wishes to acquire a knowledge of Chinese manners and customs, he will not want for books on the country, his studies will rather be impeded by their enormous number, and often enough by the inferior nature of their contents. Here I shall only touch upon a single subject, because it especially interested me as a mineralogist, namely, the stone-polishing works of Canton.
It is natural that in a country so populous and rich as China, in which home and home life play so great a role, much money should be spent on ornaments. We might therefore have expected that precious stones cut and polished would be used here on a great scale, but from what I saw at Canton, the Chinese appear to set much less value on them than either the Hindoo or the European. It appears besides as if the Chinese still set greater value on stones with old "oriental polishing," i.e. with polished rounded surfaces, than on stones formed according to the mode of polishing now common in Europe with plane facets. Instead the Chinese have a great liking for peculiar, often very well executed, carvings in a great number of different kinds of stones, among which they set the greatest value on nephrite, or, as they themselves call it, "Yii." It is made into rings, bracelets, ornaments of all kinds, vases, small vessels for the table, &c. In Canton there are numerous lapidaries and merchants, whose main business is to make and sell ornaments of this species of stone, which is often valued higher than true precious stones. It was long so important an article of commerce that the place where it was found formed the goal of special caravan roads which entered China by the Yii gate. Amber also appears to have a high value put upon it, especially pieces which inclose insects. Amber is not found in China, but is brought from Europe, is often fictitious, and contains large Chinese beetles with marks of the needles on which they have been impaled. Other less valuable minerals, native or foreign, are also used, among others, compact varieties of talc or soap-stone and of pyrophyllite. But works executed in these minerals do not fetch a price at all comparable to that of nephrite. In the same shop in which I purchased pieces of nephrite carefully placed in separate boxes, I found at the bottom of a dusty chest, along with pieces of quartz and old refuse of various kinds, large crystals, some of which were exceedingly well formed, of translucent topaz. They were sold as quartz for a trifle. I bought besides two pieces of carved topaz, one of which was a large and very fine natural crystal, with a Chinese inscription engraved on its terminal surface, which when translated runs thus: "Literary studies confer honour and distinction and render a man suitable for the court." The other was a somewhat bluish inch-long crystal, at one end of which a human figure, perhaps some Buddhist saint, was sculptured. The polishing of stones is carried on as a home industry, principally in a special part of the town. The workshop is commonly at the side of a small sale counter, in a room on the ground-floor, open to the street. The cutting and polishing of the stones is done, as at home, with metal discs and emery or comminuted corundum, which is said to be found in large quantities in the neighbourhood of Canton.
Large, commodious, well fitted up, but in their exterior very unwieldy river steamers, built after American designs, now run between Hong Kong and Canton. They are commanded by Europeans. The dietary on board is European, and exceedingly good. There are separate saloons for Europeans and Chinese. All over the poop and the after-saloon weapons are hung up so as to be at hand, in case the vessel should be attacked by pirates, or, as happened some years ago, a number of them should mix themselves up with the Chinese passengers with the intention of plundering the vessel.
Hong Kong was ceded to England in consequence of the war of 1842. The then inconsiderable fishing village is now one of the most important commercial cities of the globe. The harbour is spacious, affording good anchorage, and is well protected by a number of large and small granite islands. The city is built on the largest of these on slopes which rise from the shore towards the interior of the island. On the highest points the wealthiest foreign residents have built their summer houses which are surrounded by beautiful gardens. In winter they live in the city. We here met with a very gratifying reception both from the Governor, Mr. POPE HENNESSY, and from the other inhabitants of the town. The former invited Captain Palander and me to live in the beautiful Governor's residence, gave a dinner, arranged a stately official reception in our honour, and presented to the Expedition a fine collection of dried plants from the exceedingly well-kept botanical garden of the city, which is under the charge of Mr. CHARLES FORD, the latter presented me with an address of welcome at a festive meeting in the City Hall, specially arranged for the purpose and numerously attended by the principal men of the town. The meeting was opened by the Chairman, Mr. KESWICK, with a speech of welcome, after which Mr. J.B. COUGHTRIE read and presented the address, bound in red silk and beautifully illuminated in black; gold, and red, with 414 signatures, among which many were by Chinese. The address ended with a hearty congratulation to us all and a promise of a memorial of our visit to Hong Kong which should indicate the way in which the Vega expedition was appreciated there. Some time after our return home Palander and I received from members of the community of Hong Kong a splendid silver vase each.
I here embraced with great interest the opportunity, which my coming in contact with the principal men of the place afforded, of getting a glance into the political relations which prevailed in this vigorous and promising colony. At first sight they appeared to be by no means satisfactory. Peace and unanimity evidently did not prevail; for dissatisfaction with the Governor was loudly expressed by many of the Europeans settled in Hong Kong. He favoured, they said, the Chinese in an exceedingly partial way, and mitigated their punishments to such a degree that Hong Kong would soon become a place of refuge for all the robbers and thieves of Canton. At the time of our visit an instructive parliamentary debate on a small scale was proceeding in the Legislative Council of the city. The controversy was carried on with a certain bitterness, but with a proper observance of the parliamentary procedure customary in the mother country. The eloquent leader of the opposition had evidently, as is usual in such cases, the general feeling of the Europeans on his side. For they appeared to be pretty well agreed that the only means of protecting themselves against the evil-doers from the great heavenly empire would be to punish them in an inhuman way when they were taken in the act.
To an outsider it appeared, however, that the Governor not only had humanity and justice on his side, but also acted with a true insight into the future. When he came to the colony the corporal punishments to which the Chinese were condemned were exceeding barbarous, although mild in comparison with those common in China--a state of things which the opposition brought forward in defence of the severer punishments. Prisoners were repeatedly flogged with "the cat," often with the result that they were attacked by incurable consumption, they were prepared for the punishment by being subjected for some time to a starvation-diet of rice and water; they were branded when they left the prison, &c. Proceeding on the view that the greatest security for a colony such as Hong Kong lies in the affection which is cherished for it by the numerous native population, the Governor had sought to protect it from unjust attacks by Europeans. Considering that too barbarous punishments are likely rather to promote than to deter from the commission of crimes, in consequence of the protection the criminal in such a case may reckon upon from sympathising fellow-creatures, and that mild punishments are the first condition of a good protective police, the Governor had diminished the floggings, forbidden the public infliction of the punishment, given a reprimand in cases where "by mistake" or by an evasion of the letter of the law extra strokes had been given to criminals, exchanged "the regulation cat" for the rattan, abolished the preliminary starvation-diet and the branding, improved the prisons, &c. All this was now loudly complained of by the European merchants, but was approved by the Chinese subjects in the colony, who were however dissuaded from making any contrary demonstrations.
When we came afterwards to other English possessions, we found that the inhabitants were often more or less in conflict with the authorities, but nowhere was there anything to prevent the opposition from endeavouring to promote their views by public meetings, by addresses in newspapers and pamphlets. In this way a pretty active political life arises early, and this is probably one of the main conditions of the capacity of the English colonies for self-government, and of their vigour and influence on the surrounding country.
It will in truth be highly interesting to see what influence will be exerted on the great neighbouring empire if Mr. Hennessy's politics with reference to the Chinese settled in Hong Kong be carried out, and they be converted into fellow-citizens conscious that they are protected by law in person and property, that they do not require to crawl in the dust before any authority, and that so long as they keep within the limits of the law they are quite safe from the oppressions of all officials, and in the enjoyment of all the rights and privileges which the English law confers upon the citizen.
Many of the Europeans settled at Hong Kong were convinced that for another thousand years one would be justified in using the expression regarding China: "Thou art what thou wast, and thou wilt be what thou art." Others again stated that contact with Europeans at Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and the accounts given by the emigrants returning to China in thousands from California and Australia are by slow degrees changing the aspect of the world in the "heavenly empire," and thereby preparing for a revolution less violent, but as thorough as that which has recently taken place in Japan. If this comes about, China will be a state that must enter into the calculation when the affairs of the world are settled, and whose power will weigh very heavy in the scales, at least when the fate of Asia is concerned. At Hong Kong and Canton the report was current that the far-sighted Chancellor of the German Empire had taken this factor into calculation in settling his plans for the future.
Already the Chinese took part in the European life. A number of Chinese names, as I have already said, were attached to the address that was presented to me; at the Governor's reception many stout, smiling heads provided with pigtails were seen; and Chinese had taken part in the meetings at which the Governor's scheme of reform was under discussion. There have also existed in the country from time immemorial secret societies, which are said only to wait for a favourable opportunity to endeavour to link their fates to the new paths.[386] The observations that I made at Hong Kong and Canton are, however, too superficial for me to wish to detain my reader with these matters. I accordingly point to the numerous works on these cities published by authors who have lived there as many months or years as I have days, and proceed to sketch the continuation of the voyage of the Vega.
Accompanied by the good wishes of many newly acquired friends, we left the harbour of Hong Kong on the morning of the 9th November. It was my original intention to steer our course to Manilla, but the loss of time during our long stay in Japan compelled me to give up that plan. The course was shaped, however, not directly for Singapore, but for Labuan, a small English possession on the north side of Borneo. Its northern extremity (the coal mine) lies in 5 deg. 33' N.L. and 115 deg. 12' E.L. England took possession of Labuan on account of the coal-seams which are found there, which are of special importance on account of the situation of the island nearly in the midst of the large, numerous, and fertile islands of south-eastern Asia. It was the coal-seams too that attracted me to the place. For I wished to see whether I could not, in the neighbourhood of the equator itself, collect valuable contributions towards ascertaining the nature of the former equatorial climate.
We at first made rapid progress, thanks to a fresh and favourable monsoon wind. But when we reached the so-called belt of calms, the wind ceased completely, and we had now to avail ourselves of steam, which, in consequence of the low power of the Vega's engine and a strong counter current, carried us forward so slowly that it was not until the 17th November that we could anchor in the harbour of Labuan.
The largest of the islands belonging to the colony has, with a pretty considerable breadth, a length of 10' from N.E. to S.W. It is inhabited by some thousands (3,300 in 1863) of Chinese and Malays, together with a few Englishmen, who are either crown officials or employed at the coal mine. The north part of the island has a height of 140 metres above the sea, but towards the south the land sinks to an extensive sandy plain, closely overgrown with bushy thickets and traversed by low marshes. Most of the inhabitants live along the shore of the harbour which bears the now, or perhaps only for the present, indispensable name for English colonies (which on that account conveys little information) of Victoria. The Governor's fine residence lies at a little distance from the harbour town in the interior of the island, the coal mine on its north side. At the time of our visit the coal company had recently gone into liquidation, and work had therefore been stopped at the mine, but it was hoped that it would soon be resumed. The sandy plain is of little fertility in comparison with the neighbouring tropical lands. It had recently been burned, and was therefore for the most part covered only with bushes, among which stems of high, dried-up, half-burned trees raised themselves, giving to the landscape a resemblance to a northern forest devastated by an accidental fire. In consequence of the fire which had thus passed over the island the plain which, when looked at from a distance appeared to be completely even, was seen everywhere to be studded with crater-formed depressions in the sand, quite similar to the os-pits in the osar of Scandinavia.[387] On the north side there was sandstone rock rising from the sea with a steep slope six to fifteen metres high. Here tropical nature appeared in all its luxuriance, principally in the valleys which the small streams had excavated in the sandstone strata.
The coal mine is sunk on coal-seams, which come to the surface on the north side of the island. The seams, according to the information I received on the spot, are four in number, with a thickness of 3.3, 0.9, 0.4 and 1.0 metre. They dip at an angle of 30 deg. towards the horizon, and are separated from each other by strata of clay and hard sandstone, which together have a thickness of about fifty metres. Above the uppermost coal-seam there are besides very thick strata of black clay-slate, white hard sandstone with bands of clay, loose sandstone, sandstone mixed with coal, and finally considerable layers of clay-slate and sandstone, which contain fossil marine crustacea, resembling those of the present time. The strata which lie between or in the immediate neighbourhood of the coal seams do not contain any other fossils than those vegetable remains, which are to be described farther on. Thirty kilometres south of the mine a nearly vertical coal-seam comes to the surface near the harbour, probably belonging to a much older period than that referred to above; and out in the sea, eighteen kilometres from the shore north of the harbour, petroleum rises from the sea-bottom. The manager of the mine supposed from this that the coal-seams came to the surface again at this place. The coal-seams of Labuan are besides, notwithstanding their position in the middle of an enormous, circular, volcanic chain, remarkably free from faults, which shows that the region, during the immense time which has elapsed since these strata have been deposited, has been protected from earthquakes. Even now, according to Wallace, earthquakes are scarcely known in this part of Borneo.
From what has been stated above we may conclude that the coal, sand, and clay strata were deposited in a valley-depression occupied by luxuriant marshy grounds, cut off from the sea, in the extensive land which formerly occupied considerable spaces of the sea between the Australian Islands and the continent of Asia. A similar state of things must besides have prevailed over a considerable portion of Borneo. On that island there are coal-seams under approximately similar circumstances to those on Labuan. So far as I know, however, they have not hitherto been closely examined with respect to vegetable palaeontology.
At Labuan fossil plants are found, though very sparingly, imbedded in balls of clay ironstone from strata above the two lowermost coal-seams. The upper coal-seams are besides exceedingly rich in resin, which crosses the coal in large veins. From the thickness and conversion into a hard sandstone of the layers of sand lying between and above the coal-seams we may conclude that a very long time, probably hundreds of thousands or millions of years have passed since these coal-seams were formed. They also belong to a quite recent period, during which the vegetation in these regions varied perhaps only to a slight extent from that of the present time. It is, however, too early to express one's self on this subject, before the fossils which we brought home have been examined by Dr. Nathorst.
Coal mining was stopped for the time, but orders were expected by every post to resume work. The road between the mine and the harbour town was at all events pretty well kept, and Mr. COOKE, one of the directors of the company, still lived at the place. He showed me all possible hospitality during the time I remained on the north side of the island for the purpose of collecting fossils. The rest of the time I was the guest of the acting Governor, Mr. TREACHER, a young and amiable man, who showed me several collections in natural history from Labuan and the neighbouring parts of Borneo, and after our return to Europe sent me a collection of leaves and fruit of the kinds of trees which now grow on the island. I expect that this collection will be very instructive in the study of the fossil plants we brought home with us.
At the steep shore banks on the north coast very fine sections of the sandstone strata, which lie under and above the coal, are visible. While I went along the shore in order to examine these, I visited some Malay huts built on poles. They were surrounded at flood tide by water, at ebb by the dry beach, bare of all vegetation. In order to get inside these huts one must climb a ladder two to two and a half metres high, standing towards the sea. The houses have the same appearance as a warehouse by the seaside at home, and are built very slightly. The floor consisted of a few rattling bamboo splints lying loose, and so thin that I feared they would give way when I stepped upon them. The household articles consisted only of some mats and a pair of cooking vessels. I saw no fireplace; probably fire was lighted on the beach. I could see no reason why this place should be chosen as a dwelling in preference to the neighbouring shore with its luxuriant vegetation, which at the same time was not at all swampy, unless it was for the coolness which arises from the any situation on the beach, and the protection which the poles give from the thousands of crawling animals which swarm in the grassy meadows of tropical regions. It is probable also that the mosquitos are less troublesome along the sea-shore than farther into the interior of the country.
Some of my companions saw similar huts during an excursion, which they undertook in the steam launch, to the mouth of a large river debouching on the neighbouring coast of Borneo. Regarding this exclusion Dr. Stuxberg gives the following report:
"On the 19th November Palander, Bove, and I, together with two men, undertook an excursion in the steam launch of the Vega to the river Kalias debouching right opposite to Labuan. We started at dawn, a little after six o'clock. The course was shaped first north of Pappan Island, then between the many shoals that lie between it and the considerably larger Daat Island, and finally south of the latter island.
"Pappan Island is a small beautiful island, clothed down to high-water mark with a dark green primeval forest. On Daat Island, on the contrary, the primeval forest on the east side has been cut down, and has given place to a new plantation of cocoa-nut trees, the work of a former physician on Labuan, which yields its present owner a considerable revenue.
"We had no little difficulty in finding a way over the sandy bar, which is deposited in front of the river mouth at a distance of a nautical mile and a half to three miles from the coast of Borneo. After several attempts in the course of an hour we at last succeeded in finding the deep channel which leads to the river. It runs close to the mainland on the north side, from Kalias Point to the river mouth proper. At the bar the depth was only a metre, in the deep channel, it varied between 3.5 and 7 metres, in the river mouth it was fourteen to eighteen metres and sometimes more.
"On the south side of the tongue of land, which projects north of the mouth of the Kalias, were found two Malay villages, whose inhabitants appeared to view our passage up the river with curious glances. A crowd of half or wholly naked children began a race along the shore, as soon as they set eyes upon the fast steam launch, probably in order to keep us in sight as long as possible. We now had deep water and steamed up the river without delay. The longed-for visit to some of the Malay villages we thus reserved till our return.
"We steamed about ten or twelve English miles up one of the many winding river arms, when the limited depth compelled us to turn. The vegetation on the mainland, as on the shores of the islands lying near the river-mouth, was everywhere so close that it was nearly impossible to find a place where we could land; everywhere there was the impenetrable primeval forest. Next the mouth of the river this consisted of tall, shady broad-leaved trees, which all had dark green, lustrous, large leaves. Some were in flower, others bore fruit. The greater number consisted of fig trees, whose numerous air-roots twining close on each other formed an impenetrable fence at the river bank. These air-root-bearing trees play an important role in increasing the area of the land and diminishing that of the water. They send their strong air-roots from the branches and stem far out into the water, and when the roots have reached the bottom, and pushed their way into the mud, they make, by the close basket-work they form, an excellent binding medium for all the new mud which the river carries with it from the higher ground in the interior. It has struck me that the air-root-bearing trees form one of the most important means for the rapid increase of the alluvial land on Borneo. Farther up the river there commenced large stretches of a species of palm, which with its somewhat lighter green and its long sheath-formed leaves was sharply distinguished from the rest of the forest. Sometimes the banks on one side were covered with palms only, on the other with fig-trees only. The palm jungles were not so impenetrable as the fig-tree thickets, the latter preferred the more swampy hollows, while the palms on the other hand grew on the more sandy and less marshy places. Of herbs and underwood there was nowhere any trace.
"During the river voyage we saw now and then single green-coloured kingfishers flying about, and a honeysucker or two, but they were not nearly so numerous as might have been expected in this purely tropical zone. We saw some apes leaping in pairs among the trees, and Palander succeeded in shooting a male. Alligators from one to one and a half metre in length, frightened by the noise of the propeller, throw themselves suddenly into the water. Small land lizards with web-feet jumped forward with surprising rapidity on the water near the banks. This was all we saw of the higher animals.
