On his return he made a dash for the north and reached 83 deg. 50 min., the highest point thus far attained on the American side of the polar archipelago. During the spring of 1902, Peary even exceeded this. Starting from Cape Hekla, the northernmost point of Grant Land, he proceeded over the ice as far as 84 deg. 17 min.. while Capt. Markham, in 1876, succeeded only in reaching 83 deg. 20 min. from this side. From the European side, however, Capt. Cagni, of the Italian expedition, starting from Franz Josef Land, attained the advanced position of 86 deg. 34 min.

Peary was obliged to make his dash in April, and, as was the case with Markham, he found the ice in a very unsatisfactory condition; the immense hummocks of compressed drift-ice increased the difficulties of travel for both dogs and men. There were no traces, however, of the unchangeable paleocrystic ice mentioned by Markham, for on the return Peary met with numerous open places and channels which caused serious delays. No land was visible to the north of either Greenland or Grant Land. In spite of the unsuccessful termination of his expedition, Peary is still convinced that the best point of departure is from the American side of the archipelago, and, moreover, that, with an early start from Grant Land, the Pole may be reached by sledge. Though Sverdrup and Peary added to our knowledge of the Polar regions, the third expedition fitted out by Mr. Ziegler, an American, and under the direction of Mr. Baldwin, who started from Franz Josef Land for the Pole, was closed without definite results. Several small islands were discovered; the hut in which Nansen and Johansen lived in 1895-6 was again found; some scientific events were noted; meteorological sketches and photographs of the Northern Lights were made, and yet the finality of the expedition was a fiasco. No earnest attempt to reach the Pole was made. Serious friction between Baldwin and Fridtjof, the sailing master of the expedition, is responsible for the unsuccessful termination.

Among the most important of the Polar expeditions is that led by Baron Toll, a Russian, for the discovery and exploration of the island either existing or supposed to exist to the north of the New Siberian Islands. Having twice before, in 1886 and 1894, visited the northernmost of these islands, Toll left Europe again in 1900 in the steamship "Sarja" upon a similar quest. Upon entering the Sea of Kara, he did not pick up the ship which was bringing him coal, and since both the condition of the ice and the open sea were favorable to his designs, he preferred not to wait for it. Cape Tscheljuskin, the extreme northern point of Asia, and the intended termination of the first summer's journey, was not reached, but the condition of the ice compelled him to put into Colin-Archer haven, at the entrance to the Taimyr Straits, on September 20, where he passed the winter.

Failing in two attempts to gain the mouth of the Jenissei by crossing the land, Lieutenant Kolomeizoff finally reached it by following the coast. During the spring of 1901, the extent of Taimyr Bay was carefully explored upon sleds, and through the discovery of the hut in which Lapten spent the winter of 1840-1, as well as by reaching the most northern station of the Middendorf expedition of 1843, the mouth of the Taimyr River was definitely fixed. The "Sarja" could not proceed till August 25. Cape Tschel-juskin was safely rounded and the course set for the location where, according to Toll's observation in 1880, the distant Polarland, seen as early as 1811 by Sannikow, to the north of Kotelny, ought to be. This point was passed without sighting the supposed land, and a few miles before reaching Cape Emma, the southernmost point on Bennett Island, discovered by the "Jeannette" expedition, the ice became so packed that further progress northward was impossible. On the return voyage the ship cruised again in the vicinity of the supposed Sannikow land, but without sighting it. On September 24, 1901, the "Sarja" froze in at the island of Kotelny, in Nerpitscha Bay, where the expedition passed the winter. Whether or not Sannikow and Toll were deceived as to what they saw cannot yet be determined. It is quite possible that they may have miscalculated the distance and that the island may lie farther north in a section not touched even by Nansen's drift in the "Fram" during the long winter night of his journey in 1893-4. Being unable to get coal from the Lena River, the "Sarja" became unfit for long journeys; accordingly Toll resolved upon sledge journeys to the north, similar to those undertaken from the "Fram" by Nansen. The geologist, Birula, began such a journey May 11, intending to explore the largest of the New Siberian Islands. On June 5 Toll followed him, accompanied by the astronomer Seeberg and two Jakuts, but touched only at the northernmost point, Cape Wyssoki, which he left on July 13, crossing the ice for Bennett Island. Toll left Lieut. F. Mattheissen in charge of the "Sarja," but August 21 arrived before any earnest effort could be made to proceed to New Siberia and Bennett Land to bring back the sledge parties. About Kotelny and Faddejew the ice was so thick that these islands could be passed neither to the north nor the south, and since the open season was fast drawing to a close, Mattheissen brought the "Sarja" back to the Lena, where he anchored in the bay of Tiksi September 8. Being too deep of draft to steam up the river, the "Sarja" was abandoned, and the crew, together with the scientific collection and instruments, were transferred to Jakutsk on the small steamer "Lena."

It was expected that Toll and Birula would return to the mainland at the beginning of winter, but Birula returned in 1903, in good health, without having seen Toll. Perhaps the condition of the ice between Bennett Land and New Siberia prevented Toll's return, and it was held that he would attempt it again in the spring of 1903.