30 



3. Beeren Eiland. 



Den 4de Juli 1878 kom Expeditionen tidlig om 

 Morgenen op under Beeren Eiland. Taagen, som laa over 

 Øens hojere I >cl<'. spredte sig efterhaanden, og om For- 

 middagen blev Vejret ganske klart. Vi ankrede udenfor 

 den saakaldte "Russestue". et forfaldet lidet Hus. der dog 

 tidligere skal have været Bolig for et overvintrende Parti. 

 Gjennem -'Borgermester-Porten' -1 roede vi ind i den lille 

 Bugt, ved hvis indei-ste Bred Russestuen ligger. Vi med- 

 havde fra Bergen en Post til den hollandske Expedition 

 med Skonnerten "Willem Barendsz," hvilken efter den af 

 den hollandske Consul meddelte Anvisning nedgroves, ind- 

 lagt i en dobbelt Kasse, i Nærheden af Huset. Stedet 

 merkedes med et Mag, hvorpaa stod malet: "'Vøringen' 

 til 'Willem Barendsz'." Vi havde senere paa Sommeren 

 den Tilfredsstillelse at erfare, at Hollænderne havde fundet 

 sin Post. 



Vort af stormende Vejr og Modvind forlængede Op- 

 hold i Østhavet tillod os ikke at offre mere end en halv 

 Dag til et Besøg paa Beeren Eiland. Jordbunden bestod 

 omkring Russestuen af lutter forvitret Sten. en ren "Eor- 

 vitringshud," der i Frastand gav Landet et aldeles "graa- 

 skaldet" Udseende. Om Morgenen toges Skitser af Beeren- 

 Eilands Sydvestpynt. Billeder af denne findes i Beretnin- 

 gerne om de Svenske Spidsbergen-Expeditioner 1861 og 1864. 

 Da vi vare i Land om Formiddagen, og efter at være 

 kommen ombord igjen, tog jeg Skitser af Øens kojeste 

 Fjeld. Mount Misery. Fig. 8 er skaaret efter en Teg- 

 ning, der er gjort efter disse Skitser. Man ser her Beeren- 

 Eilands Sydostpynt til Hojre. Udenfor viser sig Drivis, 

 der kommer fra Nordost. Gjennem Mount Misery gaar 

 et horizontalt Lag af en ejendommelig fremtrædende Berg- 

 art med. som det synes, verticale Afsondringsflader. For- 

 så a vidt man kan dømme af Udseendet alene i Frastand, 

 synes denne Bergart at være den af Nordenskiold benævnte 

 Hyperit. 'der forekommer paa aldeles lignende Maade paa 

 Spidsbergen og hvis Forekomstmaade sees af flere Billeder 

 i Beretningerne om de Svenske Spidsbergens-Expeditioner. 



Højden af Mount Miseiys øverste Top bestemte jeg 

 paa følgende Maade. Fra et Punkt i Land. hvor der var 

 oprejst en liderj Stenvarde, maalte jeg med Sextant Vin- 

 kelhojden (<•" 50' 0") af V T øringens Stormast (der efter et 

 nøjagtigl tåget Maal udgjorde 21.39 Meter). Dette giver 

 en Afstand mellein Stenvarden og Ankerpladsen af 1470 

 Meter. Ved Stenvarden var Lufttrykket 744. """<i. medens 

 det ombord, i Havets Niveau var 7. r >0."""7. Luftens Tem- 

 peratur var 5° ( ). Sten var dens Høj de over Havet beregnes 

 herefter til !'■'> Meter. Endvidere maalte jeg med Sextanten 

 Vinkelen mellein "Vøringen" og Toppen af Mount Misery 



1 Si' -Sven hi I-'. - 1 ■■•! i n ii till S]H'tsbergen År 1864 bord 



paa "Axel Thordsen," ander Ledning af A. E. Nordenskiold", Sidi 10. 



3. Beeren Eiland 



On the 4th of July. 1878. early in the morning, the 

 Expedition reached the coast of Beeren Eiland. A thick 

 fog. which lav over the loftiest parts of the island. gradu- 

 ally dispersed, and in the course of the forenoon the weather 

 became quite clear. We anchored off the so-called "Rus- 

 sian Hut." an old. neglected cabin, which is said. however, 

 to have once served as a winter abode for a party of sailors. 

 Passing through the "Borgermester-Porten" 1 (burgomasters 

 gate), we iowed into the small bay at the head of which 

 stands the Russian Hut. We had with us from Bergen a 

 bag of letters for the Dutch Expedition with the schooner. 

 "Willem Barendsz." which, in accordance with directions 

 given by the Dutch Consul. was now buried near the cabin, 

 after being laid in a double case. We marked the 

 spot with a flag, on whicb had been painted the words: 

 "'Vøringen' til -Willem Barendsz'." Later in the season 

 we had 'the satisfaction of learning that the Dutch explorers 

 had found their letters. 



The boisterous weather and the succession of contrai-y 

 winds that had protracted our cruise in the Barents Sea. 

 would not admit of our devoting more than half a day to 

 an excursion on Beeren Eiland. The ground in the vicinity 

 of the Russian Hut consists exclusively of disintegrated 

 stones, — in the strictest sense a "weathered crust." which 

 at some distance gives to the land a grev. hald appearance. 

 In the morning we sketched the South-western promontory 

 of Beeren Eiland. Views of this headland are given in 

 the accounts of the Swedish Spitzhergen Expeditions in 

 1861 and 1864. When on shore in the forenoon, and after 

 returning to the vessel. I sketched the highest summit of 

 the island. Mount Misery. The view in Fig. 8 is from 

 these sketches. To the right, we have the south-eastern 

 headland of Beeren Eiland. Beyond. is seen drift-ice bear- 

 ing down upon the island from the north-east. Traversing 

 Mount Misery. we observe a laver of a peculiar conspicu- 

 ous rock. having apparently a vertical columnar structure. To 

 judge from its aspect at a distance, this rock would appear 

 to be of the kind designated hy Nordenskiold as hyperite. 

 that occurs under precisely the same conditions on Spitz- 

 hergen. and the structure of which is illustrated in several 

 of the figures accompauying the accounts of the Swedish 

 Spitzhergen Expeditions. 



The altitude of Mount Misery was determined as fol- 

 lows. From a point on shore. at which a mound of stones 

 had been erected, I measured with the sextant the angle 

 of elevation (0° 50' 0") of the main mast of the "Vørin- 

 gen," which, according to accurate measurement, hadaheight 

 of 21.39 metres. The said angle corresponds to a distance 

 between the mound and the anchorage of 1470 metres. At 

 the mound. the barorfietric pressure was 744. """(). whereas 

 on board (at the level of the sea) it was 7;~>0.»"»7. The 

 temperature of the air wa.S .">" < '. Krom these data. the 

 heigllt of the mound aliove the sea-level was eoinputed at 



1 See "Svenska Expeditionen till Spetsbergen Ar 1864 ombord 

 paa 'Axel Thordsen,' under Ledning ai A. F... Nordenskiold," p. Hi. 