"After a run of two hours, during which we examined the banks carefully in order to find a landing place, we lay to at the best possible place for seeing what the lower fauna had to offer. It was no easy matter to get to land. The ground was so muddy that we sank to the knees, and could make our way through the wood only by walking on an intermediate layer of palm leaves and fallen branches. The search for evertebrates did not yield very much. A half-score mollusca, among them a very remarkable naked leech of quite the same colour-marking and raggedness as the bark of tree on which it lived, was all that we could find here. It struck me as very peculiar not to find a single insect group represented. The remarkable poverty in animals must be ascribed, I believe, to the complete absence of herbs and underwood. Animal life was as poor as vegetation was luxuriant and various in different places. Over the landscape a peculiar quietness and stillness rested.
"During our return we visited one of the two Malay villages mentioned above. It consisted of ten different houses, which were built on tall and stout poles out in the water at the mouth of the river, about six to ten metres from the shore. All the houses were built on a common large platform of thick bamboo, which was about a man's height above the water. At right angles to the beach there floated long beams, one end being connected with the land, while the other was anchored close to the platform. From this anchored end a plank rose at a steep angle to the platform. Communication with land was kept up in this way. The houses were nearly all quadrangular, and contained a single room, had raised, not flat roofs, and were provided at one of the shorter sides, near one corner, with a high rectangular door opening, which certainly was not intended to be closed, and on one of the long sides with a square window-opening. The building material was bamboo, from eight to eleven centimetres in thickness, mostly whole, but sometimes cleft. The roof had a thin layer of palm leaves upon it to keep out the rain. The house in its entirety resembled a cage of spills to which the least puff of wind had always free entrance. The floor bent and yielded much, and at the same time was so weak that one could not walk upon it without being afraid of falling through. One half, right opposite the door opening, was overlaid with a thin mat of some plant; it was evidently the sleeping place of the family. Some pieces of cloth was all the clothing we could discover. Of household articles there was scarcely any trace. Nor were there any weapons, arrows, or bows. The fireplace was in one corner of the room; it consisted of an immense ash-heap on some low stones. Beside it stood a rather dirty iron pot. All refuse from meals, bones and mollusc-shells, had been thrown into the water under the floor; there lay now a regular culture-layer, a couple of feet higher than the surrounding sea-bottom, consisting for the most part of mussel shells. The floor of the room was very dirty and black; it looked as if it had never been in contact with a drop of water. The interior of the whole house struck one as being as poor and wretched as that of a Chukch tent. Its inhabitants appeared scarcely to own more than they stood or walked in, i.e. for every person a large piece of cloth round the waist. Small boats lay moored to the platform. They were nothing else than tree-stems hollowed out, without any separate planks at the sides, at most two to two and a half metres long, and capable of carrying only two men. We had met such a boat a little way up the river, rowed by two youths, and laden with palm-leaves, it was not more than five to eight centimetres above the water, and appeared as if it would capsize with the least indiscreet movement on the part of the boatmen. Some dogs of middle size went about loose on the platform; they were at first shy and suspicious of us, and growled a little, but soon allowed themselves to be caressed.
"Of the natives, the Malays, unfortunately we saw at close quarters only some middle-aged men. When we approached the long floating beams which led to the platform, the women and children fled precipitately out of the nearest houses, and by the time we got to the platform, they had fortified themselves in a distant house, where they sat motionless and cast curious glances at us through a hole. The children showed their fear of us by loud crying, kept up the whole time. When we attempted to approach the fugitives, they hastened farther away. We won their favour with some cigarettes, which Palander distributed among them, and with which they were evidently delighted. They had a serious, reserved, perhaps rather indifferent appearance. A physiognomist would perhaps have had difficulty in saying whether their countenances expressed ferocity, determination, or indifference. It appeared as if it would not be easy to bring forth a look of mirth or gladness on their faces.
"At the Malay villages which we visited, some Chinese had a sago plantation. With some Malays as workmen in their service, they were now employed in loading a vessel of light draught with sago meal, of which they appeared to have a large quantity in store. Another vessel had just taken on board its cargo and was starting. The Chinese here made the same favourable impression on me as their countrymen, whom I had seen before in Japan and Hong Kong, and whom I was afterwards to see at Singapore--the impression of an exceedingly industrious, thriving, contented, and cleanly race."
Labuan strikes me as a very suitable starting-point for a naturalist who may wish to explore Borneo. Surrounded by Europeans, but undisturbed by the distractions of a large city, he would have an opportunity of accustoming himself to the climate, which, though rather warm for a dweller in the North, is by no means unhealthy, to get acquainted with the manners and customs of the natives, to acquire a knowledge of the commonest forms of the luxuriant nature, which would otherwise be apt to overwhelm the northern naturalist, in a word, to make such preparations for the journey as are necessary to secure its success. This region of Borneo appears to be one of the least known parts of the Indian Archipelago, and one need not go far from the coast to come to places which are never visited by Europeans. Labuan itself and its immediate neighbourhood have much that is interesting to offer to the observer, and from thence short excursions may be made with ease and without excessive cost to the territory of the Sultan of Bruni, who is favourable to foreigners, and to the mountain Kini Balu, near the northern extremity of Borneo, which is 4,175 metres high, and visible from Labuan. When, before our arrival at Japan, I arranged the plan of our voyage home, I included in it a visit to this mountain, at whose summit a comparatively severe climate must prevail, and whose flora and fauna, therefore, notwithstanding its equatorial position, must offer many points of comparison with those of the lands of the north. But when I was told that the excursion would require weeks, I had to give it up.
On the 12th November, the Vega again weighed anchor to continue her voyage by Singapore to Point de Galle in Ceylon. Between Labuan and Singapore our progress was but slow, in consequence of the calm which, as might have been foreseen, prevailed in the sea west of Borneo.
Singapore is situated exactly halfway, when a vessel, starting from Sweden, circumnavigates Asia and Europe. We staid here from the 28th November to the 4th December, very hospitably received by the citizens of the town, both European and Asiatic, who seemed to vie with the inhabitants of Hong Kong in enthusiasm for the voyage of the Vega. A Babel-like confusion of speech prevails in the town from the men of so many different nationalities who live here: Chinese, Malays, Klings, Bengalees, Parsees, Singhalese, Negroes, Arabs, &c. But our stay was all too short for independent studies of the customs and mode of life of these different races, or of the rich vegetable and animal worlds in the neighbourhood of the town. I must refer those who are interested in these subjects to previous descriptions of that region, and to the abundant contributions to a knowledge of it which have been published by the Straits Branch of the Asiatic Society, which was founded here on the 4th November, 1877.
We arrived at Galle on the 15th December, having during our passage from Singapore had a pretty steady and favourable monsoon. While sailing through the Straits of Malacca strong ball-lightning was often seen a little after sunset. The electrical discharges appeared to go on principally from the mountain heights on both sides of the Straits.
I allowed the Vega to remain in the harbour of Point de Galle, partly to wait for the mail, partly to give Dr. Almquist an opportunity of collecting lichens on some of the high mountain summits in the interior of the island, and Dr. Kjellman of examining its algae, while I myself would have time to visit the famous gem-diggings of Ceylon. The return was as good as could have been expected considering our short stay at the place. Dr. Almquist's collection of lichens from the highest mountain of Ceylon, Pedrotalagalla, 2,500 metres high, was very large, Kjellman, by the help of a diver, made a not inconsiderable collection of algae from the neighbourhood of the harbour, and from an exclusion which I undertook in company with Mr. ALEXANDER C. DIXON, of Colombo, to Ratnapoora, the town of gems, where we were received with special kindness by Mr. COLIN MURRAY, assistant government agent, I brought home a fine collection of the minerals of Ceylon.
Precious stones occur in Ceylon mainly in sand beds, especially at places where streams of water have flowed which have rolled, crumbled down, and washed away a large part of the softer constituents of the sand, so that a gravel has been left remaining which contains considerably more of the harder precious stone layer than the original sandy strata, or the rock from which they originated. Where this natural washing ends, the gem collector begins. He searches for a suitable valley, digs down a greater or less depth from the surface to the layer of clay mixed with coarse sand resting on the rock, which experience has taught him to contain gems[388]. At the washings which I saw, the clayey gravel was taken out of this layer and laid by the side of the hole until three or four cubic metres of it were collected. It was then carried, in shallow, bowl-formed baskets from half a metre to a metre in diameter, to a neighbouring river, where it was washed until all the clay was carried away from the sand. The gems were then picked out, a person with a glance of the eye examining the wet surface of the sand and collecting whatever had more or less appearance of a precious stone. He then skimmed away with the palm of the hand the upper stratum of sand, and went on in the same way with that below it until the whole mass was examined. The certainty with which he judged in a moment whether there was anything of value among the many thousand grains of sand was wonderful. I endeavoured in a very considerable heap of the gravel thus hastily examined, to find a single small piece of precious stone which had escaped the glance of the examiner, but without success.
The yield is very variable, sometimes abundant, sometimes very small, and though precious stones found in Ceylon are yearly sold for large sums, the industry on the whole is unprofitable, although now and then a favourite of fortune has been enriched by it. The English authorities, therefore, with full justification, consider it demoralising and unfavourable to the development of the otherwise abundant natural resources of the region. For the numerous loose population devotes itself rather to the easy search for precious stones, which is as exciting as play, than to the severer but surer labours of agriculture, and when at any time a rich find is made, it is speedily squandered, without a thought of saving for the times when the yield is little or nothing. A large number of the precious stones are polished at special polishing places at Ratnapoora, but the work is very bad, so that the stones which come into the market are often irregular, and have uneven, curved, ill-polished surfaces. Most of them perhaps are sold in the Eastern and Western Indian peninsulas and other parts of Asia, but many are also exported to Europe. The precious stones which are principally found at Ratnapoora, consist of sapphires, commonly blue, but sometimes yellow or violet, sometimes even completely colourless. In the last case they have a lustre resembling that of the diamond[389]. Rubies I saw here only in limited numbers.
The precious stones occur in nearly every river valley which runs from the mountain heights in the interior of the island down to the low land. According to a statement by Mr. Tennent (i. p. 33), the river-sand at many places contains so much of the harder minerals that it may be used directly for the polishing of other stones. The same writer, or more correctly Dr. GYGAX, who appears to have written the rather scanty mineralogical contributions to Tennent's famous work, states that a more abundant yield ought to be obtained by working in the solid rock than by the usual method. This idea is completely opposed to the experience of mineralogy. The finest gems, the largest gold nuggets, as is well known, are never, or almost never, found in solid rock, but in loose earthy layers. In such layers in Ceylon the abundance of precious stones, that is to say, of minerals which are hard, translucent, and strongly lustrous, is very great, and enormous sums would be obtained if we could add up the value of the mass of precious stones which have been found here for thousands of years back. Already Marco Polo says of Ceylon: "In ista insula nascuntur boni et nobiles rubini et non nascuntur in aliquo loco plus. Et hic nascuntur zafiri et topazii, ametisti, et aliquae aliae petrae pretiosae, et rex istius insulae habet pulcriorem rubinum de mundo".
But some one perhaps will ask, where is the mother-rock of all these treasures in the soil of Ceylon? The question is easily answered. All these minerals have once been imbedded in the granitic gneiss, which is the principal rock of the region.
In speaking of granite or gneiss in southern lands, or at least in the southern lands we now visited, I must, in the first place, point out that these rocks next the surface of the earth in the south have a much greater resemblance to strata of sand, gravel, and clay than to our granite or gneiss rocks, the type of what is lasting, hard, and unchangeable. The high coast hills, which surround the Inland Sea of Japan, resemble, when seen from the sea, ridges of sand (osar) with sides partly clothed with wood, partly sandy slopes of a light yellow colour, covered by no vegetation. On a closer examination, however, we find that the supposed sandy ridges consist of weathered granitic rocks, in which all possible intermediate stages may be seen between the solid rock and the loose sand. The sand is not stratified, and contains large, loose, rounded blocks in situ, completely resembling the erratic blocks in Sweden, although with a more rugged surface. The boundary between the unweathered granite and that which has been converted into sand is often so sharp that a stroke of the hammer separates the crust of granitic sand from the granite blocks. They have an almost fresh surface, and a couple of millimetres within the boundary the rock is quite unaltered. No formation of clay takes place, and the alteration to which the rocks are subjected therefore consists in a crumbling or formation of sand, and not, or at least only to a very small extent, in a chemical change. Even at Hong Kong the principal rock consisted of granite. Here too the surface of the granite rock was quite altered to a very considerable depth, not however to sand, but to a fine, often reddish, clay, thus in quite a different way from that on the coast of the Inland Sea of Japan. Here too one could at many places follow completely the change of the hard granite mass to a clay which still lay in situ, but without its being possible to draw so sharp a boundary between the primitive rock and the newly-formed loose earthy layers as at the first-named place. We had opportunities of observing a similar crumbling down of the hard granite at every road-section between Galle, Colombo, and Ratnapoora, with the difference that the granite and gneiss here crumbled down to a coarse sand, which was again bound together by newly-formed hydrated peroxide of iron to a peculiar porous sandstone, called by the natives cabook. This sandstone forms the layer lying next the rock in nearly all the hills on that part of the island which we visited. It evidently belongs to an earlier geological period than the Quaternary, for it is older than the recent formation of valleys and rivers. The cabook often contains large, rounded, unweathered granite blocks, quite resembling the rolled-stone blocks in Sweden. In this way there arise at places where the cabook stratum has again been broken up and washed away by currents of water, formations which are so bewilderingly like the ridges (osar) and hills with erratic blocks in Sweden and Finland that I was astonished when I saw them. I was compelled to resort to the evidence of the palms to convince myself that it was not an illusion which unrolled before me the well-known contours from the downs of my native land. An accurate study of the sandy hills on the Inland Sea of Japan, of the clay cliffs of Hong Kong, and the cabook of Ceylon would certainly yield very unexpected contributions to an explanation of the way in which the sand and rolled-stone osar of Scandinavia have first arisen. It would show that much which the Swedish geologists still consider to be glacial gravel transported by water and ice, is only the product of a process of weathering or, more correctly, falling asunder, which has gone on in Sweden also on an enormous scale. Even a portion of our Quaternary clays have perhaps had a similar origin, and we find here a simple explanation of the important circumstance, which is not sufficiently attended to by our geologists, that often all the erratic blocks at a place are of the same kind, and resemble in their nature the underlying or neighbouring rocks.
It is this weathering process which has originated the gem sand of Ceylon. Precious stones have been found disseminated in limited numbers in the granite converted into cabook. In weathering, the difficultly decomposable precious stones have not been attacked, or attacked only to a limited extent. They have therefore retained their original form and hardness. When in the course of thousands of years streams of water have flowed over the layers of cabook, their soft, already half-weathered constituents have been for the most part changed into a fine mud, and as such washed away, while the hard gems have only been inconsiderably rounded and little diminished in size. The current of water therefore has not been able to wash them far away from the place where they were originally imbedded in the rock, and we now find them collected in the gravel-bed, resting for the most part on the fundamental rock which the stream has left behind, and which afterwards, when the water has changed its course, has been again covered by new layers of mud, clay, and sand. It is this gravel-bed which the natives call nellan, and from which they chiefly get their treasures of precious stones.
Of all the kinds of stones which are used as ornaments there are both noble and common varieties, without there being any perceptible difference in their chemical composition. The most skilful chemist would thus have difficulty in finding in their chemical composition the least difference between corundum and sapphire or ruby, between common beryl and emerald, between the precious and the common topaz, between the hyacinth and the common zircon, between precious and common spinel; and every mineralogist knows that there are innumerable intermediate stages between these minerals which are so dissimilar though absolutely identical in composition. This gave the old naturalists occasion to speak of ripe and unripe precious stones. They said that in order to ripen precious stones the heat of the south was required. This transference of well-known circumstances from the vegetable to the mineral kingdom is certainly without justification. It points however to a remarkable and hitherto unexplained circumstance, namely, that the occurrence of precious stones is, with few exceptions, confined to southern regions[390]. Diamonds are found in noteworthy number only in India, Borneo, Brazil, and the Transvaal. Tropical America is the home-land of the emerald, Brazil of the topaz, Ceylon of the sapphire and the hyacinth, Pegu of the ruby, and Persia of the turquoise. With the exception of the diamond the same stones are found also in the north, but in a common form. Thus common sapphire (corundum) is found in Gellivare iron ore so plentifully that the ore from certain openings is difficult to smelt. Common topaz is found in masses by the hundredweight in the neighbourhood of Falun; common emerald is found in thick crystals several feet in length in felspar quarries, in Roslagen, and in Tammela and Kisko parishes in Finland; common spinel occurs abundantly in Aker limestone quarry; common zircon at Brevig in Norway, and turquoise-like but badly coloured stones at Vestana in Skane. True precious stones, on the other hand, are not found at any of these places. Another remarkable fact in connection with precious stones is that most of those that come into the market are not found in the solid rock, but as loose grains in sand-beds. True jewel mines are few, unproductive, and easily exhausted. From this one would be inclined to suppose that precious stones actually undergo an ennobling process in the warm soil of the south.
During the excursion I undertook from Galle to Ratnapoora, I visited a number of temples in order to procure Pali, Singhalese, and Sanscrit manuscripts; and I put myself in communication with various natives who were supposed to possess such manuscripts. They are now very difficult to get at, and the collection I made was not very large. The books which the temples wished to dispose of have long ago been eagerly brought up by private collectors or handed over to public museums, for example, to the Ceylon Government Oriental Library established at Colombo[391]. The collector who remains a considerable time in the region, may however be able to reap a rich after-harvest, less of the classical works preserved in the temples than of the smaller popular writings in the hands of private persons.
We see in Ceylon innumerable descendants of the races who repeatedly subdued larger or smaller portions of the island, or carried on traffic there, as Moormen (Arabs), Hindoos, Jews, Portuguese, Dutchmen, Englishmen, &c., but the main body of the people at all events varies very little, and still consists of the two allied races, Tamils and Singhalese, who for thousands of years back have been settled here. The colour of their skin is very dark, almost black, their hair is not woolly, their features are regular, and their build is exceedingly fine. The children especially, who, while they are small, often go completely naked, with their regular features, their large eyes, and fresh plump bodies, are veritable types of beauty, and the same holds true of most of the youths. Instead of buying in one of the capitals of Europe the right to draw models, often enough with forms which leave much to desire, and which must be used without distinction for Greek or Northern divinities, for heroes or savants of the present or former times, an artist ought to make tours of study to the lands of the south, where man does not need to protect himself from the cold with clothes, and where accordingly nakedness is the rule, at least among the poorer classes. The dress which is worn here is commonly convenient and tasteful. Among the Singhalese it consists of a piece of cloth wound round the middle, which hangs down to the knees. The men, who still prefer the convenient national dress to the European, go with the upper part of the body bare. The long hair is held together with a comb which goes right over the head, and among the rich has a large four-cornered projection at the crown. The women protect the upper part of the body with a thin cotton jacket. The priests wear a yellow piece of cloth diagonally over one shoulder. The naked children are ornamented with metal bracelets and with a metal chain round the waist, from which a little plate hangs down between the legs. This plate is often of silver or gold, and is looked upon as an amulet.
