Elling Carlsen Carlsen made his first voyage out of Hammerfest in Finnmark, Norway. In 1859, Carlsen discovered the island group that would later be named Kong Karls Land in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Although Carlsen is credited with the finding, the islands may have been first sighted by the whaler Thomas Edge in 1617. In 1863, Carlsen completed the first circumnavigation of Spitsbergen. During a voyage to the Arctic Ocean in 1871, Carlsen discovered the lodge of Willem Barentsz on the north-eastern shore of the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya. This winter camp had been used as shelter by Barentsz
History of Franz Josef Land the southern and central parts of the archipelago had been explored. At the time there was a presumption that a large landmass, tentatively called Petermann Land, stretched northwards, possibly all the way to the pole. To the west another landmass was expected, Gillis Land, which it was expected might reach as far as Svalbard. Frederick George Jackson hoped to exploit the previous expeditions' experience with overwintering to launch an expedition to explore the northern parts of the island group. To prepare for the trip, in 1893 he took an expedition to Yugorsky Strait and Vaygach Island, south of Novaya Zemlya.