56 THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



cided eruption from a small side crater, wliicli had been 

 observed by a seaman ; and in the year 1818, Scoresby 

 and another captain saw great pillars of smoke rising 

 from the same place. 



Surrounded by floating ice the whole winter through, 

 and often for a longer period, Jan Mayen lies in the 

 spring-time and early summer so near the edge of the ice- 

 fields, that from 1612 to 1640 it afforded to the Enghsh 

 and Dutch whale-fishers a comfortable and much sought 

 after station for their booty and train-oil preparation. 

 It is said that a single ship, in one year, then brought 

 home from Jan Mayen 196,000 gallons of oil. 



Wishing to make an attempt at colonizing, in 1633-34 

 seven Dutch sailors passed the winter here. 



" The small community outlived the severity of the 

 winter without much danger to their lives, until the 

 scurvy broke out amongst them ; and as they could not 

 procure the necessary fresh nourishment, the sickness 

 made rapid strides. The first died on the 16th of April; 

 and all the others shared the same fate one month later. 

 Their diary ended with the 30th. When, on the 4th of 

 June, the Dutch fleet appeared off the island, they were 

 all found dead in their huts." ^ 



Scoresby visited the island in August, 1817, and gave 

 the first reliable account of it. The interest excited by 

 this account led to two other visits. Lord Dufferin 

 landed on the north side of Jan Mayen in 1856, but what 

 with fog and floating ice, could only stay one hour. 

 More good fortune and success attended that in 1861, 



* Scoresby, "Account of Uie Arctic Regions," i. 168. Also Churchill's 

 "CollecLiou of Voyages and Travels," ii. 367 — 378. 