The huts of the working men are in general very small, built of earth or cabook-bricks, and are rather to be considered as sheds for protection from the rain and sunshine than as houses in the European sense. The richer Singhalese live in extensive "verandas" which are almost open, and are divided into rooms by thin panels, resembling in this respect the Japanese houses. The Japanese genius for ornament, their excellent taste and skill in execution, are however wanting here, but it must also be admitted that in these respects the Japanese stand first among all the peoples of the earth.
In the seaport towns the Singhalese are insufferable by their begging, their loquacity, and the unpleasant custom they have of asking up to ten times as much, while making a bargain, as they are pleased to accept in the end. In the interior of the country the state of things in this respect is much better.
Among the temples which I visited in order to procure Pali books was the so-called "devil's" temple at Ratnapoora, the stateliest idol-house I saw in Ceylon. Most of the temples were built of wood; all were exceedingly unpretentious, and without the least trace of style. The numerous priests and temple attendants lived in rather squalid and disorderly dwellings in the neighbourhood of the temple. They received me in a friendly way and showed me their books, of which they occasionally sold some. The negotiation several times ended by the priest presenting me with the book I wished to purchase and positively refusing to receive compensation in any form. On one occasion the priest stated that he himself was prevented by the precepts of his religion from receiving the purchase-money agreed upon, but said that I might hand it over to some of the persons standing round. At two of the priests' houses there was a swarm of school-children, who ran busily about with their palm-leaf writing books and writing implements.
The temples were very different in their arrangements, probably on account of the dissimilar usages of the various Buddhist sects to which they belonged. A temple near Colombo contained a large number of wooden images and paintings of gods, or men of more than human size. Most of them stood upright like a guard round a sitting Buddha. I could not observe any dislike on the part of the priests to take the foreigner round their temples. The key, however, was sometimes wanting to some repository, whose contents they were perhaps unwilling to desecrate by showing them to the unbeliever. This was, for instance, the case with the press which contained the devil's bow and arrows, in the temple at Ratnapoora. The temple vessels besides were exceedingly ugly, tasteless, and ill-kept. I seldom saw anything that showed any sign of taste, art, and orderliness. How different from Japan, where all the swords, lacquer work, braziers, teacups, &c., kept in the better temples would deserve a place in some of the art museums of Europe.
In the sketch of the first voyage from Novaya Zemlya to Ceylon, a countryman of Lidner can scarcely avoid giving a picture of "Ceylon's burned up vales." In this respect the following extract from a letter from Dr. Almquist, sketching his journey to the interior of the island may be instructive:--
"Three hours after our arrival at Point de Galle I sat properly stowed away in the mail-coach en route for Colombo. As travelling companions I had a European and two Singhalese. As it was already pretty dusk in the evening there was not much of the surrounding landscape visible. We went on the whole night through a forest of tall coco-nut trees whose dark tops were visible far up in the air against the somewhat lighter sky. It was peculiar to see the number of fire-flies flying in every direction, and at every wing-stroke emiting a bright flash. The night air had the warm moistness which is so agreeable in the tropics. Now and then the sound of the sea penetrated to our ears. For we followed the west coast in a northerly direction. More could not be observed in the course of the night, and all the passengers were soon sunk in deep sleep.
"After seven hours' brisk trot we came to a railway station and continued our journey by rail to Colombo, the capital of Ceylon. As there was nothing special to see or do there, I went on without stopping by the railway, which here bends from the coast to Kandy and other places. The landscape now soon became grander and grander. We had indeed before seen tropical vegetation at several places, but of the luxuriance which here struck the eye we had no conception. The pity was that men had come hither, had cleared and planted.
"In the lowlands I saw some cinnamon plantations. Ceylon cinnamon is very dear; in Europe cheaper and inferior sorts are used almost exclusively, and most of the plantations in Ceylon have been abandoned many years ago. Soon the train leaves the lowland and begins to ascend rapidly. The patch of coast country, where the coco-nut trees prevail, is exchanged for a very mountainous landscape; first hills with large open valleys between, then higher continuous mountains with narrow, deep, kettle-like valleys, or open hilly plateaus. In the valleys rice is principally cultivated. The hills and mountain sides were probably originally covered with the most luxuriant primitive forest, but now on all the slopes up to the mountain summits it is cut down, and they are covered with coffee plantations. The coffee-plant is indeed very pretty, but grows at such a distance apart that the ground is everywhere visible between, and this is a wretched covering for luxuriant Ceylon.
"At two o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at the station, Perideniya, the nearest one to Kandy. The famous botanical garden lies in its neighbourhood, and there I had to visit the superintendent of the garden, Dr. THWAITES. This elderly, but still active and enthusiastic naturalist is exceedingly interested in botanical research, and very obliging to all who work in that department. He received me in a very friendly manner, and it was due to him that the programme of my visit there was so full.
"A botanic garden in Ceylon must naturally be something extraordinary. Nowhere else can grander or more luxuriant vegetation be seen than here. The garden has been especially famous for the number of different varieties of trees of immense size which it can show. Besides, all possible better known plants are to be found here, cultivated in the finest specimens. Spices and drugs were specially well represented. Here long tendrils of the black pepper-plant wound themselves up the thick tree-stems, here the cardamon and the ginger flourished, here the pretty cinnamon, camphor, cinchona, nutmeg, and cocoa trees made a splendid show, here I saw a newly gathered harvest of vanilla. The abundance of things to be seen, learned, and enjoyed here was incredible. However, the next day I determined on the advice of Dr. Thwaites to make a tour up to the mountain localities proper, in order there to get a better sight of the lichen flora of Ceylon.
"I now travelled south partly by rail, partly by coach, until in the evening I found myself lodged at a 'rest-house' at Rambodde, a thousand metres above the sea, at about the same height accordingly as that at which trees cease to grow in southern Norway. This tropical mountain land reminds one a little, in respect of the contours of the landscape, of the fells of Norway. Here too are found league-long deep valleys, surrounded by high mountain summits and ranges with outlines sharply marked against the horizon. But here they were everywhere overgrown with coffee bushes, or possibly with cinchona plants. The mountain slopes were so laid bare from the bottom all the way up that scarce a tree was left in sight; everywhere so far as the eye could reach only coffee.
"Next day, attended by a Singhalese, I went, or to speak more correctly, climbed farther up the steep coffee plantations. At a height of 1,300 metres above the sea coffee ceases to grow, and we now found some not very extensive tea plantations, and above these the primitive forest commences. At a height of 1,900 metres above the sea there is an extensive open plateau. Up here there is a not inconsiderable place, Novara Elliya, where the governor has a residence, and part of the troops are in barracks during the summer heat. One of the mountains which surround this plateau is Pedrotalagalla, the loftiest mountain of Ceylon, which reaches a height of 2,500 metres above the sea.
"I have ascended not so few mountains, but of none has the ascent been so easy as of this, for a broad footpath ran all the way to the top. Without this path the ascent had been impossible, for an hour's time would have been required for every foot made good through the jungle, so closely is the ground under the lofty trees covered to the top of the mountain with bushes, creepers, or the bamboo. In the evening I returned to my former night-quarters, where I slept well after a walk of thirty-six English miles.
"As I felt myself altogether unable the following day to make any further excursion on foot, I travelled back to Peradeniya by mail-coach. During this journey I had as my travelling companion a Singhalese, whom it was a special pleasure to see at close quarters. One of his big toes was ornamented with a broad ring of silver, both his ears were pierced above, and provided with some pendulous ornament, and one side of the nose was likewise perforated, in order that at that place too might he adorn himself with a piece of grandeur. On his head he had, like all Singhalese, a comb by which the hair drawn right upwards is kept in position, as little girls at home are wont to have their hair arranged. As the man did not appear to know a word of English, it was impossible to enter into any closer acquaintance with him.
"At noon on the following day I found myself compelled, by a quite unexpected occurrence, to return precipitately to the coast again. Dr. Thwaites and I had been invited to dinner by his Excellency the Governor. As I was still limping after my long excursion on foot, and besides had not had the forethought to take a dress-suit with me, I considered that, vexatious as it was to decline, I could not accept this gracious invitation, but instead went my way. Thus after six exceedingly pleasant days I came back to Point de Galle and the Vega".
[Footnote 385: Yet with one very laughable exception. I wished for zoological purposes to get one of the common Chinese rats, and with this object in view made inquiries through my interpreter at a shed in the street, where rats were said to be cooked for Chinese epicures. But scarcely had the question been put, when the old, grave host broke out in a furious storm of abuse, especially against the interpreter, who was overwhelmed with bitter reproaches for helping a "foreign devil" to make a fool of his own countrymen. All my protestations were in vain, and I had to go away with my object unaccomplished. ]
[Footnote 386: See on this subject W.A. Pickering, "Chinese Secret Societies" (_Journal of the Straits Branch of the R. Asiatic Society_, 1878, No. 1, pp. 63-84) ]
[Footnote 387: Concerning their formation and origin see a paper by K. Nordenskioeld in Oefversigt af Vet.-akad Foerh 1870, p 29. ]
[Footnote 388: Emerson Tennent says on the subject:--The gem collectors penetrate through the recent strata of gravel to the depth of from ten to twenty feet in order to reach a lower deposit, distinguished by the name of Nellan, in which the objects of their search are found. This is of so early a formation that it underlies the present beds of rivers, and is generally separated from them or from the superincumbent gravel by a hard crust (called Kadua), a few inches in thickness, and so consolidated as to have somewhat the appearance of laterite or sun-burnt brick. The nellan is for the most part horizontal, but occasionally it is raised into an incline as it approaches the base of the hills. It appears to have been deposited previous to the eruption of the basalt, on which in some places it reclines, and to have undergone some alteration from the contact. It consists of water-worn pebbles firmly imbedded in clay, and occasionally there occur large lumps of granite and gneiss, in the hollows under which, as well as in "pockets" in the clay (which from their shape the natives denominate "elephants' footsteps "), gems are frequently found in groups, as if washed in by the current. (E. Tennent, Ceylon London, 1860, i. p. 34.) ]
[Footnote 389: Diamonds are wanting in Ceylon. And neither gold nor platinum appears to occur in noteworthy quantity in the gem gravel. ]
[Footnote 390: The only considerable exceptions from this are two localities for precious stones in Southern Siberia and the occurrence of precious opal in Hungary. The latter, however, in consequence of defective hardness and translucency, can scarcely be reckoned among the true precious stones. ]
[Footnote 391: The Catalogue of Pali, Singhalese, and Sanscrit Manuscripts in the Ceylon Government Oriental Library, Colombo, 1876, includes:--
41 Buddhist canonical books 71 Other religious writings 25 Historical works, traditions 29 Philological works 16 Literary works 6 Works on Medicine, Astronomy, &c.
According to Emerson Tennent (i. p. 515), the Rev. R. Spence Hardy has in the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Asiatic Society for 1848 given the titles of 467 works in Pali, Sanskrit, and Elu, collected by himself during his residence in Ceylon. Of these about eighty are in Sanskrit, 150 in Elu or Singhalese, and the remainder in Pali. ]
Chapter XX
The Voyage Home--Christmas, 1879--Aden--Suez--Cairo-- Excursion to the Pyramids and the Mokattam Mountains-- Petrified Tree-stems--The Suez Canal--Landing on Sicily by night--Naples--Rome--The Members of the Expedition separate--Lisbon--England--Paris--Copenhagen--Festive Entry into Stockholm--Fetes there--Conclusion
During our stay in Japan and our voyage thence to Ceylon I had endeavoured at least in some degree to preserve the character of the voyage of the Vega as a scientific expedition, an attempt which, considering the short time the Vega remained at each place, could not yield any very important results, and which besides was rendered difficult, though in a way that was agreeable and flattering to us, by I may almost say the tempestuous hospitality with which the Vega men were everywhere received during their visits to the ports of Japan and East Asia. It was besides difficult to find any new untouched field of research in regions which were the seat of culture and civilisation long before the time when the forest began to be cut down and seed to be sown in the Scandinavian North, and which for centuries have formed the goal of exploratory expeditions from all the countries of Europe. I hope however that the Vega will leave lasting memorials even of this part of her voyage through the contributions of Stuxberg, Nordquist, Kjellman, and Almquist to the evertebrate fauna and the sea-weed and lichen flora of East Asia, and by my collections of Japanese books, of fossil plants from Mogi and Labuan, &c.
With the new overpowering impression which nature and people exerted on those of us, who now for the first time visited Japan, China, India, Borneo, and Ceylon, it was however specially difficult, during a stay of a few days at each place, to preserve this side of the Vega expedition. I therefore determined after leaving Ceylon to let it drop completely, that is, from that point merely to travel home. Regarding this part of the voyage of the Vega I would thus have very little to say, were it not that an obligation of gratitude compels me to express in a few words the thanks of the Vega men for all the honours bestowed upon them, and all the goodwill they enjoyed during the last part of the voyage. For many of my readers this sketch may perhaps be of interest as reminding them of some happy days which they themselves have lived through, and it may even happen that it will not be unwelcome to the friends of geography in a future time to read this description of the way in which the first circumnavigators of Asia and Europe were feted in the ports and capitals of the civilised countries. In this sketch however I am compelled to be as brief as possible, and I must therefore sue for pardon if every instance of hospitality shown us cannot be mentioned.
We started from Point de Galle on the 22nd December, and arrived at Aden on the 7th January. The passage was tedious in consequence of light winds or calms. Christmas Eve we did not celebrate on this occasion, tired as we were of entertainments, in such a festive way as at Pitlekaj, but only with a few Christmas-boxes and some extra treating. On New Year's Eve, on the other hand, the officers in the gunroom were surprised by a deputation from the forecastle clad in pesks as Chukches, who came, in good Swedish, mixed with a few words of the Pitlekaj lingua franca not yet forgotten, to bring us a salutation from our friends among the ice of the north, thanks for the past and good wishes for the coming year, mixed with Chukch complaints of the great heat hereaway in the neighbourhood of the equator, which for fur-clad men was said to be altogether unendurable.
We remained at Aden only a couple of days, received in a friendly manner by the then acting Swedish-Norwegian consul, who took us round to the most remarkable points of the desolate environs of this important haven, among others to the immense, but then and generally empty water reservoirs which the English have made in the neighbourhood of the town. No place in the high north, not the granite cliffs of the Seven Islands, or the pebble rocks of Low Island on Spitzbergen, not the mountain sides on the east coast of Novaya Zemlya, or the figure-marked ground at Cape Chelyuskin is so bare of vegetation as the environs of Aden and the parts of the east coast of the Red Sea which we saw. Nor can there be any comparison in respect of the abundance of animal life between the equatorial countries and the Polar regions we have named. On the whole animal life in the coast lands of the highest north, where the mountains are high and surrounded by deep water, appears to be richer in individuals than in the south, and this depends not only on the populousness of the fowl-colonies and the number of large animals of the chase that we find there, but also on the abundance of evertebrates in the sea. At least the dredgings made from the Vega during the voyage between Japan and Ceylon gave an exceedingly scanty yield in comparison with our dredgings north of Cape Chelyuskin.
Aden is now an important port of call for the vessels which pass through the Suez Canal from European waters to the Indian Ocean, and also one of the chief places for the export of the productions of Yemen or Arabia Felix. In the latter respect the harbour was of importance as far back as about four hundred years ago, when the Italian, LUDOVICO DE VARTHEMA, was for a considerable time kept a prisoner by the Arab tribes at the place.
In the harbour of Aden the Vega was saluted by the firing of twenty-one guns and the hoisting of the Swedish flag at the maintop of an Italian war vessel, the despatch steamer Esploratore under the command of Captain AMEZAGA. The Esploratore took part in an expedition consisting of three war vessels, charged with founding an Italian colony at Assab Bay, which cuts into the east coast of Africa, north of Bab-el-Mandeb, on a tract of land purchased for the purpose by Rubbattino, an Italian commercial company. On board was Professor SAPETTO, an elderly man, who had concluded the bargain and had lived at the place for forty years. It was settled that he should be the administrator of the new colony. On board the Esploratore were also the savants BECCARI and the Marquis DORIA, famous for their extensive travels in the tropics and their valuable scientific labours. The officers of the Italian vessel invited us to a dinner which was one of the pleasantest and gayest of the many entertainments we were present at during our homeward journey. When at the close of it we parted from our hosts they lighted up the way by which we rowed forward over the tranquil waves of the Bay of Aden with blue lights, and the desert mountain sides of the Arabian coast resounded with the hurrahs which were exchanged in the clear, calm night between the representatives of the south and north of Europe.
The Vega left Aden, or more correctly its port-town, Steamer Point, on the 9th January, and sailed the following day through Bab-el-Mandeb into the Red Sea. The passage of this sea, which is narrow, but 2,200 kilometres long, was tedious, especially in its northern part, where a strong head wind blew. This caused so great a lowering of the temperature that a film of ice was formed on the fresh-water pools in Cairo, and that we, Polar travellers as we were, had again to put on winter clothes in Egypt itself.
The Vega anchored on the 27th January at the now inconsiderable port, Suez, situated at the southern entrance to the Suez Canal. Most of the scientific men and officers of the Vega expedition made an excursion thence to Cairo and the Pyramids, and were everywhere received in a very kind way. Among other things the Egyptian Geographical Society sent a deputation to welcome us under the leadership of the President of the Society, the American, STONE PACHA. He had in his youth visited Sweden, and appeared to have a very pleasant recollection of it. The Geographical Society gave a stately banquet in honour of the Vega expedition. An excursion was made to the Great Pyramids, and, as far as the short time permitted, to other remarkable places in and around the heap of ruins of all kinds and from all periods, which forms the capital of the Egypt of to-day. During our visit to the Pyramids the Swedish-Norwegian consul-general, BOeDTKER, gave us a dinner in the European hotel there, and the same evening a ball was given us by the Italian consul-general, DE MARTINO. A day was besides devoted by some of us, in company with M. GUISEPPE HAIMANN, to a short excursion to the Mokattam Mountains, famous for the silicified tree-stems found there. I hoped along with the petrified wood to find some strata of clay-slate or schist with leaf-impressions. I was however unsuccessful in this, but I loaded heavily a carriage drawn by a pair of horses with large and small tree-stems converted into hard flint. These he spread about in the desert in incredible masses, partly broken up into small pieces, partly as long fallen stems, without root or branches, but in a wonderfully good state of preservation. Probably they had originally lain embedded in a layer of sand above the present surface of the desert. This layer has afterwards been carried away by storms, leaving the heavy masses of stone as a peculiar stratum upon the desert sand, which is not covered by any grassy sward. No root-stumps were found, and it thus appeared as if the stems had been carried by currents of water to the place where they were imbedded in the sandy layers and silicified. In their exterior all these petrifactions resemble each other, and by the microscopical examination which has hitherto been made naturalists have only succeeded in distinguishing two species belonging to the family Nicolia, and a palm, a pine, and a leguminous plant, all now extinct. It is possible that among the abundant materials I brought home with me some other types may be discovered by polishing and microscopical examination. Such at least was my expectation in bringing home this large quantity of stones, the transport of which to the Vega was attended with a heavy expenditure.
From Cairo we returned, on the 2nd February, to Suez, and the following day the Vega weighed anchor to steam through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. This gigantic work, created by the genius and perseverance of LESSEPS, which is unsurpassed by the many marvels of construction in the land of the Pharaohs, has not a very striking appearance, for the famous canal runs, like a small river with low banks, through the monotonously yellow plain of the desert. There are no sluices. No bold rock-blastings stand as monuments of difficulties overcome. But proud must every child of our century be when he gazes on this proof that private enterprise can in our day accomplish what world-empires in former times were unable to carry into execution. We touched at Port Said for a few hours on the 5th February, after which we continued our voyage to Naples, the first European port we were to visit.
At Aden and in Egypt I had received several letters and telegrams informing me that great preparations were being made at Naples for our reception, and that repeated inquiries had been addressed to the Swedish consul-general regarding the day of our arrival, questions which naturally it was not so easy to answer, as our vessel, with its weak steam-power, was very dependent on wind and weather. It was hoped that the Vega might be signalled from the Straits of Messina, but we did not come to the entrance to the Straits until after sunset. I therefore ordered the Vega to lie to there for some hours, while Lieut. Bove and I rowed ashore to send off telegrams announcing our arrival in Europe to Sweden, Naples, Rome, and other places. The shore, however, was farther off than we had calculated, and it was quite dark before it was reached. It was not without difficulty that in these circumstances we could get to land through the breakers in the open road quite unknown to us, and then, in coal-black darkness, find our way through thickets of prickly bushes to the railway which here runs along the coast. We had then to go along the railway for a considerable distance before we reached a station from which our telegrams could be despatched. Scarcely had we entered the station when we were surrounded by suspicious railway and coast-guard men, and we considered ourselves fortunate that they had not observed us on the way thither, for they would certainly have taken us for smugglers, whom the coast-guard have the right to salute with sharp shot. Even now we were overwhelmed with questions in a loud and commanding tone, but when they saw to what high personages our telegrams were addressed, and were informed by their countryman Bove, who wore his uniform, to what vessel we belonged, they became very obliging. One of them accompanied us back to our boat, after providing us with excellent torches which spread abundant light around our footsteps. They were much needed, for we were now compelled to share the astonishment of our guide that in the darkness we had succeeded in making our way over the rugged hills covered with cactus plants and bushy thickets between the railway and the coast, and along a railway viaduct which we had passed on our way to the station without having any idea of it. It was the last adventure of the voyage of the Vega, and my first landing on the glorious soil of Italy.
On the 14th February, at 1 P.M., the Vega arrived at Naples. At Capri a flag-ornamented steamer from Sorrento met us; somewhat later, another from Naples, both of which accompanied us to the harbour. Here the Swedish expedition was saluted by an American war-vessel, the Wyoming, with twenty-one guns. The harbour swarmed with boats adorned with flags. Scarcely had the Vega anchored--or more correctly been moored to a buoy--when the envoy LINDSTRAND, the Swedish-Norwegian consul CLAUSEN, Prince TEANO, president of the Geographical Society, Commander MARTIN FRANKLIN, Commendatore NEGRI, and others came on board. The last-named, who nearly two years before had made a special journey to Sweden to be present at the departure of the Vega, now came from Turin commissioned by the Italian government, and deputed by the municipalities of Florence and Venice, the Turin Academy of Sciences, and several Italian and foreign geographical societies, to welcome the Expedition, which had now brought its labours to a happy issue.
After Herr Lindstrand, as King Oscar's representative, had welcomed the Expedition to Europe, and publicly conferred Swedish decorations on Palander and me, and two adjutants of the Italian Ministry of Marine had likewise distributed Italian orders to some of the Vega men, some short speeches were exchanged, on which the members of the Expedition, accompanied by the persons enumerated above, landed in the Admiral's steam-launch under a salute of twenty-one guns from the Italian guard-ship. On the landing-quay, where a large crowd of the inhabitants of the city was assembled, the Swedish seafarers were received by the Syndic of Naples, Count GIUSSO, accompanied by a deputation from the municipality, &c. Here we were taken, between rows of enthusiastic students, in the gala carriages of the municipality, to the Hotel Royal des Etrangeres, where a handsome suite of apartments, along with equipages and numerous attendants, was placed at our disposal. We were there received by the committee in charge of the festivities, Prince BELMONTE and Cavalier RICCIO, who afterwards, during our stay in the city, in the kindest way arranged everything to make our stay there festive and agreeable.
On Sunday the 15th several deputations were received, among them one from the University. A beautifully-bound address was presented by "Ateneo Benjammo Franklin," and a number of official visits were made and received. We dined with the Swedish-Norwegian consul, Clausen. On Monday the 16th an address was presented from "Scuola d'Applicazione per gl'Ingenieri," and from "Neapolitana Archaeologiae, Litterarum et Artium Academia," a song of welcome in Latin, written by Professor ANTONIO MIRABELLI. Then followed a grand dinner given by the municipality of the city in a hall of the hotel, which was now inaugurated and was named the Vega Hall, and was on this occasion ornamented with the royal cipher, the Swedish and Italian flags, &c. In the evening there was a gala representation at San Carlo, where the members of the Expedition scattered among the different boxes were saluted with repeated loud cries of "Bravo!"--On Tuesday the 17th the Committee had arranged an excursion to Lake Averno, the Temple of Serapis, and other places famous in a geological and historical respect, situated to the north-west of Naples. Prince URUSOV entertained some of the members of the Expedition to dinner. There was an afternoon musical entertainment at the "Societa Filarmonica," where there was a numerous attendance of persons moving in the first circles in the city.--Wednesday the 18th, excursion along with the Committee to Pompeii, where the Swedish guests were received by the famous superintendent of the excavations, Director RUGGIERI. Breakfast was eaten with merry jests and gay speeches in a splendid Roman bath, still in good preservation, excavations were undertaken, &c. In the afternoon there was a grand dinner, followed by a reception by the admiral in command, and a festive representation at the Bellini Theatre.--Thursday the 19th, Dr. FRANZ KUeHN, arrived from Vienna, deputed by the Geographical Society there to welcome us. Excursion in company with Professor PALMIERI and the Committee to Vesuvius, which at the time of our visit was emitting thick columns of smoke, was pouring out a stream of lava, and casting out masses of glowing stone. We ascended the border of the crater, not without inconvenience from the heat of the half-solidified lava streams over which we walked, from the gases escaping from the crater, and from the red-hot stones flung out of it. The new railway, not then ready, was inspected, and the observatory visited. We dined with the Committee at the hotel--Friday the 20th, journey to Rome, where the members of the Expedition arrived at 2 P.M., and were, in the same way as at Naples, received in a festive manner by the Syndic of the city, Prince RUSPOLI, president and director of the Geographical Society, by members of the University, the Scandinavian Union, &c. Carriages met the Swedish guests, in which they were taken past the Swedish-Norwegian minister's hotel, decked with innumerable flags, to Albergo di Roma in the Corso, where a splendid suite of apartments, along with equipages, was placed at the disposal of the Expedition. In the evening we dined with the Swedish minister, and were afterwards received by Prince PALLAVICINI at his magnificent palace--Saturday the 21st, visit to the Chamber of Deputies, private excursions, dinner given by the Duke NICOLAS of Leuchtenberg, to Nordenskioeld and Nordquist.--Sunday the 22nd, public meeting of the Geographical Society, at which its grand gold medal was presented to Nordenskioeld. In the evening a grand dinner, given by the Geographical Society, in the Continental Hotel. Among the toasts which were drunk may be mentioned one to the King of Sweden and Norway, proposed in a very warm and eloquent speech by the Premier, CAIROLI; to Nordenskioeld, by Prince Teano; to Palander, by the Minister of Marine, Admiral ACTON; to the other members of the Expedition, to its munificent patrons, Oscar Dickson and Alexander Sibiriakoff, to Bove, the Italian officer, who took part in it, &c.--Monday the 23rd. Audience of the King. In the evening a grand reception at the Palazzo Teano, where almost all that was distinguished and splendid of Roman society appeared to be assembled.--Tuesday the 24th. Dined at the Quirinal with King Humbert. There were present, besides the King and his suite, the Swedish minister, the members of the Vega expedition, Prince Teano, President of the Geographical Society; Commendatore Negri; Cairoli, Premier; Acton, Minister of Marine; MALVANO, Secretary of the Cabinet; Major BARATIERI, and the Italian naval officer, EUGENIO PARENT, a member of the Swedish Polar expedition of 1872-3, and others. In the evening, reception by the English minister, Sir A.B. PAGET, and a beautifully arranged fete at the Scandinavian Union, at which a number of enthusiastic speeches were made, and flowers and printed verses were distributed.--Wednesday the 25th. Farewell visits. Some of the members of the Expedition travelled north by rail. Captain Palander made an excursion to Spezzia to take part in a cruise on the large ironclad Duilio. The others remained some days longer in Rome in order to see its lions, undisturbed by official fetes.
While the Vega lay in the harbour of Naples she was literally exposed to storming by visitors. The crew were on several occasions invited to the theatres there by the managers. Excursions to Pompeii had besides been arranged for them by the consul for the united kingdoms, Clausen, who spared no pains to make the stay of the expedition at Naples honouring to the mother-country and as pleasant as possible to the guests, as well as in arranging the more formal details of the visit. We had besides the joy of meeting in Italy our comrade from the severe wintering of 1872-3, Eugenio Parent, who soon after had the misfortune to be in the tower of the ironclad Duilio, when the large Armstrong cannon placed there burst, and the wonderful good fortune to escape with life and without being seriously hurt from this dreadful accident. The only mishap on board the Vega during the latter part of her long voyage home occurred besides in the harbour of Naples, one of the sailors who was keeping back an enthusiastic crowd of people who stormed the Vega, being thrown down from the bulwarks with the result that he broke an arm.[392]
On the 29th February the Vega left the harbour of Naples, but no longer with her staff complete. Doctors Kjellman, Almquist, and Stuxberg, and Lieut. Nordquist had preferred the land route from Italy to Stockholm to the long detour by sea, and Lieut. Bove was obliged, by family circumstances, to leave the Vega at Naples. We, however, all met again at Stockholm. At our departure from Naples the gunroom personnel thus consisted only of me, Captain Palander, and Lieuts. Brusewitz and Hovgaard.
Through M.A. RABAUT, President of the young, but already so well known Geographical Society of Marseilles, I had received repeated invitations to visit along with my companions the birthplace of Pytheas, the first Polar explorer and the discoverer of the Scandinavian Peninsula. With great reluctance I was compelled to decline this invitation. We had to hasten home, and I wished to save some days for a visit to the fatherland of HENRY the Navigator and VASCO DA GAMA.
We sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar on the 9th March, and anchored in the harbour of Lisbon on the 11th March at 2 P.M. The following day we made an excursion to the beautiful palace of Cintra, situated about five Portuguese miles from the capital. On Saturday we were received in audience by the King, Dom Luiz, of Portugal, who, a seaman himself, appeared to take a great interest in the voyage of the Vega. Later in the day the Swedish minister in Lisbon gave a dinner, to which were invited the President of the Portuguese Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the members of the Diplomatic Corps, and others, ending in the evening with a grand reception. On Monday the 15th we were present by special invitation at a meeting of the Geographical Society, at which the newly-returned African travellers, BRITO-CAPELLO and IVEN, gave addresses. Here I had besides the great pleasure of meeting the famous African traveller, Major SERPA PINTO. The King at the same time honoured us with decorations, and at its meeting on the 10th March the Portuguese Chamber of Deputies resolved, on the motion of the Deputies ENNES and ALFREDO, to express its welcome and good wishes in a congratulatory address to the Vega men.
We weighed anchor again on the 15th March. We were favoured at first with a fresh breeze and made rapid progress, but at the entrance to the Channel we met with a steady head-wind, so that it was not until the evening of the 25th March, considerably later than we had counted on, that we could anchor in the harbour of Falmouth, not, as was first intended, in that of Portsmouth. We thus missed some preparations which had been made at the latter place to welcome us to the land which stands first in the line of those that have sent out explorers to the Polar Seas. We besides missed a banquet which the Royal Geographical Society had arranged in honour of the Vega expedition, at which the Prince of Wales was to have presided, and which now, in the midst of the Easter holidays and a keenly-contested parliamentary election, could not be held.[393] Our stay in England, at all events, was exceedingly pleasant. Palander and I travelled on the night before Good Friday to London, where we were received at the railway station by the Swedish minister, Count PIPER, and a large number of our countrymen living in London. Count Piper carried me to my future host, the distinguished Secretary of the Geographical Society and famous Arctician and geographical writer, CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, who did everything to make my stay in London as pleasant and instructive as possible. Saturday was spent in paying visits. On Easter Sunday Consul-General RICHTER gave a lunch in the Continental Hotel, to which a considerable number of Scandinavians and Englishmen were invited. The same evening we dined with the famous Arctic traveller, Sir ALLEN YOUNG. On Monday we were invited by the Earl of NORTHBROOK, President of the Geographical Society,[394] to his country seat, Stratton, near Winchester. Here we saw the way--an exceedingly quiet one--in which an English parliamentary election goes on. The same day we paid a visit to Mr. SPOTTISWOODE, the President of the Royal Society, at his magnificent country seat, in the neighbourhood of London. Here I saw several instructive experiments with very large machines for the production of light by electric discharges in highly rarified air. Wednesday the 31st, grand dinner at the Swedish minister's, and in the evening of the same day a Scandinavian fete in the Freemasons' Hall, at which there were great rejoicings according to old northern usages.
We started for Paris on the night before the 1st April. We went by Boulogne-sur-Mer, whose Chamber of Commerce had invited us to a fete to celebrate the first landing of the Vega men on the soil of France after the North-east Passage was achieved. Several of the authorities of the town and Dr. HAMY, a delegate from the Geographical Society of Paris met us in the waiting-room at the station. Here a breakfast had been arranged, in the course of which we were presented to a number of eminent persons of the place, with whom we afterwards passed the greater part of the day in the most agreeable way. After making several excursions in the neighbourhood of the town and paying the necessary official visits, we partook of a festive dinner arranged by the municipality. From Boulogne we travelled by night to Paris, arriving there on the 2nd April at 7 A.M.
Notwithstanding the early morning hour we were received here at the station in a festive way by the Swedish-Norwegian minister and the personnel of the Legation, a deputation from the Geographical Society of Paris, and a considerable number of the members of the Scandinavian colony in the capital of France. The famous Madagascar traveller, GRANDIDIER, President of the Geographical Society's Central Committee, welcomed us, with lively expressions of assent from the surrounding crowd. We were invited during our stay in the city to live with our countryman, A. NOBEL, in a very comfortable villa belonging to him, Rue Malakoff, No. 53, and I cannot sufficiently commend the liberal way in which he here discharged the duties of a host and assisted us during our stay in Paris, which, though very agreeable and honouring to us, demanded an extraordinary amount of exertion.
Our reception in Paris was magnificent, and it appeared as if the metropolis of the world wished to show by the way in which she honoured a feat of navigation that it is not without reason that she bears on her shield a vessel surrounded by swelling billows. It is a pleasant duty for me here to offer my thanks for all the goodwill we, during those memorable days, enjoyed on the part of the President of the Republic, of Admiral LA RONCIERE LE NOURY, President of the Geographical Society, his colleague, M. HECHT, M. MAUNOIR, the Secretary of the Society, M. QUATREFAGE, and M. DAUBREE, members of the Institute, not to forget many other Frenchmen and Scandinavians. Among the fetes of Paris I must confine myself to an enumeration of the principal ones.
Friday, the 2nd April. Public seance de reception by the Geographical Society in the Cirque des Champs Elysee in the presence of a very large and select audience. Admiral La Ronciere delivered the speech on this occasion, which I replied to by giving a pretty full account of the Swedish Arctic expeditions, on which the President handed me the large gold medal of the Society "as a proof of the interest which the public and the geographers of France take in the voyage of the Vega." Dined the same day with the Swedish-Norwegian minister, SIBBERN.--Saturday the 3rd. Invitation to a festive meeting of delegates from twenty-eight learned societies in France in the amphitheatre of the Sorbonne.[395] We were greeted by the Minister of Education in a masterly and eloquent speech, after which he conferred upon us, on the part of the Republic, Commander's and Officer's Insignia of the French Legion of Honour. "A reward," as the Minister of the Republic expressed himself, "for the blood of the brave and the sleepless nights of the learned." After that an official dinner and reception by M. Jules Ferry.--On Sunday the 4th, an address was presented from the Scandinavian Union, under the presidency of Herr Fortmeijer. In the evening a brilliant entertainment on a large scale given by the Scandinavian Union in the Hotel Continental. Among those present may be mentioned Prince OSCAR of Sweden, the President of the Fete Committee, Herr JENSEN, Fru KRISTINA NILSON-ROUZEAUD the Danish minister, the Swedish embassy, members of the Russian embassy, a large number of Scandinavian artists, many of the principal representatives of the French and foreign press, and lastly, what ought perhaps to have been mentioned first, a flower-garden of ladies, of which every dweller in the north might feel proud.--Monday the 5th. Meeting of the Institute in its well-known hall, with speeches of welcome. Hence we were conducted to a grand festive reception, arranged beforehand to the minutest details by the Municipal Council, in "la Salle des Etats," situated in that part of the Tuileries where the Geographical Congress was held in 1878. The hall and the ascent to it were richly ornamented with French tri-colours and Swedish flags, beautiful Gobelins, and living plants. A number of speeches were made, after which the President of the Municipal Council, on the part of the City of Paris, presented to me a large, artistically executed medal as a memorial of the voyage of the Vega[396]. In the evening a grand dinner was given by the Societe de Geographie, with several eloquent speeches for King Oscar (General Pittie), for President Grevy, for the prosperity of France (Prince Oscar), for the Vega expedition (M. Quatrefage), and so on.--Tuesday the 6th. Dinner given by the President of the Republic, M. Grevy, to Prince Oscar and the Vega men then in Paris.--Wednesday the 7th. Dinner given to a numerous and select company of French savants by the then President of the Geographical Society and of the Institute, M.A. Daubree.--Thursday the 8th. Dinner to a small circle at Victor Hugo's house, where the elderly poet and youthful-minded enthusiast in very warm, and I need not say eloquent, words congratulated me on the accomplishment of my task. Reception there the same evening.
