A ship named the _Vega_, built at Bremen in 1872, of oak with a skin of greenheart, was purchased. She was of 300 tons, 150 ft. long, by 29 ft. beam, and 16 ft. depth of hold, barque rigged, with a screw propeller and engines of 60 horse-power. The leader of the expedition was Nordenskiöld himself, the captain of the ship Lieutenant Louis Palander, a distinguished Swedish naval officer who had previously been in Spitsbergen with Nordenskiöld. The other officers were Lieutenant Brusewitz of the Swedish navy, Lieutenant Hovgaard of the Danish navy, Lieutenant Bove of the Italian navy, and Lieutenant Nordqvist of the Russian army. There were also three scientific men (one being the surgeon), two engineers, a boatswain, and 15 seamen of the Swedish navy, besides three Norwegian seal-fishers, 30 all told. The _Vega_ took 300 tons of coal and two years’ provisions, and was accompanied by two of Sibirikoff’s cargo vessels for the Yenisei, and the _Lena_ for the river of that name. The _Vega_ left Tromsö on the 21st July, 1878, with the three other vessels in company, and anchored in Pet Strait, between Waigats Island and the mainland of the Samoyeds, on the 30th. The ship stood out into the Kara Sea, and rounded White Island. There seems to be little or no risk of running ashore on the coast, for the currents from the Obi and Yenisei flow northward at a rate of two to five miles. All went well, and on the 6th August the _Vega_ and _Lena_ were safely anchored in Dickson Harbour, while Sibirikoff’s two vessels proceeded up the Yenisei river. From this point the exploring voyage began, and was well described in Palander’s letters to me at the time. Cape Taimyr was reached on the 10th of August, and floe ice was encountered with thick fogs. It may be mentioned that very important corrections of longitude had to be made all along the Siberian coast, and between Dickson Harbour and Cape Taimyr several islands previously unknown were discovered. On the 19th of August the _Vega_ rounded Cape Chelyuskin, the most northern point of the Old World, which was found to be in 77° 36′ N. and 103° 25′ E. Palander then stood more out to sea in hopes of finding unknown islands, but the quantity of drift ice by which the ship was soon surrounded led him to seek the coast again, and he found a navigable though narrow channel between the land and the pack. On August 28th the _Vega_ was off the mouth of the Lena, and the little steamer destined for service on that river parted company.