NOVA ZEMBLA

NOVA ZEMBLA, or NOVATA ZEMBLA, a name which signifies in Russian "New Land," is applied to an island, or rather chain of islands, in the Arctic Ocean. It extends from N.N.E. to S.S.W., curving slightly towards the W., and lies between N. Lat. 70. 30. and 76. 30., E. Long. 51. 30. and 77. It is washed on the W. by the Spitzbergen Sea, and on the E. by the Kara Sea; which, along with Burrough's Strait, separates Nova Zembla from the continent and from the island of Vaigais. Its whole length is about 500 miles, with an average breadth of about 50. The most southerly island of the chain is separated from the rest by a strait called Matochkin Shar, or Matthew's Strait; and farther to the N. there is another strait called Cross Bay, which divides itself into several arms, and forms other small islands. The southern island alone is properly called

Nova Zembla; the middle one, which is much smaller, is known by the name of Matthew's Land; while to the N. lie Lütke's Land and Barent's Land, believed to form one continuous island. The eastern shores of all the islands are low; but on the W. the land is mountainous, rising in general 2000 feet above the sea, and the highest summit, near Matthew's Strait, is 3475 feet in height. The formation of the mountain is for the most part black clay-slate; and in the southern islands grey limestone, like that of the northern part of the Ural chain. The climate of these islands is indicated by the following table:—

The vegetation is very scanty, consisting only of mosses and lichens; in many parts the ground is quite barren; and notwithstanding the long continuance of the sun above the horizon, the soil is never thawed more than a foot or two deep. Animal life is as scarce here as vegetation. Nova Zembla is often visited by fishermen from Archangel in pursuit of the walrus. It was visited at an early period by the Russians, but was first brought into notice by Steven Burrough, who made a voyage thither in 1556. The west and part of the east coast were visited in 1596 by the Dutch navigator Barents; and several Russian expeditions have been sent out from Russia within the present century to explore the islands.