Here ended our visit to the capital of France. Thoroughly exhausted, but bringing with us memories which shall never pass away, we travelled the following day to Vlissingen, whither the Vega had gone from Falmouth, under the command of Brusewitz. We had been compelled to decline warm and hearty invitations to Holland and Belgium from want of time and strength to take part in any more festivities. The anchor was weighed immediately after we came on board, and the course shaped for Copenhagen. At noon on the 15th we passed Helsingborg, which was richly ornamented with flags for the occasion. Already at Kullaberg we had been met by the steamer H.P. Prior, with Lund students on board, and eight other steamers with deputations of welcome and enthusiasts for the voyage of the Vega, from Copenhagen, Malmoe, Helsingborg, and Elsinore. The number of passengers was stated to be 1,500, including a number of ladies. Songs were sung, speeches made, fireworks let off, &c. At night we lay at anchor in the outer road of Copenhagen, so that it was not until the following forenoon that we steamed into the harbour, saluting the fort with nine shots of our little cannon, and saluted in turn by as many. While the Vega was sailing into the harbour, and after she had anchored, there came on board the Swedish Minister, Baron BECK-FRIIS, the Swedish consul-general EVERLOeF, the representatives of the University, of the merchants, and of the Geographical Society under the presidency of the former President of the Council, Count HOLSTEIN-HOLSTEINBORG, to bring us a welcome from the corporations they represented, and accompany us to the Toldbod, where we were received by the President-in-chief, the Presidents of the Communal Authority, and the Bourse, and the Swedish Unions of Copenhagen. We then drove through the festively ornamented city, saluted by resounding hurrahs, from a countless throng of human beings, to the Hotel d'Angleterre, where apartments had been prepared for us. On the 17th a fete was given by the Geographical Society in the Casino Hall, which was attended by the King, the Crown Prince, and Prince John of Gluecksborg, and nearly all the distinguished men of Copenhagen in the fields of science, business, and politics. The speech of the fete was delivered by Professor ERSLEV. Thereafter a gay and lively banquet was given, at which the Crown Prince of Denmark presided.
The 18th April. Grand entertainment given by the King.--The 19th April. Magnificent banquet given by the Society of Merchants to the members of the Vega expedition at the Bourse, the rooms being richly ornamented with flowers and flags, and with busts and paintings executed for the occasion by eminent artists. Councillor of state MELCHIOR presided, and amongst those present, were observed the Crown Prince, the ministers, the speakers and vice-speakers of the folke- and lands-ting, and a number of the principal scientific and military men and officials. Speeches were delivered by the Crown Prince, State-councillor TEITGEN, Manager of the Great Northern Telegraph Company, Admiral BILLE, Professor MADVIG, State-councillor Melchior, &c. At another place, an entertainment was given at the same time to the crew. In the evening, fete of the Students' Union, the Swedish National Union, and the Norwegian Union.
I was obliged to decline an invitation to Lund, because his Majesty, King Oscar, had expressed the wish that we should first set foot on Swedish ground at the Palace of Stockholm.
It was settled that our entry into Stockholm should take place in the evening of the 24th April, but we started from Copenhagen as early as the night before the 20th in order to be sure that we would not, in consequence of head winds or other unforeseen hindrances, arrive too late for the festivities in the capital of Sweden. In consequence of this precaution we arrived at the archipelago of Stockholm as early as the 23rd, so that we were compelled during the night between the 23rd and 24th to lie still at Dalaroe. Here we were met by Commander LAGERCRANTZ, who by the King's orders brought our families on the steamer Skoeldmoen to meet us.
On the 24th at 8 A.M. the Vega again weighed anchor in order to steam on slowly, past Vaxholm into Stockholm. We met innumerable flag-decked steamers by the way, fully laden with friends, known and unknown, who with shouts of rejoicing welcomed the Vega men home. The nearer we came to Stockholm, the greater became the number of steamers, that, arranged in a double line and headed by the Vega, slowly approached the harbour. Lanterns in variegated colours were lighted on the vessels, fireworks were let off, and the roar of cannon mingled with the loud hurrahs of thousands of spectators. After being greeted at Kastelholmen with one salute more the Vega anchored in the stream in Stockholm at 10 P.M.
The queen of the Maelar had clothed herself for the occasion in a festive dress of incomparable splendour. The city was illuminated, the buildings round the harbour being in the first rank. Specially had the King done everything to make the reception of the Vega expedition, which he had so warmly cherished from the first moment, as magnificent as possible. The whole of the Royal Palace was radiant with a sea of lights and flames, and was ornamented with symbols and ciphers in which the name of the youngest sailor on the Vega was not omitted.
An estrade had been erected from Logaorden to the landing-place. Here we were received by the town councillors, whose president, the Governor, welcomed us in a short speech, we were then conducted to the Palace, where, in the presence of her Majesty the Queen of Sweden, the members of the Royal House, the highest officials of the State and Court, &c., we were in the grandest manner welcomed in the name of the fatherland by the King of Sweden, who at the same time conferred upon us further marks of his favour and goodwill[397]. It was also at the Royal Palace that the series of festivities commenced with a grand gala dinner, on the 25th of April, at which the King in a few magnanimous words praised the exploit of the Vega. Then fete followed fete for several weeks.
On the 26th the Swedish Yacht Club gave an entertainment in the Grand Hotel under the presidency of Admiral Lagercrantz. Among those who were present may be mentioned his Majesty the King, the Crown Prince, Prince Oscar, Oscar Dickson, and Baron von Otter, Minister of Marine. On the evening of the same day there was a torchlight procession by pupils of the Technical High School. On the 27th there was a gala-play, to which all the Vega men were invited. On the 28th at a festive meeting of the Academy of the Sciences, a medal struck on account of the Vega expedition was distributed, the meeting being followed by a dinner given at the Hotel Phoenix by the Academy under the presidency of the Crown Prince. On the 30th April and 5th May banquets were given by the Publicist Club, and by the Idun Society, by the Naval Officers' Society to the officers of the Vega, and by the Stockholm Workman's Union to the crew. On the 7th and 8th May there were festivities at Upsala, the principal attraction of which consisted of gay, lively, and ingenious carnival representations, in which we received jocular addresses and homage from fantastically dressed representatives of the peoples of different countries and periods.
During this time there were daily received deputations addresses, and telegrams of welcome, among others from the riksdag of Sweden, the storting of Norway, and the principal towns of Norway and Finland, from the student corps at Upsala and Helsingborg, from the St. Petersburg Geographical Society, from women in Northern Russia (the address accompanied by a laurel wreath in silver), &c. In a word, the Stockholm fetes formed the climax of the remarkable triumphal procession from Japan to Stockholm, which stands unique in the history of festivities. Even after the Expedition was broken up in Stockholm, and the Vega had sailed on the 9th May for Karlskrona and Gothenburg, where she was again taken over by the whaling company that previously owned her, the fetes were repeated at these towns. They commenced anew when the Vega exhibition was opened with appropriate solemnities by His Majesty the King in one of the wings of the Royal Palace, and when some months after I visited Berlin, St. Petersburg, and my old dear fatherland, Finland.
But I may not weary my reader with more notes of festivities. It is my wish yet once again to offer my comrades' and my own thanks for all the honours conferred upon us both in foreign lands and in the Scandinavian North. And in conclusion I wish to express the hope that the way in which the accounts of the successful voyage of the Vega have been received in all countries will give encouragement to new campaigns in the service of research, until the natural history of the Siberian Polar Sea be completely investigated and till the veil that still conceals the enormous areas of land and sea at the north and south poles be completely removed, until man at last knows at least the main features of the whole of the planet which has been assigned him as a dwelling-place in the depths of the universe.
Hearty thanks last of all to my companions during the voyage of the Vega; to her distinguished commander Louis Palander, her scientific men and officers, her petty officers and crew. Without their courage and the devotion they showed to the task that lay before us, the problem of the North-East Passage would perhaps still be waiting for its solution.
ABSTRACT OF THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA
Distance traversed English 1878 geographical miles Karlskrona--Copenhagen June 22--24 144 Copenhagen--Gothenburg ,, 26, 27 134 Gothenburg--Tromsoe July 4--17 1,040 Tromsoe--Chabarova ,, 21--30 930 Chabarova--Port Dickson Aug 1--6 580 Port Dickson--Cape Chelyuskin ,, 10--19 510 Cape Chelyuskin--Preobraschenie Island ,, 20--24 385 Preobraschenie Island--the Mouth of the Lena ,, 24--27 380 The Mouth of the Lena--Irkaipij Aug 27--Sept 12 1,260 Irkaipij--Pitlekaj Sept 18--28 235 The Wintering Sept 28, 1878-- July 18, 1879
1879 Pitlekaj--St. Lawrence Bay July 18--20 190 St. Lawrence Bay--Port Clarence ,, 21, 22 120 Port Clarence--Konyam Bay ,, 26--28 160 Konyam Bay--St. Lawrence Island ,, 30, 31 90 St. Lawrence Island--Behring Island Aug 2--14 900 Behring Island--Yokohama Aug. 19--Sept 2 1,715 Yokohama--Kobe Oct. 11--13 360 Kobe--Nagasaki ,, 18--21 410 Nagasaki--Hong Kong Oct. 27--Nov 2 1,080 Hong Kong--Labuan Nov. 9--17 1,040 Labuan--Singapore ,, 21--28 750 Singapore--Point de Galle Dec. 4--15 1,510 Point de Galle--Aden Dec. 22--Jan. 7, 1880 2,200
1880 Aden--Suez Jan. 9--27 1,320 Suez--Naples Feb. 3--14 1,200 Naples--Lisbon Feb. 29--March 11 1,420 Lisbon--Falmouth March 16--25 745 Falmouth--Vlissingen April 5--8 345 Vlissingen--Copenhagen ,, 10--16 632 Copenhagen--Stockholm ,, 20--24 404 --------- Total 22,189
[Footnote 392: An accident also happened during the first half of the expedition, the steersman, in backing among drift-ice, having been thrown over the wheel and hurt very seriously. ]
[Footnote 393: Further particulars on this point are given in the Annual Address on the Progress of Geography by the Right Hon. the Earl of Northbrook (Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 1880, p. 401). ]
[Footnote 394: During our visit to London we had no opportunity of taking part in any of the meetings of the Society, but some time after the Society gave Palander the Founders Gold Medal (I had in 1869 obtained the same distinction) and elected me an Honorary Corresponding Member. ]
[Footnote 395: These are enumerated in the Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie, Mai, 1880, p. 463. In the same part (p. 450) there is also a report of the speeches made at the seance de reception. ]
[Footnote 396: The medal was accompanied by an "extrait du registre de proces-verbaux du conseil municipal de la ville de Paris," a caligraphic masterpiece illuminated in various colours and gold. The Conseil municipal also ordered a detailed description of the fete to be printed, with the title Relation officielle de le reception de M. le Professeur Nordenskioeld par le conseil municipal de Paris le lundi 5 Avril 1880. ]
[Footnote 397: Among others to all who took part in the Expedition a Vega medal, specially struck, to be worn on a blue-yellow riband on the breast. It may perhaps be of interest for numismatists to know that the medals distributed on account of the Vega expedition are to be found delineated in the eighth and ninth parts of the Swedish Family Journal for 1880. To those that are there delineated there have since been added a medal struck by the Finnish Society of Sciences, and the Anthropological-Geographical Society's medal. ]
INDEX.
INDEX.
(n after the number of a page signifies note)
A
Aagaard, Aage, i. 302_n_
Acanthostephia Malmgreni, ii. 49
Actinia Bay, i. 331
Acton, Admiral, ii. 446
Adam's mammoth find, i. 408
Adam's Peak, ii. 431
Adam's wood, ii. 209
Aden, ii. 437
Ahlquist, A.E., i. 103
Aino race, the, ii. 199
Aitanga, Chukch woman, ii. 57; portrait, ii. 8
Akja, Lapp sledge, i. 83
Alasej, the river, discovered, ii. 161; mammoth find at, i. 408 Alaska, ii. 196
Alaska Commercial Company, ii. 257
Alauda alpestris, i. 129_n_
Albertus Magnus, i. 159
Alecto, see Antedon
Aleutian Islands, the, i. 161_n_, ii. 274_n_, 275_n_; discovered, ii. 196
Alexejev, Feodot, ii. 162, 164, 167
Alfred the Great, i. 46, 47, 215
Algae, on the inland-ice of Greenland, i. 178; in the Kara Sea, i. 185; at Behring Island, ii. 292
Alibert's graphite quarry, ii. 235
Alkhornet, i. 112
Almquist, E., i. 4, 37, 38, 93, 187, 208, 319, 320, 340, 436, 444, 465, 478, 504, 505; ii. 32, 242, 414, 434; excursion to Beli Ostrov, i. 200; report on a dead man laid out on the tundra, ii. 89; on the colour-sense of the Chukches, ii. 135; excursion in Ceylon, ii. 427; portrait, ii. 435.
Alophus (beetle), ii. 55
Altaic races, i. 103
Amber in China, ii. 399
America, the north-west coast of, first visited by Europeans, ii. 210_n_; Russian voyages to, ii, 196.
American whaler, near the Vega's winter-quarters, i. 467; voyages in the Siberian Polar sea, i. 27; accounts of the state of the ice north of Behring's Straits, i. 459
Amezaga, Captain, ii. 439
Ammonites with gold lustre, i. 273
Amossov, Feodot, ii. 170, 171
Amoretti, Carlo, ii. 215
Amulets, Chukch, i. 503, ii. 126, 134; Eskimo, ii. 239
Anadyr, the river, i. 22; ii. 75, 76, 164, 165, 167, 195; is discovered, ii. 162
Anadyrsk, ii. 165, 172
Anauls, ii. 166
Andersen, the photographer, ii. 304
Andrejev Land, ii. 202
Andrejev, Sergeant, ii. 202, 203
Androphagi, i. 77_n_; ii. 157_n_
Angara river, the, i. 374
Anian Sound, the, ii. 215.
Anika, Russian peasant, ii. 158
Anjou, Peter Feodorovitsch, i. 23; journey, ii. 209; portrait, ii. 207
Anjui river, market at the, ii. 14, 118
Ankudinov, Gerasim, i. 22; ii. 163, 167_n_
Anser bernicla, i. 118, 119, 247_n_; seen during the expedition, i. 321, 334, 343
---- brachyrhynchus, i. 126
---- hyperboreus, ii. 42
---- leucopsis, i. 126
---- pictus, ii. 42
---- segetum, i. 126
Antedon Eschrichtii, i. 324, 325
Anziphorov, the Cossack, ii. 174
Arachnids on Novaya Zemlya, i. 148
Archangel, i 167
Arimaspi, Herodotus' statement regarding, i. 407; ii. 150
Arnell, Dr., i. 383
Arvicola obscurus, ii. 44
Arzina, the situation of, i. 66
Asamayama, ascent of, ii. 349; descent of, ii. 351
Asia, views regarding its geography in the beginning of the 18th century, ii. 177
Astronomical determinations of position, the first in Siberia, ii. 178_n_
Atlassov, Volodimir, ii. 72, 167, 172
Aurora, the, at the Vega's winter quarters, ii. 35
Austrian Arctic Expedition, i. 266, 300
Avatscha Bay, ii. 181, 196
Avril, Ph., i. 400
B
BACHOFF, Ivan, ii. 200
Baer, K.E. von, i. 158; ii. 183, 276; voyage to Novaya Zemlya, i. 282
Baikal Lake, i. 374
Balaena Mysticetus, i. 151, 169
Balaenoptera Sibbaldii, i. 170
Baratieri, Major, ii. 446
Barents, i. 101, 108_n_, 422, 423; voyages, i. 232; wintering, i. 249; death, i. 253; discovery of relics from his wintering, i. 300
Barjatinsky, Ivan Petrovitsch, ii. 169
Barnacle Goose, see Anser bernicla
Barrington, D., i. 265
Barrow, J., i. 230; ii. 215
Bartlett, W., i. 467
Bassendine, James, i. 229
Baths in Japan, ii. 345
Baumhauer, ii. 36
Bavier, Consul, ii. 312, 326, 327
Bay-ice, i. 424
Beaker sponges, i. 426, 427
Bear Island, i. 12, 108, 115, 152; discovery of, i. 247
Bear Islands, the, ii. 171_n_, 195, 201, 202; the Vega arrives at, i. 421; geological formation, i. 428
Bear, land, ii. 45; see Polar bear
Beccari, ii. 439
Beck Friis, Baron, ii. 455
Beechey, F.W., i. 28; ii. 228_n_
Behemoth, i. 400
Behring, Vitus, i. 25, 28; ii. 183_n_, 193, 265; first voyage, ii. 179; second voyage, ii. 196; stay on Behring Island, ii. 265; death, ii. 265
Behring the younger, Captain, ii. 211
Behring Island, ii. 257; discovered, ii. 197, 262
Behring's Straits, ii. 218; its hydrography, ii. 242; is discovered, ii. 180, 181
Beli, Ostrov, i. 187; excursion to, i. 200; description of, i. 201; former visit to, i. 205; mapping of, ii. 185
Bellot, J.R., ii. 57
Belmonte, Prince, ii. 444
Bell Sound, i. 112, 122, 125, 129, 137, 183
Beluga, see White whale
Beluga Bay, i. 361
Bennet, Stephen, i. 152, 158, 291
Bentinck, Swedish officer, ii. 76_n_
Beormas, i. 48, 51
Beresov, ii. 184
Berggren, Sven, i. 176
Beryl, ii. 422
Berzelius, ii. 325
Besimannaja Bay, i. 73, 112, 344
Busk, i. 373
Bille, Admiral, ii. 456
Billings, J., ii. 78, 203, 254_n_
Biwa Lake, ii. 370
Bjelkov, hunter, ii. 204, 206
Black-lead pencil first mentioned, ii. 235_n_
Blischni Island, see Ljachoff's Island
Bludnaya river, the, ii. 191
Boedtker, Consul-general, ii. 440
Bog iron ore formations in the Kara Sea, i. 185, 186
Bolschaja Reka, ii. 196, 199
Bolschoj, Kamen, i. 173
Bolvan worship, Samoyed, i. 79, 87, 95
Bona Confidentia (vessel), i. 59; its fate, i. 225
Bona Esperanza,(vessel), i. 59; its fate, i. 225
Books, purchase of Japanese, ii. 364
Boergen, Dr., i. 143
Borgmaestareport, i. 115
Borneo, ii. 407, 413; excursion to the interior of, ii. 409
Borrowdale, graphite deposit at, ii. 235
Bosman, Cornelis, i. 257
Boulogne-sur-mer, arrival at, ii. 451
Bove, G., i. 4, 39, 190, 318, 502; ii. 2, 47, 242, 409, 447; excursion to Najtskaj, ii. 20; to the interior of the Chukch Peninsula, ii. 28; portrait, ii. 449
Bragin, Dmitri, ii. 275
Brandt, J.F., ii. 275, 276
Brandt, W., i. 279
Brandy, i. 440; ii. 116, 118
Brandywine Bay, i. 108
Briochov Islands, i. 210, 359, 381
Brown, Richard, i. 229_n_
Bruin, Cornelis de, ii. 72
Brun, Captain, i. 360
Brunel, Oliver, i. 234
Bruzewitz, E., i. 4, 39, 339, 353; ii. 18, 44, 447, 455; his measurements of the thickness of the ice, i. 465; excursion to Najtskaj, ii. 7; portrait, ii. 449
Buache, ii. 171
Buckland, John, i. 225
Buckland, William, ii. 228_n_
Buddhism in Japan, ii. 378
Buldakov, Timofej, ii. 163
Bulun, i. 362, 368
Burgomaster, i. 114; met with during the voyage, i. 191, 352; ii. 42
Burney, James, ii. 178
Burrough, Stephen, i. 60, 100, 169; his voyage, i. 217
Busa, Elisej, ii. 160
Busch, Henry, ii. 175
Buys, N., ii. 243
Bychov mouth of the Lena, the, i. 367; ii. 194
C
CABOOK, ii. 420, 421
Cabot, Sebastian, i. 56, 58, 217; portrait, i. 59
Cadamosto, ii. 73_n_
Cairo, stay in, ii. 443
Cairoli, premier, ii. 445, 446
Cannibals in the North, i. 77_n_; ii. 157_n_ Canton, ii. 398
Cape Baranov, i. 25, 428; ii. 195, 206
Cape Borchaja, ii. 194
Cape Chelyuskin, i. 13, 19; arrival at, i. 336 reindeer there, i. 344, ii. 192_n_; flora, i. 340; is discovered, i. 17, 20; ii. 193
Cape Deschnev, ii. 68, 181
Cape Kammennoj, ii. 206
Cape Mattesol, ii. 186
Cape Medinski Savorot, ii. 223_n_
Cape Nassau, ii. 234
Cape North, i. 442; ii. 210
Cape Olenek, i. 363
Cape Onman, i. 456
Cape Prince of Wales, ii. 226
Cape Ruski Savorot, i. 223
Cape Schaitanskoj, i. 381
Cape Schelagskoj, i. 426, 447; ii. 201, 202
Cape St. John, i. 221, 222
Cape Thaddeus, i. 20; ii. 190
Cape Voronov, i. 219_n_
Cape Yakan, i. 27, 447
Capello, Brito, ii. 453
Carabus truncaticollis, ii. 55
Carlsen, Elling, ii. 294, 300
Carska Bay, i. 172
Carthaginians' traffic with African races, ii. 73
Caspian Sea, former views regarding, ii. 151
Castren's Island, i. 133
Ceylon, stay at, ii. 414; natives, ii. 424
Chabarova, i. 75; church of, i. 76
Chacke, Martin, ii. 214
Chamisso, A. von, ii. 235_n_
Chancelor, Richard, i. 13, 60; his voyage, i. 67; his death, i. 226_n_
Chatanga Bay, i. 20; ii. 189, 190
Chatanga river, the, i. 354; ii. 188, 192
Cheltinga, midshipman, ii. 198
Chenizyn, ii. 206, 209
China, stay in, ii. 396; communication with Europe, i. 373; its future, ii. 403
Chinese in Japan, ii. 363 at Hong Kong, their treatment, ii. 402; in Borneo, ii. 412
Chionoecetes opilio, ii. 63, 242
Cholodilov, ii. 270_n_
Chukches, the, compared with other Polar races, i. 92, 146; first meeting with, i. 430; at Cape Yakan, i. 433; barter with the, i. 439; at Irkaipij, i. 449; visit the Vega, i. 486, 513; at Cape Deschnev, ii. 220; at Konyam Bay, ii. 221, 245, 246; on the American side of Behring's Straits, ii. 81, 232; divided into reindeer and coast Chukches, ii. 81; number of, ii. 81; removals, ii. 93; carry on traffic between America and Siberia, ii. 14, 118; language, i. 489; ii. 82; diseases, ii. 87; position of the women, ii. 138; their history, physique, disposition, and manners, ii. 70
Chukotskojnos, i. 22; ii. 79, 164, 212
Chvoinoff, landmeasurer, i. 418; ii. 204
Chydenius, Carl, i. 142
Clarke, Charles, ii. 211
Clausen, Consul, ii. 443, 444, 446
Clothing, i. 37; of the Vega men, i. 476
Cloudberries, a powerful antiscorbutic, i. 42, 44
Cochrane, John Dundas, ii. 178
Coffee plantations, ii. 432
Coleoptera in Novaya Zemlya, i. 148; in North Siberia, i. 321; at Port Clarence, ii. 242
Collie, Dr., ii. 228_n_
Colmogro, i, 225; ii. 156
Colombo (Ceylon), ii. 427
Colour-blindness, ii. 135
Colours, Chukch, ii. 135
Commander's Islands, ii. 257
Cook, James, i. 13, 25, 28, 442, 445_n_; ii. 210
Cooke, Mr, ii. 408
Copenhagen, the Vega calls at, i. 4; reception at, ii. 455
Copper Island, ii. 257, 261, 270, 275
Corea, whales with European harpoons caught at, i. 264; Japanese campaign to, ii. 380
Coregonus caught by the Chukches, i. 494; ii. 18, 19
Corpse found in Chukch Land, i. 505; ii. 89
Corundum, ii. 400, 423
Cosmic dust, i. 329
Coughtrie, J.B., ii. 401
Coxe, J.H., ii. 211
Croyere, L'Isle de la, ii. 196, 198, 200
Crustacea, phosphorescent, ii. 55, 56
Cruys Eiland, i. 234
Crystals found on the ice, i. 327
Currents in the Siberian Polar Sea, i. 18
Cyqnus Bewickii, i. 127
Cystophora cristata, i. 165
D
Daat Island, i. 409
Dahl, Captain, i. 314
Daibutsu statues, ii. 379
Dale, Fr. de la, i. 237, 243
Dall, W.H. i. 459; ii. 213, 228_n_
Dallia delicatissima, ii. 59, 242
Dallmann, Captain, i. 313, 360, 459
Daubree, A., ii. 454
David, Russian ambassador, i. 54
Dawn (vessel), the, i. 317
Day-reckoning on board the Vega, i. 453_n_
Delisle, i. 171
De Long, Captain, i. 489
Dementiev, ii. 198
Deschnev Simeon, i. 20, 21, 25; ii. 181, 194; voyages of, ii. 164
Devil's Temple at Ratnapoora, ii. 427
Diamonds, ii. 416,422
Diastylis Rathkei, i. 198, 199
Diatoms, fresh-water, on sea ice, i. 189
Dickson Island, i. 191
Dietary of the expedition, i. 478
Diomede Island, ii. 218
Disco Island, i. 147_n_
Dittmar, C. von, ii. 79, 118
Dixon, Alexander C., ii. 414
Dog-fish, ii. 59
Dogs, Samoyed, i. 83; tow boats on the Yenisej, i. 385; Chukch, i. 501; ii. 94; sacrificed, ii. 255
Dolgans, i. 373
Dolgoi Island, i. 223, 236; ii. 184
Donis, Nic, i. 51; ii. 152
Doria, Marquis, ii. 439
Doerma, hunter, i. 300
Draba alpina, i. 340, 341; ii. 224
Dredgings, zoological, i. 174, 198, 324, 345, 350, 420, 426, 432, 451, 455; ii. 47, 68, 242, 362, 438
Driftwood, at Port Dickson, i. 198; at Beli Ostrov. i. 201
Drums, Shaman, ii. 24, 129
Dsungaria, i. 374
Dudino, i. 359; ii 192; thanksgiving service at, i. 369
Du Halde J.B., ii. 180_n_
Durfoorth, Cornelius, i. 60
Dutch, first voyage of the, i. 231; second voyage, i. 243; third voyage, i. 245
Dwina, the river, i. 54, 56, 67; ii. 157
Dyaks, ii. 323
Dybovski, Benedikt, ii. 294
E
Earth, changes of the surface of the, in the arctic regions, i. 438
East Cape, ii. 63,181
Edge, Thomas, i. 62_n_
Edward VI. of England, i. 58
_Edward Bonaventure(_vessel) i. 60, 66, 218; its fate i. 225_n_
Egypt, stay in, ii. 432
Ehlertz, Russian official, i. 360
Eider, i. 123, 191, 208; import of down, i. 125_n_
Eisen, G., i. 148
Elfving N.A., i. 460
Elliott, H.W., i. 162; ii. 258, 281_n_, 282
Elpidia glacialis, i. 184, 186
Emberiza lapponica, i. 129_n_; ii. 62
Emberiza nivalis, i. 129_n_, 191, 320, 334; ii. 41
Emeralds, ii. 422
England, stay in, ii. 448; development of its navigation, i. 58, north-east voyages from, i. 60, 215
Enhydris lutris, ii. 266, 271
Enontekis, the climate of, i. 45
Enoshima, excursion to, ii. 315
Ensamheten (island), i. 175, 335
Envall, A., i. 11
Erik the Red, ii. 146
Eschscholz Bay, ii. 212, 228
Eskimo in North America, i. 90, ii. 78_n_, 145
Eskimo at Port Clarence, banter with, ii. 228, 236; dress, ii. 232; implements ii. 229,233; boats, ii. 228; carvings, ii. 237, 240, 241; artistic skill, ii. 134; graves, ii. 239, 240; religion, ii. 239_n_
Eskimo in Asia, ii. 221
Eskimo on St. Lawrence Island, ii. 250
Eumetopias Stelleri, i. 446_n_; ii. 272, 274, 290
Europaeus, E.D., i. 203
Eurynorhynchus pygmaeus, ii. 43
Everloef, Consul-general, ii. 455
Evertebrates living by turns in fresh and salt water, i. 198
Exhibitions, Japanese, ii. 311, 390
Exiles, Siberian, i. 387
Express (ship), i. 9, 74, 174, 189, 200; voyage of, i. 357
F
Faddeyev Island, ii. 204, 206
Falcons on Yalmal i. 208
Falmouth, arrival at, ii. 448
Feodor, the Cossack, i. 195, 358
Ferry, Jules, i. 453
Figurin, the surgeon, ii. 209
Finmark, the settlement of, i. 51
Fins carry on navigation in the Murman Sea, i. 219, 239
Finsch, Richard, i. 76_n_, 172
Finsch, O., i. 205
Fire-drill, Chukch, ii. 121
Fixed dwellings, i. 193_n_
Flawes, Captain, i. 260
Fletcher, Giles, i. 101
Foehn wind, the, i. 276; ii. 35
Fomin, the Yakut, i. 17
Food-plants, Chukch, ii. 110
Ford, Charles, ii. 401
Foreland Sound, the, i. 137
Fossil plants at Mogi, ii. 392; at Labaan, ii. 407; in Egypt, ii. 440
Foal Bay, i. 106, 180
Fox, the Arctic (or mountain), i. 146; ii. 44, 269, 270; common ib.
Foeyn, Svend, i. 170
Fra Mauro's map, ii. 155
Franklin, Martin, ii. 443
Franz Josef Land, i. 182_n_, 266, 302, 422
Fraser (steamer), i. 9, 74, 174, 187, 189, 318; voyage, i. 357
Fretum Nassovicum (Yugor Schar), i. 14, 172, 242
Frost-bite, i. 474; ii. 87
Frost-formation, the Siberian, ii. 60
Frozen ground in Finland, ii. 60_n_
Fruholm, the climate of, i. 45_n_
Fuligula glacialis, i. 126, 208; found during the expedition, i. 334; ii. 46
---- Stelleri, ii. 46
Fusiyama, ii. 299, 370
Fusus deformis, ii. 243
G
Gadus navaga, i. 481
Gagarin, Prince, ii. 175
Gama, Vasco da, ii. 153
Gardiner, Charles, i. 301
Geertz, Dr., ii. 326, 364
Gefferson, William, i. 60
Gessner, Conrad, ii. 235_n_
Gillissy (Yenisej), i. 243, 244
Giusso, Count, ii. 443
Glacier-iceblocks in the Polar seas, ii. 422; burst asunder, i. 424
Glaciers, various kinds of, i. 181; formerly in North-Eastern Asia, ii. 227, 246
Gmelin, ii. 199
Gold lustre, stones with, on Novaya Zemlya, i. 273, 277
Gold diggings, Siberian, i. 393
Golovin, second mate, ii. 184
Golovin, Captain, ii. 329
Goltschicha, i. 193, 194, 313
Gooseland, i. 72, 126
Goreloj, Andrej, ii. 168
Gorm (larva of Oestrus tarandi), i. 137; ii. 129, 143
Gosho, palace in Kioto, ii. 374
Gothenburg, i. 34
Goulden, Captain, i. 264
Gourdon, William, i. 256
Graculus bicristatus, i. 453
Grandidier, ii. 452
Granite, weathered, ii. 419
Grant, U.S., General, ii. 333
Graphite, ii. 235
Graves, Siberian, i. 393; Chukch, i. 437; ii. 89, 225; Eskimo, ii. 238
Grebnitski, ii. 291_n_, 294
Greeks, geographical ideas of the, ii. 148
Green Harbour, i. 136
Greenland said to be continuous with Norway, i. 51; Inland-ice, i. 176
Greenland seal, i. 164, 165
Greenlander's dress, i. 41; compared with other Polar races, i. 90; ii. 144; are descended from Norse colonists, ii. 145
Grevy, President, ii. 452, 454
"Grip-claws" found in Siberia, ii. 408
Gubin, mate, i. 274
Gundersen, captain of the Express, i. 9
Gundersen, M., i. 301
Gusinnaya Semlya, see Gooseland
Gustaf Vasa's plan of a north-east passage, i. 57
Guturov, Peter, ii. 174
Gvosdarev, mate, i. 279
Gvosdev, Michael, ii. 74, 210_n_
Gyda Bay surveyed, ii. 186
Gygax, Dr, ii. 419
H
Haga dust, the, i. 330
Haimann, Guiseppe, ii. 440
Hakluyt, Richard, i. 60_n_
Hall, Captain, ii. 211
Halos, i. 246, 518
Hamy, Dr., ii. 452
Hardy, R. Spence, ii. 404
Hares, i. 507; ii. 44; snow-blind, i. 508.
