vn.] SOLITUDE ISLAND. 255 



vessel j^ordland from Tromsoe. He had left Norway on the 22nd 

 May 1878, had come to Gooseland in Novaya Zemlya on the 6th 

 June, and had reached the northernmost point of that island 

 on the 22nd July. Here loud thunder was heard on the 26th 

 July, On the 10th August he steered eastwards from Novaya 

 Zemlya across the Kara Sea between 76° and 77° N.L. in open 

 water. On the 16th he had the Taimur country in sicrht. 

 Here he turned, and steered first to the west, then to the north. 

 In 77° 31' N.L. and 86° E.L. from Greenwich he discovered and 

 circumnavigated a new island, which was named "Ensamheten" 

 (Solitude). The island was free of snow, but not overgrown with 

 grass. The animals that were seen were some bears and bearded 

 seals, terns, fulmars, ivory gulls, flocks of black guillemots, and 

 a "bird with a rounded tail and long bill," probably some wader. 

 On the north-east side of the island a strong northerly current 

 prevailed. The remote position and desolate appearance of the 

 island gave occasion to the name proposed by Johannesen. 

 Hence Johannesen sailed with a great bend to the north, Avhich 

 brought him to 78° N.L., back to the northern extremity of 

 Novaya Zemlya, and thence on the 12th September to Norway. 

 During the return voyage across the Kara Sea also scarcely any 

 ice was met with.^ 



An exceedingly persistent fog prevailed during the whole 

 of the time we remained here, but at last on the 18th it lif»'ht- 

 ened a little. We immediately weighed anchor and steamed 

 along the western shore of Taimur Island. It is surrounded by 

 a large number of islands that are not given on the map, and 

 pos.sibly Taimur Island itself is divided by sounds into several 

 parts. During our voyage, however, the fog that was still very 

 close hindered us from mapping, otherwise than in a very loose 

 way, the islands, large and small, between and past which the 

 Vega searched for a passage. So much we could in any case see, 

 that the northern extremity of Taimur Island does not run so 

 far north as the common maps show. 



Ice we met with only in small quantity, and what we saw was 

 very rotten fjord or river ice. I scarcely believe that in the 

 course of the day we met with a single piece of ice large enough 

 to flense a seal upon. We had as yet seen no true old drift-ice 

 such as is to be met with north of Spitzbergen. In resj^ect 

 to the nature of the ice, there is a complete dissimilarity between 

 the Kara Sea and the sea north and east of Spitzbergen. Another 

 striking difference is the scarcity of warm-blooded animals 

 which prevails in this region, hitherto exempted from all huntino-. 

 In the course of the dav we had not seen a single bird — something 



1 H.Mohn. Diclnsel Eiiisainkeit, &.Q., with a map(Peterm:inu'ti Jlitthci- 

 vngcn, 1870, p. 57). 



