41 



Sigte, men hvis Nærhed tilkjendegaves ai den lave Tempe- 

 ratur. Fremdeles herskede ogsaa Taage. Kuling og Sn. 

 Fredag Morgen den 19de havde vi naaet 75° L6' X. Br. 

 0° .">4' L. V. f. Gr. og Hk lier dette Aars dybeste Lod- 

 skud med 1985 eng. Favne, hvorefter Kursen sattes øst- 

 over langs den 75de Breddegrad. Ved fortsatte Lodninger, 

 Temperaturrækker ogTrawlinger bestemtes paa Østgaaendé, 

 ligesom før paa Vestgaaende, den omtrentlige Grændse 

 mellem Polarstrømmen og det varme Vand i Havets øst- 

 lige Del. Ligeledes bestemtes Opgangen at' Banken noget 

 nordligere end Beereii Eiland. og Undersøgelserne fortsattes 

 videre østover, indtil vi den 23de Juli befandt os paa 74" 

 57' N. Br. og 19° 52' L. 0. f. Gr., hvor vi havde 21 

 Favne Vand med en Bundtemperatur af -4- 0°.2. Her 

 toges en Skrabe, hvorpaa vi, under tiltagende Nordenvinds- 

 kuling. holdt ned mod Beeren Eiland og deretter østenom 

 Øen til dens Sydside. Soen var her allerede betydelig, 

 saa det var forbundet med Vanskeligheder at gjøre Land- 

 gang. Vi saa imidlertid, at vort Flag var borte, og slut- 

 tede deraf, at Hollæflderne havde været der og fundet 

 Posten, hvilket viste sig at være rigtigt, elter de Etterret- 

 ninger fra "Willem Barendtsz" som vi modtog fra Vardø 

 ved vor Ankomst til Hammerfest. Den 24de lænsede vi 

 med Storm af NNV., høj So. svære Slingringer og tilsidst 

 Begntykke sydover mod Hammerfest. Kl. 10 om Aftenen 

 fik vi et Øjeblik Kjending af Fruholm og Ingø tvers om 

 Styrbord og Kl. 4 Formiddag den 25de kom vi i god Be- 

 hold til Ankers i Hammerfest. Under Indsejlingen. da det 

 var temmelig mørkt paa Grund af det tætte Regn, opstod 

 Spørgsmaalet om at ankre, før vi kom til Hammerfest. 

 Havde Nordhavs-Expeditionen gjort dette i Maasø, vikle 

 den paa det nævnte Sted have stodt sammen med "V.ega"- 

 Expeditionen under NordenskiOld og Palander. der laa ber 

 for at oppebie gunstigere Vejr. Da vi bestemte os til at 

 gaa til Hammerfest med en Gang. passerede de to Expe- 

 ditioner hverandre paa nogle faa Mils Afstand uden at 

 vide det. 



Fredag og Lørdag anvendtes til Fyldning af Vand 

 og Kul. og Mandag den 21 kle Juli Kl. 6 Ettermiddag for- 

 lod vi atter Hammerfest for at udfore vor tredie Tur. idet 

 vi til Afsked saluterede Byen med 4 Skud. Kursen sattes 

 mod Beeren Eiland, som vi. etterat have tåget 3 Lodskud 

 og en Travd undervejs, naa.ede Onsdag den 3lte. Da. vi ogsaa 

 kom op under Øen. faldt Barometret 1 """ i Timen, ligesom 

 Luften saa saa truende ud. at vi besluttede at se Vejret 

 an i nogen Tid. og efter et Par Timers Forløb havde vi ogsaa 

 fuld Storm. Da vi under disse Omstændigheder ikke kunde 

 arbejde med Lodning og Skrabning. men godt nytte Tiden 

 til Arbejder under Læ. naar Skibet var nogenlunde roligt. 

 holdt vi det gaaende under Øens Østside, hvor Soen var 

 nogenlunde rolig. Thorsdag Aften toges en Del Misvisnings- 



Den norske Nordhavsexpeditibn. C. Wiile: Expeditionens Historie. 



of temperatures in close proximity to the icc we stoml on 

 our course, steering firsl aorth-east and then north, aloug 

 the ice. wbich was soon lost sigW of, though the low tem- 

 perature announced its comparative aearness. Fog. wind, 

 and sea also continued to prevail. On the morning of 

 Friday the L9tb of July we had reached a point in lat. 

 75° 16' X. long 0° 54' W. Here a sounding was tåken 

 (1985 fathoms), the deepest on this year's cruise, after 

 which we steamed eastward along tin- 75tb parallel of 

 latitude. By a continuous succession of soundings, serial 

 temperatures. and trawlings, the boundary between the 

 Polar current and the warm flow in the eastern section 

 of the Sea was now on our passage east. as before on our 

 passage west. approximately determined. We likewise de- 

 termined the rise of the bank somewhat farther north than 

 Beeren Eiland. and then continued investigating eastward 

 till on the 23rd of July we found ourselves in lat. 74" 57'. 

 long. li»" 52' E.. with a deptb of 21 fathoms and a bot- 

 tom-temperature of -4-0°.2. Here we took a haul of the 

 dredge. and then bore down. in a rising gale from the 

 north, on Beeren Eiland. making for the south coast along 

 its eastern shores. The sea here already running high. 

 considerable difficulty would have been experienced in land- 

 ing. Meanwhile, we could see that our Hag was gone, . mi 

 of course concluded that the Dutch explorers had found their 

 letter-box, which. on our arrival at Hammerfest, proved to 

 have been correct. a communication received there from 

 the -Willem Barendtz" via Vardø appfizing us of the fact. 

 On the 24th we stood south for Hammerfest, scudding be- 

 fore the wind in a gale from the north-north-west. with 

 the ship rolling heavily, and a rainy mist coming on. 

 About 10 p.m. we caugbt a glimpse of Fruholm and Ingø 

 on the starboard beam. and next morning (July 25th). at 

 4 oclock. dropped our anchor in Hammerfest harbbur. 

 When steaming up the fjord, it was rather dark. from the 

 drizzly ra in. and the question arose. whether it would not 

 be best to anchor. for instance at Maasø, before proceed- 

 ing to Hammerfest. Had this been done. the Norwegian 

 North-Atlantic Expedition would have fallen in with the 

 "Vega" Expedition. under the directiou of Xordenskiold 

 and Palander. then lying at anchor here till the weather 

 sliould moderate. As it was. the two Expeditions passed 

 within a few miles of each other without knowing it. 



Two days (Friday and Saturday) were spent in get- 

 ting the ship ready for sea (watering. coaling, &c), and on 

 Monday the 29th of July. at 6 p.m.. we again left Ham- 

 merfest, on the third excursion of the cruise, firing a salute 

 of 4 guns' in honour of the town. as we steamed out of 

 the harbour. The Expedition stood straight for Beeren 

 Eiland. which it reached on Wednesday the 3 Ist of July. 

 < hi the passage across. 3 soundings had been tåken and 

 one east of the trawl. As we were nearing the land. the 

 barometer began to fall. 1""" an hour: the sky. too. 

 wearing a threatening appearance. we resolved to wait and 

 see bow the weather would turn out. And it was well we 

 did. for an hour or two after it blew a gale. Deep-sea 

 operations. such as sounding and dredging. were now. of 



6 



