Charles Bénard's first expedition to Novaya Zemlya, 1908

ABSTRACTIn the summer of 1908 the Mission Océanographique Arctique Française sailed from Dunkirk aboard the ketchJacques Cartier. Sponsored by the Société d'Océanographie du Golfe de Gascogne and led by Charles Bénard, its major aims were to study the fisheries potential of the Barents Sea, to explore Gusinaya Zemlya on the south island of Novaya Zemlya, to chart and sound the bays and straits of that area, to carry out geological investigations, and to make a traverse of Matochkin Shar, which bisects Novaya Zemlya. The expedition established itself at Belush'ya Guba, from where Bénard and his companions explored much of Gusinaya Zemlya and surveyed, sounded and charted the adjacent waters. An attempt at crossing the south island, made by the medical officer Candiotti, was unsuccessful. Later, accompanied by the Russian geologist Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov, Candiotti sailed through Matochkin Shar and made the first crossing of the north island, from Neznayemyy Zaliv to Krestovaya Guba. The expedition ended on rather a sour note: Bénard abandoned his ship and crew at Arkhangel'sk, leaving the organizing committee with the problems of unravelling the mess and repatriating the crew.