Chapter V. 



tions, though I cannot assert that the mountains are of 

 any considerable height. But when, in agreement with 

 earlier maps, he marks at the same place, " high rocky 

 coast ; " his terms are open to objectio'n. The coast 

 is, as already mentioned, quite low, and consists, in 

 great part at least, of layers of clay or loose earth. 

 Nordenskiold either took this last description from the 

 earlier, unreliable maps, or possibly allowed himself to 

 be misled by the fog which beset them during their 

 voyage in these waters. 



In the evening we were approaching the north end of 

 the land, but the current, which we had had with us 

 earlier in the day, was now against us, and it seemed 

 as if we were never to get past an island that lay off the 

 shore to the north of us. The mountain height which 

 I had seen at an earlier hour through the telescope, lay 

 here some way inland. It was flat on the top with 

 precipitous sides, like those mountains last described. 

 It seemed to be sandstone or basaltic rock ; only the 

 horizontal strata of the ledges on its sides were not 

 visible. I calculated its height at 1,000 to 1,500 feet. 

 Out at sea we saw several new islands, the nearest of 

 them being of some size. 



The moment seemed to be at hand, when we were at 

 last to round that point which had haunted us for so 

 long the second of the greatest difficulties I expected 

 to have to overcome on this expedition. I sat up in 

 the crow's-nest in the evening, looking out to the north. 



