21 



den største af Vestmanna-Øerjie. Dette lykkedes ogsaa 

 trods Taagen, og føringen bragtes til Ankers paa Øens 

 Østside udenfor Indløbet til den B.ugt, der danner Havn 

 for Handelsstedet, men som er utilgjængelig for større 

 Partøjer. 



Vort Ophold ved Vestmannaøerne blev kengere end 

 paaregnet, da det de følgende Dage fremdeles blæste haardt 

 fra Sydvest og gik svær 80 paa Havet. Den 23de gjordes 

 Excursioner i Land. men den 24de blæste det saa haardt, 

 idet Vindhastigheden gik op i 20 Meter pr. Sekund, at vi 

 ikke kunde ligge tor vort Anker, men maatte holde det 

 gaaende hele Dagen 1 Læ af Øen paa den Maade. at Far- 

 tøjet drev udover, indtil der hvor Søgangen begyndte. der- 

 paa dampede vi indover igjen til Ankerpladsen, og saa drev 

 vi igjen udover. en Manøvre der i Dagens Løb gjentoges 

 mange Gange. Den 25de kunde der atter gjøres Exkursioner 

 i Land. men forst den 26de var Havet Ide vet saa roligt. at 

 Exp.editionen kunde fortsætte sin Rejse. Kl. 3 1 Etter- 

 middag' passeredes' Reykjanes. Kl. (i 1 _, Skagen og Kl. 9 

 ankom Expeditionen til Reykjavik. Her traf vi det danske 

 Stationsskib, Dampskonnerten "Fylla" og de franske Krigs- 

 skibe. Dampkorvetten "Dupleix" og Briggen "Beaumanoir." 

 hvis Chefer strax sendte Ofiicerer ombord i Vøringen for 

 at komplimentere, eiter almindelig Orlogsskik. 



Under Vøringens ( )phold i Reykjavik foretog Expe- 

 ditionens Medlemmer, ledsaget af Na'stcommanderende. en 

 Tur til Thingvellir. Vejret vedblev at være yderst uro- 

 ligt. Allerede Dagen efter vor Ankomst begyndte den 6te 

 Storm og Natten mellem den 2Sde og 29de Juli laa 

 Vøringen med Dampen oppe og Mandskabet i Søvagt. 

 Desuagtet lykkedes det mig at faa udført absolute magne- 

 tiske Bestemmelser i Land. nien om at svinge Skibet kunde 

 der ikke blive Tale. Først den 30te om Aftenen blev Yej- 

 ret saavidt roligt. at Kul- og Yandfyldningen kunde be- 

 gynde. Den 2den August opdagedes under Opfyringen en 

 Lak paa Kjedlen. hvorfor der atter maatte slukkes af, 

 meil det lykkedes Maskinbesætningen ved ihærdigt Arbejde 

 at reparere den saa hurtigt. at Afrejsen kunde rinde Sted 

 den næste Dags Aften Kl. 7. 



Da Tiden nu var temmelig langt fremskreden, blev 

 den paatænkte Omsejling af Island opgivet. og Tilbagetu- 

 ren lagdes sonden om Island. Den 5te August toges et 

 Lodskud paa *44 Favne paa den sydlige Skraaning af Færø- 

 Islands-Banken. Fra dette Punkt udsejledes til om Aftenen 

 den 7de 240 Kvartmil (60 geogr. Mile) i nordøstlig Retning, 

 hvorunder den sydostre Islandsbanke blev undersogt ved 

 Lodskud. Temperatnrrækker og Bundskrabninger. Ved den 



Ulands. On the morning of the 22nd the weather 

 began tu abate, and we made [celand in the vicinity 

 of Portland. By the evening. we bad reached a. pohrl 

 abreast of the Vestmanna Islands, when a fog ca me on ; 

 the gale. too. bad set in again : and this. jiogether with 

 a rapid fall of the barometer, determined us to run for 

 Heima-ey. the largest of Vestmanna Islands. ;iih| .there ride 

 out the storm. We fortunately succeeded in spite of the 

 fog. and the "Vøringen" let gq her anchor on the eastern 

 shore of the island. off the entrance to the bay that lonas 

 the harbour of the "town." but whicli is not accessfble to 

 la rue vessels. 



Stress of weather jirotracted our stav at the Vest- 

 manna Islands. For several days in succession it blew 

 hard from the south-west, and there was a high sea run- 

 ning off the coast. On the 23rd we made excursions about 

 the island, but 011 the 24th sueh was the violence of the 

 gale, the veloeity of the wind reachmg 20 metres a second. 

 that riding at anchor was impossible.' ; The vessel bad to 

 be kept going all day long under lee of the land. Slie 

 was allowed to drift out to where the sea was running 

 high. and then steamed back to her aiichorage. a manæuvre 

 which had to be repeated manv times in the course of the 

 day. On the 25th we were again able to make excursions 

 on shore: hut not till the 26th .bad the sea gone down 

 sufticiently to admit of contiuuing the cimise. At 3.30 

 p.m. we passed Reykjanes; at 6.30. Skagen; and by 9 the 

 Expedition had reached Reykjavik. Here we found the 

 Danish steam-schooner -Fylla." and twtj ve^sels belonging 

 to the French navy. - - the "Dupleix." steam-corvette. and 

 the brig "Beaumanoir." ofttcers from which were forthwith 

 despatched on board the "Vøringen" to compliment her cap- 

 tain, according to navy-etiquette. 



During our stav at Reykjavik, the members of the 

 Scientitic Staff, accompanied by the first lieutenant. made 

 an excursion to Thingvellir. The weather still continued 

 very unsettled. On the day after our arrival it again blew 

 a gale. the sixth; and the 28th. after night-fall. the "Vør- 

 ingen" was lying with the steam up and the sea-watch set. 

 Still. I succeeded in getting absolute magnetical observa- 

 tions on shore: swinging the vessel was out of the ques- 

 tion. Not till the ' evening of the 30th had the weather 

 become .sufticiently moderate to allow of our taking in coal 

 and water. On the 2nd of August, when getting up steam. 

 a leak was discovered in one of the boiler-jjlates, and the 

 fires had to be put out; but. thanks to the eugine-nien. 

 who. worked with a will at repairing the damaged part, 

 we were able to get off on the following day at 7 o'clock 

 in the evening.- 



The season being now comparatively far advanced. 

 we had to relinquish our original intention of circumnavi- 

 gating Iceland. and the homeward course of the "Vøringen" 

 was laid south of the island. < hi the 5th of August we 

 s.ounded in 844 fathoms, on the southern slope oftheFæroe- 

 Iceland ridge. From this point we stood north-east. ex- 

 ploring. by means of soundings. dredgings. and serial tem- 

 peratures, the south-eastern section of the Iceland banks. 



