240 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MONTHLY MARCH, 1920 KINiGS �AY FROM CO'AL HARBOR, THE MINING SETTLE'ME NT' OF THE NORWEGIAN KINGS BAY COAL COMPANY ON ITS SOUTHEIRN SIHORE On the right is ShO"l'lIl the terminus of the most northerly railroad in the world, (78" 56' N.) The line, lYz miles long anJ of 36-inch gage, carries the coal flrom the mine to the harbor. The Norwegians In Spitsbergen* Their Rightful Claims to Sovereignty of This Archipelago By Charles Rabot Societe de Geographie de Paris Special interest attachc8 to this article in view of the fact A great deal of this ice skirts South Cape and arr1ves on the that the Supreme Council of the Peace Conference at Paris western co'ast at the sO'uthern point of Prince Charles Fore­ on November 21 approved the text of an agreement granting "land. In 1915 ,so much eastern ice gathered on the western political suzerainty over the Spitsbergen archipelago to coast that Bell Sound and Ice Fiord were blocked and na vi­ Norway.-EDITOR. gation wlas very difficult until tlhe end of August. Probably EVERAL papers concerning Spitsbergen have recently not since the discovery of Spitsbergen, certainly not in the S been published, but they aTe incomplete and inaccurate, last fifty years, had the western co'ast been so obstructed by their authors being unaware of the great work done by ice. the Norwegians in this archipelago and of the recent h�storical It also happens, but very rarely, that owing peI1haps to the research work of the Dutch. It may therefore be useful to a ttempt to present a comprehensive account of geographical SPITSBERGEN progress in Spitsbergen and of the industrial development of this polar land as well as its political history. ICE CONDITIONS ON SPITSBERGEN COASTS. Owing to the climatic effects of a branch of the Gulf Stream, the western {Joast of Spitsbergen and the westernmost part of its northern coast are usually ice-free from July to Octo­ ber. SomeUmes the western roast is open until December. In 1892, on July 29, 30, and 31, between Jan Mayen and Ice Fiord, I did not see a single cake of ice. Thanks to these cir­ cumstances tourist-crowded liners in service before the war used to push up from the northwestern corner of Spitsbergen as far as the eightieth parallel to let their passengeI'S enjoy a view of the polar pack. In no otJher part of the world can one reach so high a latitude in open water. By contrast, a polar current fiowiJlg past eastern Spitsber­ gen, carrying a large amount of ice, blocks the eastern coast of Northeast Land, Barents Island, and Edge Island. Off the southern coast of t'he last-named island a bI1anch of this current takes a westerly direction, rounds South Cape, and runs northward between the Gulf Stream and the western coast of Spitsbergen, carrying masses of ice whtch generally disappear by early summer. Such is the normal state of the ------j----------�jc--;_S JE A ice, but it may be interfered with by the winds. In spring and summer northern and eastern winds prevail, the polar pack drifts southward and closes the generally open waters off the northern coast, while the eastern ice drifts south­ SKETCH MAP OF SPITSBERGEN ward also, opening Stor Fiord and the sea off the eastern coasts of Northeast Land, Barents Island, and Edge Island. greater fiow of the Gulf Stream, the sea all about Spitsbergen remains o'pen t;he greater part of the summer, and in such sea­ "Reprinted from the Geographical Review for October-November. sons the ,circumnavigation of the archipelago becomes po'ssible. 1919, published by the American Geographical Society, Broadway 11t This was the case in 1918 and, before that, i'n 1886, 1887, 156th ,Street. New York. Photographs loaned by the Geographical Re1,iew,. 1898, and 1899. MARCH, 1920 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MONTHLY 241 PANORAMA FROM BIDN NEVIS, A SUMMIT' 913 METERS HIGH SOU'DHEAlST OF RE>D BAY, NORTHERN W!IDSiT SPITSBERGEN The view, which extends J3rom south to northwest, shows practically the whole extenlt of the Grand Glacier, which ends in Red Bay on the right. (Photo by Cruptain Gun11lRr Isachsen.) HISTORY OF EXPLORATION. About the middle of the ,seventeenth century, while the The story of the geographiical eX'ploration of Spitsbergen English whale fishery. declined, the Dutch Whaling industry can be divided into three periods: (1) the Dutch-English, had a rapid development, which was of great advantage to whiClh lasted until tille 'beginning of the eighteenth ,century; geography. Returning home, the Dutch whalers, gave to the cosmolgraphel'<l:! of Amsterdam information concerning Spits­ (2) the Norwelgian-Swedtsh, between the end of the eight­ eenth ,century and the opening of the twentieth century; (3) bergen, so that in HolLand tillere was continuous and uninter­ the Norwegian, stnce 1906. rupted progress in the cartography