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FRANZ JOSEF LAND

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 38 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FRANZ JOSEF See also:LAND , an See also:arctic See also:archipelago lying E. of See also:Spitsbergen and N. of Novaya Zemlya, extending northward from about 8o° to 82° N., and between 42° and 64° E. It is described as a lofty See also:glacier-covered land, reaching an extreme See also:elevation of about 2400 ft. The glaciers front, with a perpendicular See also:ice-See also:wall, a See also:shore of debris on which a few See also:low See also:plants are found to grow—poppies, mosses and the like. The islands are volcanic, the See also:main See also:geological formation being See also:Tertiary or See also:Jurassic See also:basalt, which occasionally protrudes through the ice-cap in high isolated blocks near the shore. A connecting See also:island-See also:chain between Franz Josef Land and Spitzbergen is probable. The See also:bear and See also:fox are the only land mammals; See also:insects are rare; but the avifauna is of See also:interest, and the See also:Jackson expedition distinguished several new See also:species. See also:August See also:Petermann expressed the See also:opinion that See also:Baffin may have sighted the See also:west of Franz Josef Land in 1614, but the first actual See also:discovery is due to See also:Julius Payer, a See also:lieutenant in the See also:Austrian See also:army, who was associated with Weyprecht in the second polar expedition fitted out by See also:Count Wilczek on the See also:ship "Tegetthof " in 1872. On the 13th of August 1873, the " Tegetthof " being then beset, high land was seen to the See also:north-west. Later in the See also:season Payer led expeditions to See also:Hochstetter and Wilczek islands, and after a second See also:winter in the ice-See also:bound ship, a difficult See also:journey was made northward through See also:Austria See also:Sound, which was reported to See also:separate two large masses of land, Wilczek Land on the See also:east from Zichy Land on the west, to Cape Fligely, in 82° 5' N., where See also:Rawlinson Sound branched away to the north-east. Cape Fligely was the highest See also:latitude attained by Payer, and remained the highest attained in the Old See also:World till 1895. Payer reported that from Cape Fligely land (See also:Rudolf Land) stretched north-east to a cape (Cape Sherard See also:Osborn), and See also:mountain ranges were visible to the north, indicating lands beyond the 83rd parallel, to which the names See also:King Oscar Land and Petermann Land were given. In 1879 De Bruyne sighted high land in the Franz Josef Land region, but otherwise it remained untouched until See also:Leigh See also:Smith, in the yacht " Eira," explored the whole See also:southern See also:coast from 42° to 54° E. in 1881 and 1882, discovering many islands and sounds, and ascertaining that the coast of Alexandra Land, in the extreme west, trended to north-west and north.

After Leigh Smith came another pause, and no further mention is made of Franz Josef Land till 1894. In that See also:

year Mr See also:Alfred Harmsworth (afterwards See also:Lord Northcliffe) fitted out an expedition in the ship " Windward " under the leadership of Mr F. G. Jackson, with the See also:object of establishing a permanent See also:base from which systematic exploration should be carried on for successive years and, if practicable, a journey should be made to the See also:Pole. Mr Jackson and his party landed at " Elmwood " (which was named from Lord Northcliffe's seat in the Isle of See also:Thanet), near Cape See also:Flora, at the western extremity of See also:Northbrook Island, on the 7th of See also:September. After a preliminary See also:reconnaissance to the north, which afterwards turned out to be vitally important, the summer of 1895 was spent in exploring the coast to the north-west by a boating expedition. This expedition visited many of the points seen by Leigh Smith, and discovered land, which it has been suggested may be the See also:Gillies Land reported by the Dutch See also:captain Gillies in 1707. In 1896 the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition worked northwards through an archipelago for about 7o m. and reached Cape See also:Richthofen, a promontory 700 ft. high, whence an expanse of open See also:water was seen to the northward, which received the name of See also:Queen See also:Victoria See also:Sea. To the west, on the opposite See also:side of a wide opening which was called the See also:British Channel, appeared glacier-covered land, and an island See also:lay to the northward. The island was probably the King Oscar Land of Payer. To north and north-east was the land which had been visited in the reconnaissance of the previous year, but beyond it a water-See also:sky appeared in the supposed position of Petermann Land. Thus Zichy Land itself was resolved into a See also:group of islands, and the outlying land sighted by Payer was found to be islands also.

Meanwhile See also:

Nansen, on his southward journey, had approached Franz Josef Land from the north-east, finding only sea at the north end of Wilczek Land, and seeing nothing of Payer's Rawlinson Sound, or of the north end of Austria Sound. Nansen wintered near Cape See also:Norway, only a few See also:miles from the spot reached by Jackson in 1895. He had finally proved that a deep oceanic See also:basin lies to the north. On the 17th of See also:June 1896 the dramatic See also:meeting of Jackson and Nansen took See also:place, and in the same year the "Windward" revisited " Elmwood " and brought Nansen See also:home, the See also:work of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition being continued for another year. As the non-existence of land to the north had been proved, the See also:attempt to penetrate north-wards was abandoned, and the last season was devoted to a survey and scientific examination of the archipelago, especially to the west; this was carried out by Messrs Jackson, Armitage, R. Koettlitz, H. See also:Fisher and W. S. See also:Bruce. Further See also:light was thrown on the relations of Franz Josef Land and Spitsbergen during 1897 by the discoveries of Captain See also:Robertson of See also:Dundee, and Wyche's Land was circumnavigated by Mr See also:Arnold See also:Pike and See also:Sir See also:Savile Crossley. The latter voyage was repeated in the following year by a See also:German expedition under Dr Th. Lerner and Captain Riidiger.

In August 1898 an expedition under Mr See also:

Walter Wellman, an See also:American, landed at Cape Tegetthof. Beginning a northward journey with sledges at the end of the winter, Wellman met with an See also:accident which compelled him to return, but not before some exploration had been accomplished, and the eastern See also:extension of the archipelago fairly well defined. In June 1899 H.R.H. the See also:duke of Abruzzi started from See also:Christiania in his yacht, the " Stella Polare," to make the first attempt to force a ship into the newly discovered ocean north of Franz Josef Land. The " Stella Polare " succeeded in making her way through the British Channel to See also:Crown See also:Prince Rudolf Land, and wintered in See also:Teplitz See also:Bay, in 81° 33' N. See also:lat. The ship was nearly wrecked in the autumn, and the party had to spend most of the winter on shore, the duke of Abruzzi suffering severely from See also:frost-bite. In See also:March 19oo a sledge party of thirteen, under Captain Cagni, started northwards. They found no trace of Petermann Land, but with See also:great difficulty crossed the ice to 86° 33' N. lat., 20 M. beyond Nansen's farthest, and 240 M. from the Pole. The party, with the exception of three, returned to the ship after an See also:absence of 104 days, and the "Stella Polare" returned to See also:Tromso in September 1900. In 1901–1902 the See also:Baldwin-Ziegler expedition also attempted a northward journey from Franz Josef Land. See See also:Geographical See also:Journal, vol. xi., See also:February 1898; F. G. Jackson, A Thousand Days in the Arctic (1899).

End of Article: FRANZ JOSEF LAND

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