Hartman, Hendrik, i. 243
Haven, P. von, ii. 186_n_
Health, state of, during the wintering, i. 478
Hecht, ii. 452
Hedenstroem, i. 23, 143, 408; travels, ii. 205; life, ii. 203_n_
Heemskerk, i. 254
Hellant, A., ii. 6_n_
Hennessy, Pope, ii. 401, 403
Hens, Jacob, ii. 74
Herald Island, ii. 212
Herbertsten, Sigismund von, i. 54; ii. 156
Herdebol, ore-tester, ii. 74
Herodotus on the geography of Asia, ii. 149, 154; on Androphagi, i. 77_n_; ii. 157_n_
Heuglin, Baron von, i. 302_n_
Hideyoshi, Taiko, ii. 380
Hinloopen Strait, i. 110, 112, 137
Hirosami, ii. 387
Histriophoca fasciata, ii. 219, 224, 254
Holland, development of its navigation, i. 231
Holmgren, A.E., i. 148
Holmgren, Fr., ii. 135
Holstein-Holsteinborg, Count, ii. 455
Homer, ii. 148
Hong Kong, ii. 398; rocks at, ii. 420
Hooper, ii. 79, 128, 220_n_, 222, 235_n_, 245, 249
Hoorn, Jan Cornelisz van, i. 257
Hope Island, i. 165
Horn Sound, i. 109, 110, 124, 137, 291
Hovgaard, A., i. 4, 39, 93, 187, 200, 202, 208, 457, 497; ii. 45, 112, 115, 327, 447; Excursion to Menka's home, i. 500; portrait, ii. 449
Hudson, Henry, i. 255
Hugo, Victor, ii. 454
Humbert, King, ii. 446
Hyacinth (precious stone), ii. 423
I
Ice, different kinds of, in the Polar Seas, i. 422; action on the sea-bottom, i. 188; thickness during the wintering, i. 465
Icebergs, i. 182; size of, i. 422
Ice Fjord, i. 112, 137, 344
Icing up, i. 451
Ides, Evert Yssbrants, i. 404
Idlidlja (island), ii. 27
Idothea entomon, i. 198, 415, 416, 420
---- Sabinei, i. 198, 415, 417
Ignatiev, ii. 163
Ikaho, ii. 334
Ilgin, mate, ii. 209
Illusions caused by mist, i. 347; ii. 32
Indians, driven, i. 52
Indigirka, ii. 195
Ingoen, i. 42
Inland-ice, i. 176, 182; ii. 246
Inland Sea, of Japan, ii. 384, 421
Inn, Japanese, ii. 313, 316
Insects, i. 147, 202, 343; ii. 54, 242; frozen stiff, i. 148; ii. 54; in a bird's nest, i. 118
Insula Tazata, ii. 155
Irbit, i. 179
Irgunnuk, i. 485; ii. 21
Irkaipij, i. 441; ii. 210
Irtisch, i. 373, 374; ii. 159
Islands in the Siberian Sea, accounts of, i. 22; ii. 169, 170, 171_n_ Isleif, i. 144
Istoma, Gregory, i. 54; ii. 157
Italy, ii. 442
Ito-Keske, ii. 324
Ivanov, mate, i. 279
Ivanov, Rodivan, i. 269
Ivens, ii. 448
Ivory coat of mail, ii. 104
J
Jackman's voyages, i. 227, 229_n_
Jakovlev, Peter, ii. 275
Jauszoon, Harman, i. 243
Japan, ii. 395
Japanese, ii. 173, 174, 181
Japanese voyage round the world, i. 161_n_
Jeanette, the expedition of the, i. 448
Jinrikisha, ii. 317
Johannes de Plano Carpini, i. 102_n_
Johannesen, Chr., i. 9, 300, 353, 358, 365, 366
Johannesen, Edward, i. 185, 295
Johannesen, Soeren, i. 300
Jovius, Paulus, i. 57_n_
Jugaria, i. 172
Juschkov, i. 273
K
Kalias river, the, ii. 409
Kamakura, ii. 315
Kamchatka discovered, ii. 172; subjugated, ii. 167; first voyage to, ii. 176; its extent towards the south in old maps, ii. 181
Kamchatka river, the, ii. 172
Kamenni Ostrova, i. 318
Kaempfer, E., ii. 325
Kanin-nos, i. 222
Karaginsk Island, ii. 256
Kara port, the, i. 14; Pet sails through it, i. 229
Kara river, wintering at the, ii. 184
Kara Sea, the, voyage across, i. 187; its name, i. 172; its boundaries, i. 175, depth, i. 15, 184, 187; temperature of the water, i. 185; salinity, i. 185, 189; fauna, i. 184; algae, 185; icebergs uncommon in, i. 182, "ice-house," i. 182; navigated for the first time by West-Europeans, i. 227; voyages to, i. 286
Kargauts, i. 448
Karlskrona, i. 34
Karmakul Bay, i. 125, 255
Kascholong, ii. 238_n_
Kawamura, Admiral, ii. 301, 309, 369; portrait of, ii. 302
Kay, E.C. Lister, i. 360
Kegor, i. 243
Kellett, i. 448; ii. 212
Kellett Land, ii. 212
Keswick, ii. 401
Keulen's Atlas, ii. 72
Kilduin, i. 237
Killingworth, George, i. 66
Kindaekov, ii. 195
King's Bay, i. 137
Kini Balu mountain, ii. 413
Kioto, ii. 366, 372,375
Kirilov, secretary, ii. 183
Kita-Shira-Kava, ii. 305, 308
Kittiwake, see Larus tridactylus
Kittlitz, ii. 245
Kjellman, F.R., i. 3, 33, 38, 185, 189, 196, 201_n_, 202_n_, 319, 320, 327, 333, 340, 354, 437, 451, 468, 504, 523; ii. 15, 225, 240, 245, 254, 291, 292, 414, 434, 447; sketch of a day during the wintering, i. 513; portrait, ii. 435
Klapmyts, i. 165
Klingstedt, i. 271, 272
Klokov, i. 279
Knoop, Baron, i. 360
Koba-Yoschi, ii. 370, 383
Kobe, stay at, ii. 364
Koch, i. 148
Kola, i. 218, 253, 254
Kolesoff, I.P., i. 362, 364
Kolgujev Island, i. 62_n_, 229
Kolmogor, i. 226; ii. 156
Kolmogorzov, i. 22
Kolyma river, the, i. 427; ii. 162, 165, 166, 195, 201; discovered, ii. 163
Kolyutschin Bay, ii. 227, 246; Vega comes to, i, 456; its extent, ii. 31, 32, 76
Kolyutschin Island, i. 456, 485
Kompakova river, the, ii. 176
Konungs skuggja on the walrus, i. 159
Konyam Bay, ii. 221, 227; Vega comes to, ii. 245
Kopai, a Schelag, ii. 171
Korepovskoj, i. 315, 358
Korovin, hunter, ii. 274, 276_n_
Koryaeks, ii. 82, 167, 172
Koscheleff, ii. 125_n_
Koschelev, ii. 186
Koschevin, ii. 205
Kosirevskoj, Ivan, ii. 174
Kosmin, mate, ii. 209
Kostin Schar, i. 236
Kotelnoj Island, i. 24; ii. 204, 206, 207
Kotsches, i. 22_n_; ii. 160_n_ Kotschuga, i. 374
Kotzebue, i. 28; ii. 212, 228_n_; stay at St. Lawrence Island, ii. 254
Krascheninnikov, ii. 80, 167_n_, 173_n_
Krassilinikoff, ii. 274
Krestovski Island, ii. 162
Krestovskoj, i. 193, 194
Krestovskoj arm, the, ii. 190
Kroma river, the, ii. 168
Krotov, Lieut., i. 279
Krusenstern, M. von, i. 161_n_; ii. 125_n_
Krusenstern, Paul von, the elder, i. 284
Krusenstern, Paul von, the younger, i. 287; his portrait, i. 285
Kueber, Dr., ii. 209
Kuehn, Franz, ii. 445
Kung Karl's Land, i. 137, 301_n_
Kurbski, S.T., ii. 157
Kuro-Sivo, ii. 295
Kusakov, ii. 170
Kusatsu, stay at, ii. 343; the healing power of the baths, ii. 345
Kutschum Khan, ii. 159
Kythay lacus, ii. 157
L
Labuan, ii. 405
Lagomys, ii. 222
Lagercrantz, ii. 456, 460
Lagoon formations, i. 433
Lagopus hyperboreus, i. 129, 191, 214, 334, 508
Lagopus subalpinus, ii. 46
La Madelene, ii. 216
La Martiniere, i. 257; his map, i. 259
Laminaria solidungula, i. 452
Lamps, Chukch, ii. 23
Landmarks, i. 228
Land worms, i. 148
Languet, Hubert, i. 57
Lapland, the Dutch navigation to, i. 227_n_
Lapps, the, dress, i. 40; spoken of by Othere, i. 48_n_, 51; compared with other Polar races, i. 90; skilful hunters, i. 224_n_
Lapp sparrow, see Emberiza lapponica
Laptev, Chariton, i. 20, 21, 367_n_; voyages, ii. 190
Laptev, Dimitri, i. 24; first voyage, ii. 193; second voyage, ii. 195
La Ronciere le Noury, ii. 452
Larus eburneus, i. 117, 118; ii. 137; met with during expedition, i. 343; ii. 42
---- glaucus, i. 114; met with during expedition, i. 191, 321, 352; ii. 47
---- Rossii, i. 119, 120; ii. 48
---- Sabinii, i. 119, 120, 508
---- tridactylus, i. 117; seen during expedition, i. 334, 352; ii. 42
Lasarev, i. 277
Lassinius, i. 24; ii. 187_n_; voyage, ii. 193
Laxman, ii. 329
Lectures during the wintering, ii. 7
Lemming, the, i. 146; met with during the expedition, i. 191, 343, 437; ii. 44
Lena (river), the, ascent of, i. 367; river area, i. 372_n_; navigable, i. 374; its natural beauty, ii. 188_n_; discovered, ii 160; Russian voyages from, ii. 187, 198
Lena (steamer), i. 7, 8, 9, 41, 75, 171, 187, 200; parting from Vega, i. 355; voyage up the river Lena, i. 367
Lena delta, the, i 367_n_
Leontiev, ii. 203
Leprosy in Japan ii. 345
Lesseps, ii. 441
Lestris Buffonii, i. 121, 334
---- parasitica, i. 121, 321, 334
---- pomarina, i. 121
Letters sent home, i. 496, 501; ii. 9
Lechtenberg, ii. 445
Lighthouse Island, i. 428
Lilljeborg, W, ii. 56
Limit of trees in the north of Europe and Asia, i. 42; at the Yenisej, i. 381, at the Lena, i. 43
Lindstrand, ii. 443
Linnaea borealis, ii. 240, 254
Linnaeus, ii. 43
Linschoten, i. 236, 237
Lisbon, stay in, ii. 447
L'Isle de la Croyere, ii. 196, 198, 200
Little Auk, see Mergulus alle
Ljachoff, i. 418, 419; ii. 204
Ljachoff's Island, ii. 162, 201, 204; Vega comes to, i. 415
Logan, J, i. 400
Lomme Bay, i. 112
London, stay at, ii. 451
Long, Captain, i. 26, ii. 212
Looms met with at Port Dickson, i. 191, 353
Loschkin, S., i. 273, 280
Loshak, i. 224
Lotterius, map by, ii. 77
Louise (steamer), i. 314, 360
Ludlow, miner, i. 217
Luiz, King of Portugal, ii. 448
Lundstroem, A.N., i. 3, 193, 205, 206
Lussov, ii. 203
Luetke, von, i. 14, 279; ii. 78, 212, 245; portrait, i. 278
M
MacClintock, i. 119
Machimura Masinovo, ii. 382
Mack, F.E., 298
Madvig, J.N., ii. 456
Maelson, F., i. 232
Magnetical observations during the wintering, i. 509
Magnus, Johannes, i. 51_n_
Magnus, Olaus, i. 145, 159; map of the North, i. 53, 56; views regarding the North-east Passage, i. 53_n_
Maeklin, F.W., i. 148
Malacca, Straits of, ii. 414
Malays on Labuan and Borneo, ii. 408, 412
Maldonado, L.F., i. 214
Malgin, N., ii. 169
Malm, A.W., i. 523
Malmgren, A.J., i. 119, 153
Maloj Island, ii. 204, 205
Malvano, Secretary of the Italian Cabinet, ii. 446
Malygin, i. 203, 272; ii. 184
Mammoth, i. 23, 30, 398, 445_n_; in Europe, i. 399; in Chukch Land, ii. 66; at Eschscholz Bay, i. 228_n_; old accounts of, i. 404; legends regarding its mode of life, i. 405
Maosoe, stay at, i. 41, 71; climate, i. 45
Maps of the North, i. 51
Marco Polo, see Polo
Markets in Siberia and Polar America, ii. 13, 118
Markham, Clements R., ii. 451
Markov, A., ii. 170
Marseilles, invitation to, ii. 447
Martino, Consul-general, ii 440
Massa, Isaak, ii. 249_n_; his map, i. 225_n_, 239_n_; ii. 158_n_
Massage in Japan, ii. 335
Matiuschin, midshipman, ii. 118_n_
Matotschkin Schar, i. 14, 70, 282; mountains in its neighbourhood, i. 173; stone ramparts on its shores, i. 188; surveyed, i. 282
Matveyev Island, i. 272
Maunoir, ii. 452
Maurice Island, i. 241
Maydell, G. von, i. 410; ii. 79
Medals in memory of the voyage of the Vega, ii. 306, 459_n_
Melchior, state councillor, ii. 456
Melguer, David, ii. 216
Melkaja Guba, i. 283
Menka, i. 495, 501; ii. 125; portrait, i. 495
Mergulus alle, i. 119
Mertens, ii. 245
Mesen, i. 51, 79; ii. 157
Mesenkin, i. 381; mammoth remains found at, i. 410
Messerschmidt, i. 405
Mestni Island, i. 174, 228, 241, 297
Meteorological observations, i. 481; ii. 33
Metridia armata, ii. 56
Metschigme Bay, ii. 29, 227
Meyenvaldt, mate, i. 213, 317
Mieralymma Dicksoni, i. 343
Middendorff, i. 17, 406_n_; ii. 246_n_
Migrating birds, ii. 41
Mikado, audience of, ii 305
Miller, i. 460
Mimisuka, the grave of the noses and ears, ii. 380
Minin, i. 16; ii. 186, 187
Minusinsk, i. 373
Mirabelli, A., ii. 444
Mogi, excursion to, ii. 390; fossil plants at, ii. 392
Mohn, i. 300
Moisture in the air, i. 484
Mokattam mountains, excursion to, ii. 440
Molin, A., ii. 175
Mollusca, land and fresh-water, at Port Clarence, ii. 242; at Konyam Bay, ii. 245; in Japan, ii. 362, 371; the northernmost, ii. 245
Mollusca, subfossil, in Siberia, i. 378
Moma, the river, ii. 168
Moore, Captain, ii. 79, 213, 245
Morgiovets, i. 223
Mormon Arcticus, i. 113
Morosko, L., ii. 172, 173
Maskwa (steamer), i. 360
Mosquitoes in the Polar regions, i. 147_n_
Motora, Simeon, ii. 165
Moxon, Joseph, i. 263
Mucheron, B., i. 232
Mueller, G.P., i. 16_n_, 21, 25; ii. 164_n_, 166, 167, 171, 172_n_, 183_n_, 199, 268_n_
Mueller, J.B., i. 405
Muenster, S., ii. 156_n_
Muravjev, Lieut., i. 272; ii. 183
Murman Sea, i. 14
Murray, Colin, ii. 415
Muscovy Company, i. 172, 217
Musk ox, discovery of the remains of, i. 411; ii. 228_n_; supposed occurrence of, on Wrangel Land, i. 449_n_
Mustela vulgaris, ii. 46
Mutnaja river, i. 268
Mutnoj Saliv, ii. 183
Myodes obensis, i. 146; ii. 44
Myodes torquatus, ii. 44
N
Nagasaki, arrival at, ii. 389
Nakasendo road, the, ii. 327, 352
Namollo, ii. 80, 221
Naples, stay at, ii. 443
Narainzay river, i. 225
Narborough, John, i. 260
Narwhal, i. 165, 418
Narontza river, i. 225_n_
Nathorst, A.G., ii. 332, 394, 408
Nay, C., i. 232
Nearchus, i. 169
Nedrevaag, A.O., i. 298
Negri, C., i. 34; ii. 443
Nephrite among the Eskimo, ii. 236; among the Chinese, ii. 236_n_, 399
Neremskoe, i. 172
Neumann, C. von, ii. 79, 118
New Siberian Islands, i. 23, 131_n_, 132, 413; ii. 171_n_; exploratory journeys to, i. 412; first visited by Europeans, ii. 204; journeys to, ii. 205
Nierop, i. 203
Nikul river, ii. 167
Nilson, K., ii. 453
Njaskaja, i. 370
Noah Elisej, ii. 50; portrait, ii. 51
Noah's Wood, i. 30, 207, 381; ii. 207_n_
Nobel, A., ii. 452
Nordenskioeld, K., i. 320; ii. 406_n_
Nordenskioeld (steamer), ii. 298, 301
Nordquist, O., i. 4, 37, 39, 187, 200, 202, 319, 321, 327, 444, 446_n_, 489; ii. 12, 44, 82, 115, 315, 362, 369, 371, 435, 447; excursion to Menka's home, i. 497; visit to Pidlin, i. 502; excursion to Nutschoitjin, ii. 18; on the animals wintering in Chukch Laud, ii. 44; portrait, ii. 435
Nordvik, ii. 190
Noril Mountains, i. 360
North-east Land, inland ice on, i. 176
North-east Passage, reasons of search for, i. 58, 231; prize for its discovery, i. 246
North Pole, said to have been reached, i. 263
Norways, the i. 109
Northbrook, Earl of, ii. 451
Notti, ii. 7, 19, 22, 129; portrait, ii. 8
Novara Elliya, ii. 432
Novaya Sibir, ii. 204, 205, 206
Novaya Zemlya, animal life there, i. 107; first known to West-Europeans, i. 215; its name, i. 216; Russian landmarks on, i. 228_n_; its northern extremity passed for the first time, i. 248; proposal to colonise it, i. 271_n_; supposed riches in metals, i. 277; Russian voyages to, i. 280; Norwegian voyages to, i. 293; curcumnavigation of, i. 297
Nummelin, G.A., i. 211, 314; portrait, i. 316
Nunamo, ii. 222
Nutschoitjin, excursion to, ii. 18
O
Ob, Gulf of, Owzyn's voyage on, ii. 185, 186; surveyed, ii. 186
Ob, river territory, i. 372_n_; navigable, i. 374; first mentioned, ii. 157; Russian navigation to in former times, i. 226, 244, 271; English vessel stranded at, i. 229_n_, 256; vessel stranded east of, i. 271; Russian expedition to, ii. 183; recent voyages to, i. 313
Obdorsk, i. 204, 290; ii. 185, 186
Observatory, magnetical, at Pitlekaj, i. 473, 509
Oiwaki, ii. 352
Okotsk, ii. 174
Okotsk, Sea of, bottom frozen, ii. 61_n_; navigation on, ii. 175, 176
Okuschi, ii. 364
Old Believers, Russian sect i. 179, 270_n_
Olenek river, i. 20, 26, ii. 160, 188, 190
Olutorsk river, ii. 165
Onkilon tribe, the ii. 80, 221; excavations on the sites of old dwellings i. 444, implements, i. 444; Wrangel's account of them, i. 446
Oom, L.G., i. 243
Oordt, Consul van, ii. 298
Ophiacantha bidentata, i. 345
Ophioglypha nodosa, ii. 49
Orange Island, i. 241
Orange Islands, i. 234, 248
Orca gladiator, i. 170
Orosius, Paulus, i. 47_n_
Osaka, ii. 364, 366
Oscar, Duke of Gotland, ii. 453, 454
Oscar, King, i. 2, 3; ii. 459, 460, 463
Osche, ii. 278
Oshima, ii. 297
Osmerus eperlanus, i. 494
Ostatiof, M., ii. 72
Ostyaks, i. 384
Otaria Stelleri, see Sea lion
Otaria ursina, see Sea-bear
Othere, i. 158; voyage, i. 47
Otter, F.W. von, i. 3; ii. 460
Owl, snowy, i. 131; observed during expedition, i. 343, 352
Owzyn, Lieut, i. 16; ii. 185, 186
P
Pachtussov, voyages of, i. 279; death of, i. 282
Paget, Sir A.B., ii. 446
Paj-Roj mountain, the, i. 74
Palander, L, i. 4, 9, 10_n_, 11, 36, 38, 137, 141, 172, 176, 190, 191, 319, 348, 429, 456, 474, 478, 509; ii. 67, 131, 226, 256, 298, 401, 410, 412, 443, 445, 447, 451_n_, 463; excursion to a reindeer-chukch camp, ii. 15; portrait, ii. 68
Pallas, ii. 211, 275
Pallavicini, Prince, ii. 445
Palliser, John, i. 286
Palmieri, Prof., ii. 445
Panelapoetski, i. 262
Pansch, Dr., i. 140_n_
Pappan Island, ii. 409
Paradeniya, botanic garden at, ii. 428
Parent, E., ii. 446
Paris, fetes at, ii. 453
Parositi, Asiatic tribe, i. 103_n_
Parry Island, i. 113, 133
Parry, Sir Edward, ii. 144, 210
Paulov, Lieut, i. 272; i. 183
Paulutski, D., ii. 75, 221
Payer, i., 266, 422
Pedrotalagalla, ii. 414, 432
Pekarski, ii. 275
Pelikan, Consul, ii. 298
Penschina Bay, ii. 75
Penschina River, ii. 166
Permakov, J., ii. 169
Perry, Commodore, ii. 297
Pet, A., i. 60, 172; his voyages, i. 227
Petchora river, i. 55, 219, 224; ii. 157
Peter the Great, ii. 175, 179
Petermann, A., his belief that the Polar Sea is occasionally navigable, i. 265
Petersen, C., i. 143, 423
Petropaulovsk, ii. 196, 268, 294
Pet's Straits, i. 172
Phalarope, i 128, 191, 320; observed during the expedition, i. 415, 437; ii. 42
