70 FRANZ JOSEF LAND 



of the bergs detached from a glacier and saw open 

 water with ice bounding it on the horizon. As the 

 sheet over which their course lay became thinner, and 

 threatened to give way beneath them, they had to open 

 up a track among the hummocks by pick and shovel ; 

 and when this failed they had to unload the sledge and 

 carry the things separately. At Cape Saulen they 

 camped for the night in the fissure of a glacier into 

 which they had to drag their baggage by a long rope ; 

 and next day the 12th of April, 1874 they went on 

 again and reached Cape Fligely, in 81 50' 43", their 

 farthest north. 



With great difficulty they made their way back to 

 the ship, a long, toilsome journey through snow and 

 sludge, with open water in places where there had been 

 ice, which made them fear the Tegetthoff might have 

 drifted away again. The imminent danger of starva- 

 tion was ended by their reaching their depot on Schonau 

 Island, whence Payer went on for the remaining twenty- 

 five miles alone with the dog-sledge, the two dogs 

 giving much trouble until they struck the old sledge 

 track almost obliterated by snow, when they raised 

 their heads, stuck their tails in the air, and broke into a 

 run. Halting on an iceberg for a meal, the berg cap- 

 sized, and in a moment Payer was begirt by fissures, 

 water-pools, and rolling blocks of ice, from which he 

 managed to escape. When he turned into the narrow 

 passage between Salm and Wilczek Islands, Orgel 

 Cape, visible at a great distance, was the only dark spot 

 on the scene. At once the dogs made for it, and about 

 midnight he arrived there. With an anxious heart he 

 began the ascent ; a barren stony plateau confronted 



