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In the month of December, 1878, Erik had attained the age of twenty, and / passed his first examination for his doctor's degree. The learned men of / Sweden were greatly excited about the proposed arctic expedition of the / navigator Nordenskiold, and their enthusiasm was shared by a large / proportion of the population. After preparing himself for the / undertaking by several voyages to the polar regions, and after studying / the problem in all its aspects, Nordenskiold intended to attempt once / more to discover the north-east passage from the Atlantic to the / Pacific, which for three centuries had defied the efforts of all the / maritime nations.
The programme for the expedition had been defined by the Swedish / navigator, and he announced the reasons which led him to believe that / the north-east passage was practicable in summer, and the means by which / he hoped to realize this geographical desideratum. The intelligent / liberality of two Scandinavian gentlemen, and the assistance of the / Swedish government, enabled him to organize his expedition upon a plan / which he believed would insure its success.