progress was made, and on the
12th Costien's Island was reached.

Early on the 16th, Parry Island was gained, and a small depot was made
there. Some of the men then were sent back. The leaders of the party
here made a survey from an elevated standpoint, and this view showed
them that there was no possibility of going north of the Seven Islands,
as the ice was in such an uneven condition. The journey in the
anticipated direction was therefore abandoned as hopeless.

But Nordenskiold would not return by the same way he had come. He
determined to go back by way of North-East Land, a course which occupied
the party forty days, but they gained considerable information, and the
scientific results, as well as the difficulties, were greater than had
been expected. The expedition returned safely to Mussel Bay on the 29th
of June. The members who had been left behind had passed a most
uncomfortable time. The cold was great, provisions scarce. Scurvy set
in, which, added to home-sickness and anxiety on account of the absent
ones, made matters worse. Food became scarcer, but providentially Mr
Leigh Smith, in the _Diana_, arrived, and he satisfied the immediate
requirements of the unfortunate Swedes. The historian of the expedition
warmly acknowledges the assistance so opportunely rendered.

Spring was at hand. Palander came in, and then Nordenskiold. All
anxiety was then over. The same day, the 29th of June, the vessels
passed through the channel which had been cut in the ice, and then they
anchored in open water. No time was lost. The _Onkel Adam_ sailed
homeward almost immediately: the _Gladen_ followed. The _Polhern_,
however, remained in the icy latitudes for some time longer dredging.
On the 6th of August, after with difficulty escaping the ice,
Nordenskiold arrived at Tromsoe, and on the 29th at Gothenberg, where
the expedition dispersed.

In 1875 and 1876 the professor made two voyages to the Yenissei River
and up it. By this course he opened up Siberia to trade, and received
the thanks of the Russian Government for inaugurating a sea route to
Siberia. But these voyages, in a sense tentative, were completely
eclipsed by the expedition undertaken in the _Vega_, in which
Nordenskiold accomplished the long-desired North-East Passage from the
North Atlantic to the North Pacific Ocean eastwards. The ease with
which he had accomplished the two voyages already mentioned (to the
Yenissei River) urged him to pr