of th'ese poolar islands. From 1594 to 1892, according to Dr. Wieder, mo,re than two DUTCH-ENGLISH PERIOD. hundred maps of Spitsbergen were published in the Nether­ The old Ice1andic annals regnrding the discovery of Spits­ lands. To the Dutch we are indebted for the first carto­ bergen by Norwegians in the eleventh century are vague, and graphical documentation concerning the,se islands. During title journey of Willem Barents in 1596 is considered as the two and a half centuries the Dutch \vere the masters of the first authenticated voyage to this Arctic land. The cele­ cartography of Spitsibergen. brated Dutch seaman visited only the western coast and a NORWEGIAN-SWEDISH PERIOD. part of the northern coast of the main island, and the dis­ Toward the end of the eighteenth century the Dutch whale covery of the other isloands has' been credited to English fishery declined, and the Norwegians arrived at Spitsbergen "adventurers" of the Muscovy Company. But this claim in order to· hunt the walrus, seal, polar bear, and reindeer in must be revised. 'Ilhe globe of the Dutch cosmographer Plan­ summer. Their activity was at tihat time limited to the west­ cius, engraved in 1612 and newly discovered by Dr. F. C. ern corust 'and ito the easily accessible part of the northern coast. Wieder, delineates the northern coast beyond Hinlopen Strait, In 1827 B. M. KeiIhau, professor at tille University of Chris­ the Seven Islands, the western and ·southern ooasts of Edge tianIa, chartered one of these sealing vessels and paid a short Island, and Hope I·sland. Thus, previous to the EIl!glish, even visi.t to Bear Island and SIiitsbergen. Th'is was one of the "before 1614 the entire circumference of Spitsbergen was known first scientific expediti'ons to these islands and one Qf the to the Dutch, except the vicinity of Heley Sound (Helis most suocessTIul. The geologi.cal, paleontological, and botan­ Sound) land the east <:oast of North-East Land and Edge ical snudies whiCh Keilhau had the opportunity of making Island, so that the Dutch may rightly be called the discoverers during IIis voyage are fundamental. In 1837 the Swedish of the entire Spitsbergen group.'" professor S. L. Loven also made a scienti'fic trip to the west­ 'The Dutch Discovery and Mapping of Spitsbergen (1596-1829). ern coast in a Norwegian vessel. Edited by order of the Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs by Dr. In 1858 the second chapter of the hi,story of Spitsbergen F. C. Wieder. Published by the Netherland Mindstry for Foreign opens with the geographical eXlploration of the archipelago Affairs and the Royal Dutch Geographical Society, Amsterdam, 1919. both by Swedish scientifi'c expeditions and by Norwegian 'l'his splendid! vo'hune contains the reproduction of 83 maps of Spits­ bergen between 1,596 and 1829. walrus hunters. From 1858 to 1908 twenty Swedish expedi- LOOKING SOUTH >DOWN ERDMANN GLAlCIER (RIGHT.. AND CENTER FOREGROUN>D) AN>D ITS OU'1JLEIT VALLElY TO 'DRE FUR­ THE'R SHORE OF BElLL ISOUND (IN THE BACKGROUND). The massif on the right ,is Mt. Con,way, that on the left, South Halland Ridge. (Photo by Engineer Koller.) 242 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MONTHLY MARCH, 1920 tions went to Spitsibergen under bhe leadership of scientists a Norwegian schooner under the command of Captain DIve, like Otto T'Orell, A. E. NordenskiOld, A. G. Nathor.st, Baron an expert Norwegian ice navigator. Reaohing the southern Gerard de Geer and 'Others. Besides valuable scientific and later the northern coast of Northeast Land, they stated studies they published in 1865 the first (Jhart of the archipel­ that this land stretched about 43 nautical miles farther east­ ago based on surveys. This chart has been the basis for later ward than was formerly believed. ones representing fresh discoveries. The British Admimlty's In the following year knowledge of eastern Spitsber.gen chart, reproduces the results of the Swedish surveys. was advanced by N{)rwegian seal hunters. Taking advantage of an open season, Altman, Johnsen, and Nielsen reached King DISCOVERIES BY NORWEGIAN WALRUS HUNTERS. Karl Land and reported that there were several large and During the second half of the nineteenth century no Norwe­ small island,s divided into two groups by 'a large sound. gian scientist took part in the exploration of Spitsbergen. Johnsen landed on the northeastern point of the eastern group. In 1876 and 1887, eastward of the northeastern point of Northeast Land, two Norwegian walrus hunters, Kjeldsen and E. H. Johannesen, came in ,gLght of an unknown island, White Island, the true Giles Land. In 1889, another Norwegian walrus hunter, Hemming Andreassen, completed our knowl­ edge concerning King Karl Land by navigating the northern part of the sound dividing the two main islands, Svenska Forland (Swedish Foreland) and King Karl Island.