Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T20:22:23.218Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

William Robertson's account of Benjamin Leigh Smith's second expedition to Franz Josef Land in Eira

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Tim Cromack  and
Beau Riffenburgh
Tim Cromack
Affiliation:
20 Munster Road, Parsons Green, London SW6 4EN
Beau Riffenburgh
Affiliation:
Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Following his return from participating in Benjamin Leigh Smith's expedition that wintered at Cape Flora, Northbrook Island, Franz Josef Land, in 1881–82, William Robertson, the chief engineer on the barque Eira, wrote a brief account of the expedition. Robertson's manuscript emphasises the hunting of walrus prior to reaching Franz Josef Land, the sinking of the ship, the enforced wintering, and the successful retreat of the party by open boat to Novaya Zemlya. The original of the manuscript reproduced here, which is one of only a few first-person accounts known to exist, is held by Robertson's descendants. It has not previously been published.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 36 , Issue 199 , October 2000 , pp. 305 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barr, S. 1995. Franz Josef Land. Oslo: Norsk Polarinstitutt.Google Scholar
Burton, H. 1949. Barbara Bodichon, 1827–91. London: John Murray.Google Scholar
Chermside, H.C. 1873. Journal kept on board Dianaduring Benjamin Leigh Smith's third Arctic expedition, 1873. Unpublished manuscript, Cambridge: Scott Polar Research Institute, MS 300/4/1–3.Google Scholar
Credland, A.G. 1980. Benjamin Leigh Smith: a forgotten pioneer. Polar Record 20 (125): 127–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
of, Dufferin Marquis. 1857. Letters from high latitudes. London: John Murray.Google Scholar
Grant, W.J.A. 1881. Cruise of the yacht Eira and discovery of new lands in the far north. Leisure Hour 213–220.Google Scholar
Holland, C. 1994. Arctic exploration and development c. 500bc to 1915: an encyclopedia. New York and London: Garland Publishing.Google Scholar
Jones, A.G.E. 1975. Benjamin Leigh Smith: Arctic yachtsman. The Musk-Ox 16: 24–31.Google Scholar
Lamont, J. 1861. Seasons with the sea-horses; or, sporting adventures in the northern seas. London: Hurst & Blackett.Google Scholar
Lamont, J. 1876. Yachting in the Arctic seas; or, notes of five voyages of sport and discovery in the neighbourhood of Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya. London: Chatto & Windus.Google Scholar
Markham, C.R. 1881. The voyage of Eira and Mr Leigh Smith's Arctic discoveries in 1880. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society 3: 129–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markham, C.R. 1883. Second voyage of the Eira to Franz-Joseph Land. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society 5 (4): 204–228.Google Scholar
Miers, E.J. 1881. On a small collection of Crustacea and Pycnogonida from Franz-Josef Land, collected by Smith, B. Leigh, Esq. Annals and Magazine of Natural History Series 5, 7: 45–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neale, W.H. 1882. Notes on the natural history of Franz-Josef Land as observed in 1881–82. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 652–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payer, J. 1876. New lands within the Arctic Circle. 2 vols. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Ridley, S.O. 1881. Polyzoa, Coelenterata, and sponges of Franz-Josef Land. Annals and Magazine of Natural History Series 5, 7: 442–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Venn, J.A. (compiler). 1947. Alumni Cantabrigiensis: a biographical list of all known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900. Part 2: From 1752 to 1900. Volume 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar