FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   690   691   692   693   694   695   696   697   698   699   700   701   702   703   704   705   706   707   708   709   710   711   712   713   714  
715   716   717   718   719   720   721   722   >>  
resses, 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. [Illustration] [Illustration: Map of the North Coast of the Old World from Norway to Behring's Straits, with the track of the _Vega_, constructed from old and recent sources, and from observations made during the Voyage of the _Vega_, by N. Selander, Captain in the General Staff. ]
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   690   691   692   693   694   695   696   697   698   699   700   701   702   703   704   705   706   707   708   709   710   711   712   713   714  
715   716   717   718   719   720   721   722   >>  



Top keywords:
Stockholm
 

Norway

 

officers

 

completely

 
voyage
 

festivities

 
history
 

Petersburg

 
Illustration
 
Finland

planet

 

features

 

accounts

 

successful

 

removed

 
received
 
research
 

countries

 

natural

 
Siberian

service

 

campaigns

 

encouragement

 

conceals

 

enormous

 

investigated

 

Behring

 

solution

 
Passage
 
waiting

Straits

 
Selander
 

Captain

 

General

 

Voyage

 

constructed

 

recent

 
sources
 

observations

 
problem

distinguished

 

companions

 

commander

 
Palander
 
Hearty
 

universe

 

dwelling

 

depths

 

scientific

 

showed