330 THE POPULAR SCIEXCE MONTHLY. 



this winter harbor was, at the mercy of the elements ! The ice was 

 in constant movement until the spring of the following year. At the 

 end of March, 1878, the pressure came to an end, but the Tegethoff 

 was incrusted in the midst of a plain of ice several leagues in circuit. 

 For five months, from April to September, the crew worked in vain to 

 restore the ship to its normal condition ; the ice-plain in which it was 

 incorporated was pushed by the winds in every direction, and at last 

 ascended to 79 54' north latitude. The role of science then unexpect- 

 edly commenced; a consoling light for the mind and will of the ex- 

 plorers burst forth even from the bosom of blind fatality. On the 

 31st of August, 1873, after more than a year of terror and endurance, 

 the ice-bound captives saw a mass of elevated coast, sparkling with 

 glaciers, emerging from the fog, at a distance of about fourteen miles. 

 They immediately gave to this apparition the name of Emperor Fran- 

 cis Joseph's Land. But it was not till the end of October that they 

 were able to land on shores so miraculously discovered ; even then, on 

 account of the advanced season, they found it impossible to take pos- 

 session; for they were soon to enter for the second time into the sin- 

 ister polar night that continues three and four months. They took 

 advantage of the last days that were illuminated with an expiring 

 twilight to make little preliminary excursions some leagues from the 

 ship, and this was all they could accomplish. They were then obliged 

 to wait patiently for the next dawn of day, that is, until the spring 

 of 1874. 



This winter was more tempestuous than the preceding, and the per- 

 sistent north winds brought interminable snow-storms ; the thermom- 

 eter fell to 48 (Centigrade) below zero. At last, on the 24tb of Febru- 

 ary, the sun having reappeared above the horizon, they hastened to 

 improve tlie spring weather. Lieutenant Payer prepared three expe- 

 ditions with sledges drawn by dogs to reconnoitre the nature and con- 

 figuration of the ueigbboring land. In the first excursion, from the 

 10th to the 16th of IMarch, he visited the nearest island, where he found 

 a most picturesque fiord with an enormous glacier in the background ; 

 there were summits 2,500 feet high. The second journey was much 

 more important; discoveries succeeded each other as if by enchant- 

 ment. Mr. Payer penetrated into a sound or strait Austria Sound 

 extending from south to north, and completely covered with small 

 islands. This strait was prolonged as far as the latitude of 82 be- 

 tween two continuous masses of land. The eastern side was called 

 Wilczek Land, the other Zichy Land. In going out of this pass, the 

 explorer encountered a vast basin, from which emerged another land, 

 named Prince Rudolph's Land. The extreme point attained by Payer 

 and his companions was called Cape Fligely ; it is situated nearly at 

 the same distance from the pole as that reached by another route, in 

 1871, by the captain of the Polaris. There it was necessary to stop, 

 on accoimt of the crevasses and ruptures produced at this season in the 