Philip and Mary (vessel), i. 226_n_
Phipps Island, i. 133
Phoca barbata, i. 159_n_, 162, 334
Phoca Groenlandica, i. 165; young of the, 164
Phoca hispida, i. 165, 343
Pidlin, i. 485; excursion to, i. 502
Pinto, Major, ii. 448
Piper, Count, ii. 451
Pitlekaj, i. 485; flora at, i. 468; appearance of, ii. 60
Pjaesina River, i. 193; ii. 187; is discovered, ii. 160
Plancius, Dutch geographer, i. 232
Pleuropogon Sabini, i. 332
Pliny the elder, ii. 153, 157_n_
Plover expedition, ii. 79, 245
Podurids, Novaya Zemlya, i. 148
Poetry, Japanese, ii. 382
Pogytscha, River, ii. 162
Point de Galle, arrival at, ii. 414; departure from, ii. 437
Polar bear seen during the expedition, i. 190, 339, 353; ii. 46; account of, i. 137
Polar Sea hunting, i. 291
Pole of cold, i. 474
Police in Japan, ii. 331
Polo, Marco, i. 58, 144; ii. 154, 157_n_; his life, ii. 153
Polynias, i. 466
Pompeii, excursion to, ii. 444
Pontchartrin, Count de, ii. 216
Poole, J., i. 291
Popov, ii. 78
Porcelain manufacture in Japan, ii. 381
Port Clarence, ii. 226
Port Dickson, i. 18; stay at, i. 189; its discovery, i. 311
Porthan, i. 47
Portugal, stay in, ii. 447
Pospjelov, i. 277
Postels, ii. 245
Postnik, ii. 161
Potatoes, antiscorbutic, i. 11
Preobraschenie Island, i. 353
Pribylov, ii. 212
Pribylov Islands, ii. 258
Priluschnoj, i. 195
Procellaria galcialis, i. 108
Promontorium Scythicum, ii. 153
Promontorium Tabin, ii. 153
Prontschischev, i. 19; ii. 188, 189
Protodiakonoff, Z., i. 418
Proeven (hunting sloop), i. 1, 292
Provision depot on land, i. 473
Ptolemy, ii. 152
Purchas, i. 62_n_
Puschkarev, ii. 203
Pustosersk, i. 75
Putrefaction slow in the Polar regions, i. 167
Pyramids, the, visit to, ii. 440
Q
Quaen Sea, i. 215
Quaens, skilful harpooners, i. 224
Quale, P, i. 298
Quatrefages, ii. 453
R
Rabaut, A., ii. 447
Railway, Siberian, i. 375
Rambodde, ii. 432
Ratnapoora, ii. 416
Recherche's wintering, ii. 36
Red ochre, ii. 235
Red Sea, ii. 439
Reindeer, tame, i. 78; wild, i. 132
Reindeer's skin used for clothing, i. 37
Reindeer's stomach, contents of, consumed by the Chukches, i. 435
Reitinacka, ii. 57, 58
Renoe, i. 43
Rhinoceros antiquitatis, i. 406
Rhinoceros Merckii, i. 411
Rhytina, ii. 272
Riccio, ii. 444
Richter, Consul-general, ii. 451
Rijp, i. 246
Riksdag, the, supports the expedition, i. 5
Rio-San, ii. 382
Rirajtinop, i. 485
Robeck, ii. 211
Rodgers, i. 26
Rokuriga-hara, ii. 348
Romanzov, ii. 204
Rondes (sable), i. 145
Rookery, ii. 282
Rossmuislov, i. 274
Rotgansen, i. 247
Rotschilten, ii. 16, 31
Roule, C., i. 216
Rubies, ii. 419
Ruggieri, Prof., ii. 444
Ruinlike rock formations, i. 428
Runeberg, R., i. 8
Ruspoli, Prince, ii. 445
Russians, at Chabarova, i. 79
S
Sabinea septemcarinata, ii. 48
Sachanich Bay, i. 236_n_
Sacrificial heights, i. 92
Saigo Kichinosuke ii. 303
Sajsan, Lake, i. 374
Salix artica, ii. 65
Samoyeds, i. 77; their idols, i. 85, 94; their dress, i. 89; Compared with other Polar races, i. 91; burying place, i. 97; their weapons, i. 99; old accounts of them, i. 100; their place in ethnography, i. 103
Samurai, ii. 376
Sandman, Captain, ii. 294
Sandpiper, see Phalarope
Sankin Grigorej, ii. 170
Sannikov, i. 24
Sanyo Sanitomi, ii. 303
Saostrovskoj, i. 311
Sapetto, Prof., ii. 439
Sapphires, ii. 419
Sarytschev, ii. 408
Satow, E M, ii. 321
Sauer, Martin, i. 418
Savavatari, ii. 337
Savina river, i. 280
Schalaurov, ii. 200
Schelags, ii. 170
Schelechov, G, ii. 270_n_
Scheltinga, ii. 198
Schestakov, A, ii. 74
Schigansk, i. 369
Schmidt, F, i. 409
Schmidt, H, i. 360
Schrenck, L von, i. 410
Schtinnikov, A, ii. 182
Schwanenberg, D, i. 9_n_, 314
Scoresby, i. 143_n_
Scurvy, i. 45; ii. 295
Sea-bear, the, ii. 272
Sea-cow, ii. 272
Sea-lion, i. 446; ii. 267
Sea-otter, ii. 271
Sea-spider, i. 349
Seals, i. 162
Sealskin used as clothing, i. 37
Searchthrift (vessel), i. 217
Seebohm, Mr., i. 315
Selenetz Islands, i. 228
Selenga, i. 374
Selennoe Lake, i. 269
Self-dead animals, i. 322
Selifontov, i. 204
Selivaninskoj, i. 387
Selivestrov, ii. 166_n_
Semenoffski Island, i. 414
Semipalitinsk, i. 373
Senjavin Sound, ii. 244
Senkiti-San, ii. 336
Serapoa Koska, i. 217
Serdze Kamen, i. 467
Seribrenikoff, S.J., i. 39
Seven Islands, i. 117
Severnoe Sianie, i. 211
Shamans, ii. 128
Shaman drums, ii. 24
Shimonoseki. ii. 387
Shintoism, ii. 378
Sibbern, ii. 453
Siberian Polar Sea, i. 14, 28
Siberian cattle plague, i. 78
Sibir, ii. 159
Sibiriakoff, A., i. 2, 3, 8, 24
Sibiriakoff Island, ii. 312
Sidoroff, M., i. 211
Sidoroff's graphite quarry, ii. 235
Siebold, P.H.F. von, ii. 326
Siebold, H. von, ii. 326
Sieversia glacialis, i. 197
Simonsen, i. 300
Simovies, i. 193
Simpson, John, ii. 118
Singapore, ii. 413
Singhalese, ii. 424
Sirovatskoj, ii. 204
Skoptzi in Siberia, i. 387
Skuratov, i. 204
Slaves among the Chukches, ii. 123
Sledges, i. 82, 83
Smitt, F.A., ii. 59
Snobberger, C.P., i. 259
Snow-blindness, i. 477; ii. 10
Snow-bunting, the, ii. 129
Snow-drifting, i. 483
Snow-shoes, ii. 102
Snow-spectacles, i. 477; ii. 10
Snow, the melting of the, ii. 34
Snups, M., ii. 157_n_
Sokolov, ii. 176
Solovets, ii. 157
Somateria molissima, i. 123
Somateria spectabilis, i. 123
Somateria V.-nigrum, ii. 42
Spangberg, Martin, ii. 179
Spinel, ii 423
Spirits, i. 440; ii. 13, 116, 118
Spitzbergen hunting, history of, i. 29
Spitzbergen, its discovery ascribed to Willoughby, i. 62_n_; discovered by Barents, i. 247; Russian voyages to, i. 291; Norwegian voyages to, i. 293
Spottiswoode, Mr., ii. 451
Springs, hot, ii. 343
St. James's Islands, i. 223
St. Laurens Bay, i. 236
St. Lawrence Bay, ii. 212, 218
St. Lawrence Island, i. 154; ii. 250
Stegocephalus Kessleri, ii. 48
Stellar, G.N., ii. 80, 187_n_, 200, 266; his death, ii. 268
Steppes, Siberian, i. 384
Sterna macroura, i. 123
Stockholm, arrival at, ii. 459
Stolbovoj Island, i. 414
Stone Pacha, ii. 440
Stone polishing works in Canton, ii. 399
Strabo, ii. 148, 151
Strahlenberg i. 405
Strix nyctea, i. 131
Stroganov, Russian commercial house, i. 235
Stuxberg, A., i. 3, 38, 151, 193, 194, 198, 311, 324, 438, 451; ii. 225, 291, 315, 434; portrait, ii. 435
Suez, arrival at, ii. 440
Suez Canal, the, ii. 441
Sujeff, student, i. 185_n_
Swan, Bewick's, i. 127
Swedish expedition of 1875, the, i. 12; visits Yalmal, i. 205; reaches the Yenisej, i. 311
Swedish prisoners of war in Siberia, ii. 175
Swell from falling pieces of ice dangerous to vessels, i. 183_n_
Sword-bearing in Japan, ii. 377
Sylvia Ewersmanni, ii. 43
Sylvius, AEneas, i. 52_n_
T
Tabin, Promontorium, i. 13, 241
Taffelbeiget, ii. 29
Tagil river, the, ii. 159
Taimur Island, i. 331
Taimur lake, ii. 192
Taimur Land, inhabited by Samoyeds, i. 244_n_ position of its east coast, i. 352; Minin's travels along the coast, ii. 187
Taimur river, the, i. 409
Takasaki, ii. 325
Takasima coal mine, ii. 394
Tamils, ii. 424
Tanning reindeer hides hides, ii. 122
Tas-ary, i. 362, 368
Tas river, the, ii. 156, 159_n_
Tatarinov, Feodor, ii. 203
Tatariov, Cossack, ii. 206
Tattooing, Chukch, i. 499; ii. 99; Eskimo, at Port Clarence, ii. 232; Eskimo, at St. Lawrence island ii. 251, 252
Tazata, Insula, ii. 155
Teano, Prince, ii. 445, 446
Temples in Japan, ii. 375, 377; on Ceylon, ii. 425
Tennent, E, ii. 415_n_, 419, 424_n_
Terfins, i. 48_n_
Tetgales, B.Y., i. 232
Thalassiophyllum Clathrus, ii. 293
Theel, Hj, i. 3, 311
Theatres in Japan, ii. 356
Thorne, Robert, i. 57_n_
Thunberg, C.P., ii. 43, 326_n_
Thwaites, Dr., ii. 428
Tietgen, state councillor, ii. 456
Tigil River, the, ii. 167_n_, 176
Tintinyaranga, i. 509
Tjapka, Chukch village, ii. 20
Tjumen, ii. 159, 268
Tobacco, its use among the Chukches, ii. 116; in Japan, ii. 321
Tobiesen, S.K., i. 108, 141, 144, 152, 300; his voyage to Spitzbergen, i. 302; wintering on Bear Island, i. 303; his death, i. 305; his portrait, i. 303
Tobol river, the, ii. 159
Tobolsk, i. 344; ii. 185, 186
Tokaido road, the, ii. 315
Tokio, visit to, ii. 304; the Shoguns' graves at, ii. 309
Topaz, ii. 400, 419
Toporkoff Island, ii. 291
Torosses, i. 425, 463; ii. 2
Toxar Island, i. 239
Treacher, Governor, ii. 408
Trees, distribution of, in Siberia, i. 383
Tringa maritima, i. 128
Trofimov's mammoth, i. 409
Tromsoe, Vega's stay at, i. 38; its climate, i. 45_n_
Tumat Island, i. 362
Tundra, appearance of the, i. 378
Tunguses, i. 384, 408; ii. 191
U
Umbellula in the Kara Sea, i. 184
Ural-Altaic race, i. 103
Uria Bruennichii, i. 110
---- grylle, i. 113
Urusov, Prince, ii. 445
Ustjansk, ii. 205, 206
Usui toge, ii. 352
V
Vardoe, i. 66, 68; climate of, i. 45
Varsina river, the, i. 66
Varthema, Luduvico de, ii. 438
Vasa Murrhina, ii. 236_n_
Vaygats Island, i. 77, 93; discovered, i. 215; visited by Pet, i. 228
Veer, Gerrit de, i. 101; his book, i. 245 Vega, the, purchased, i. 8; description of, i. 9; equipment of, i. 11; position when frozen in, i. 468; action of cold on, i. 466; prepared for wintering, i. 469; repaired, ii. 396; sold, ii. 463
Vessels, Norse, i. 50; Russian, on the Polar sea, i. 219
Vlamingh, i. 258
Volcanic dust in Scandinavia, i. 330
Volcanoes, ii. 249
Vulpes lagopus, see Fox, Arctic
---- vulgaris, see Fox, common
W
Waern, C.F., i. 5
Waldburg-Zeil, Count, i. 205
Walden Island, i. 112
Walrus, i. 152
Walton, Lieut., ii. 198
Wax tree, the Japanese, ii. 389
Waxel, Lieut, ii. 197
Weasel, ii. 46
Werchojansk, i. 411
Werkon, the river, ii. 202
Weyprecht, i. 266
Whales, on the coast of Norway, i. 49; scarce at Novaya Zemlya, i, 168; fear of, in ancient times, i. 169; with European harpoons, found in the Pacific, i. 264
Whale bones on Spitzbergen, i. 168; sub-fossil at Pitlekaj, i. 520; used is building materials, ii. 223; at St. Lawrence Island, ii. 253
Whale-fishing, described by Albertus Magnus, i. 159_n_; at Spitzbergen, i. 168
Whale mummy at Pitlekaj, i. 523
White-fronted goose, i. 124
White Island, see Beli Ostrov
White Sea, the, i. 215
White whale, the, i. 79, 167
Widmark, H.A., ii. 35
Wiemut, Julian, ii. 294
Wiggins, J., i. 311, 312; portrait, i. 313
Wilkoffski, ii. 238
Willoughby, Sir Hugh, i. 13, 58; portrait, i. 59
Willoughby's, Land, i. 62
Wilui river, the, i. 406
Wood, Captain, i. 260
Wosnessenski, conservator, ii. 276
Wrangel, Ferdinand von, i. 23, 265, 446, journeys, ii. 209; portrait, ii. 208
Wrangel Land, i. 23, 26, 448; ii. 171_n_, 202, 209; landing on, i. 448
Wrestlers, Japanese, ii. 339
Wulfstan's travels, i. 50
Y
Yakovieva, i. 316
Yakuts, i. 384; ii. 161
Yakutsk, i. 19, 22, 26, 370, 371; ii. 187, 190, 193
Yalmal, exclusion to, i. 201; visited in 1875, i. 205; population i. 204; origin of the name, i. 203; old accounts of, i. 204; surveyed, ii. 185
Yana River, the, i. 418_n_
Yanimoto, ii. 366
Yefremov Kamen, i. 376
Yekargauls, i. 498
Yelmert, i. 203
Yelmert Land, i. 203
Yenisej, the, voyages of the Fraser and the Empress, up, i. 357; ascent of, in 1875, i. 387; river territory, i. 372; navigable, i. 373; its banks, i. 377; vegetation on, i. 381; steamers on, i. 394; discovered, ii. 160; Russian navigation on, in former times, i. 243; Russian sea, expeditions to, ii. 185; Minin's voyages on, ii. 186; later voyages to, i. 311
Yenisej, mouth of the, map of, i. 192; formerly inhabited, i. 193; winter at, i. 209
Yettugin, ii. 29, 67, 125
Yii gate, the, ii. 399
Yinretlen, i. 485
Ymer (steamer), i. 1, 9_n_, 312, 358
Yokohama, ii. 296; arrival at, ii. 295; departure from, ii. 364
Yokosuka, ii. 396
Yoldia Artica, i. 199
Young, Sir Allen, ii. 451
Yugor Schar, i. 14; expedition passes, i. 171; rules for sailing through, i. 172; harbours in, i. 174; origin of the name, i. 172; Pet did not sail through, i. 228; map of, i. 242
Yukagires, ii. 75
Yukagir dwellings, remains of, on the New Siberian Islands, ii. 209
Z
Zaritza (steamer), i. 360
Zeno, i. 53
Ziegler's map of the north, i. 53
Zivolka, A.K., i. 282; portrait, i. 284
Zircon, ii. 423
THE END
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START OF TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:
First a list of typographical errors, which have been corrected in the etext. Followed by alternative spellings of words noticed, the majority of which occur bewteen the index and the text, these have been left unchanged. There are also two short ERRATA for Volume I and Volume II in the printed edition.
Vol I page x "Cape Schelagskog" changed to "Cape Schelagskoj" [ to match 4 other instances in text ]
Vol I page xiii "Sieveria" changed to "Sieweria" [ as in the title "Neu-entdecktes Sieweria, worinnen die Zobeln gefangen werden" confirmed on Internet, and one other instance in the text ]
Vol I page xxv "Ida Fallander" changed to "Ida Falander" [ to match 5 other instances in text ]
Vol I page xxvi "Yenissej" changed to "Yenisej" [ to match many instances in text ]
Vol I page 22 "Staduschin" changed to "Staduschin" [ to match 11 other instances in the text ]
Vol I page 43 "Middendorf" changed to "Middendorff" [ to match 19 other instances in text ]
Vol I page 51 "Ptolemoei Cosmographia" changed to "Ptolemaei Cosmographia" [ confirmed on internet as the correct spelling, also correct in one other instance in the text ]
Vol I page 73 "Besimmanaja Bay" changed to "Besimannaja Bay" [ to match 5 other instances in text ]
Vol I page 219 "Cape Woronov" changed to "Cape Voronov" [ to match entry in index and confirmed on Internet ]
Vol I page 310 "Novya Zemlaya" changed to "Novaya Zemlya" [ over 200+ instances of "Novaya Zemlya" ]
Vol I page 315 "Sewernoe Sianie" changed to "Severnoe Sianie" [ to match 2 other instances in text ]
Vol I page 317 "Meywaldt" changed to "Meyenwaldt" [ to match 2 other instances in text, note also spelt as "Meyenvaldt" in the index ]
Vol I page 377 "YEKISEJ" changed to "YENISEJ" [ to match many instances in text ]
Vol I page 397 "MIDDENDORF" changed to "MIDDENDORFF" [ to match 19 other instances in text ]
Vol I page 451 "Redogoerese" changed to "Redogoerelse" [ to match 4 other instances in the text ]
Vol II page xvi "Pribyloo" changed to "Pribylov" [ to match 4 other instances in the text ]
Vol II page 140 "ocasionally" changed to "occasionally"
Vol II page 183 "Dolgoj Island" changed to "Dolgoi Island" [ to match index and 2 other instances in text ]
Vol II page 249 "Hessal Gerritz" changed to "Hessel Gerritz" [Internet book text search gives both variations of surname see under differences of spelling below, but always "Hessel" as the first name of the author ]
Vol II page 432 "Pedrotalegalla" changed to "Pedrotalagalla" [ to match 2 other instances in text, also confirmed on Internet as correct spelling for this mountain ]
Vol II page 447 "Nutschoitzin" changed "Nutschoitjin" [ to match other index entry and 6 instances in the text ]
Vol II page 481 "Vlaming" changed to "Vlamingh" [ to match 8 other instances in text ]
Differences noticed in spelling, these remain unchanged as it is not obvious which is correct.
"Bruzewitz" In index and Illustration, but "Brusewitz" in text
"Engehardt's" or "Engelhardt's"
"Hessel Gerritsz" or "Hessel Gerritz"
"Gusinnaja Semlja" or "Gusinnyja Semlja"
"Gwosdarev" in text, but "Gvosdarev" in index
"Cape Kamennoj" in text, but "Cape Kammennoj" in index
"Kolmogorsov" in text, but "Kolmogorzov" in index
"Krassilnikoff's" in text, but "Krassilinikoff" in index
"Labuan" in text, but "Labaan" in index
"Matvejev" in text, but "Matveyev" in index
"Meyenwaldt" in text, but "Meyenvaldt" in index
"Morgiouets" in text, but "Morgiovets" in index
"Mutnoi" in text, but "Mutnoj" in index
"Oiwake" in text, but "Oiwaki" in index
"Rotschitlen" in text, but "Rotschilten" in index
"Sarytchev" or "Sarytschev"
"Semenoffskoj" in text, but "Semenoffski" in index
"Gusinnaja Semlja" in text, but "Gusinnaya Semlya" in index
"Serebrenikoff" in text, but "Seribrenikoff" in index
"skuggsja" in text, but "skuggja" in index
"Sumiyashi" In list of illustrations, but "SUMIYOSHI" Caption on illustration
"Tajmur river" or "Taimur river"
"Volodomir" in text, but "Volodimir" in index
"Yekargaules" in text, but "Yekargauls" in index
END OF TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES