CONTINUED VOYAGE OF THE TWO SHIPS. 55 



east side of the island, that is, the foot of the Beeren- 

 berg, dark rocks interspersed with long stripes of glacier 

 ice reaching to the water. But the whole was indis- 

 tinct and misty, so that the general appearance had 

 somewhat of a weird look about it. All hurried on deck, 

 trying to put the wondrous picture on paper ; but there 

 was scarcely time for that; the impervious veil of fog 

 covered it once more, and that so thick that we had no 

 hope of another glimpse.^ Unsatisfied and disappointed, 

 we eat our breakfast, picturing to ourselves how delight- 

 ful a bright, sunny day must be on Jan Mayen. We read 

 the accounts given by previous travellers, and found for 

 our consolation that this island had almost always been 

 seen under disadvantageous circumstances. 



According to a Dutchman of that name who discovered 

 it in the year 1611, the island of Jan Mayen lies lonely 

 in the middle of the wide, deep sea between Norway and 

 Greenland, Iceland and Spitzbergen; and is distant 

 about sixty geographical miles from the coast of Green- 

 land. It is nine miles in length and one in breadth, and 

 so thoroughly mountainous, mostly with rugged rocks 

 reaching down to the sea, that it has really only at two 

 spots a flat beach and so-called landing-places. The 

 north-east part rises to a height of 6863 feet, in the 

 lofty Beerenberg, which has a large crater, and indeed 

 the whole island is of volcanic origin. In the year 1732, 

 Burgomaster Anderson, of Hamburg, reported a de- 



^ Lord DufFeriu and Karl Vogt were fortunate enough to catch a 

 glimpse of the wonderful snowy peak of the Beerenberg, rising isolated 

 to a height of 6863 feet. " My delight was that of an anchorite catch- 

 ing a glimpse of the seventh heaven." (Lord Duiferin, " Letters from 

 High Latitudes," p. 139, .5th Ed.) 



