Abstract
THE real object of the expedition was not particularly that of reaching high latitudes, but rather the investigation of the large unknown sea north of Siberia; the explorers thought they might eventually reach Behring's Straits, without cherishing very sanguine hopes on this point. When during 1871 Lieut. Weyprecht made a preliminary expedition into those regions, he found the whole large sea between East Spitzbergen and Nowaja Semlja so completely unknown, that in spite of his stopping six weeks at Tromsö, and making inquiries of all Finnmark skippers and whalers, he could not learn anything definite as to the conditions of climate and ice in those parts; few vessels had succeeded in reaching the 76th degree of north latitude. Daring the two Austrian expeditions this unknown sea has been investigated from 40° to 70° East long. (from Greenwich), and beyond the 79th degree of latitude on the west side and the 80th on the east side; an extensive, hitherto unknown tract of land has been discovered, and Lieut. Julius Payer has made sledge journeys into this land, reaching very nearly 83° N. lat.
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Scientific Report of the Austro-Hungarian North Polar Expedition of 1872–74 * . Nature 11, 366–368 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/011366a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/011366a0