76 THE GEBMAN AEOTIC EXPEDITION. 



Hansa had, like ourselves, been several days in the 

 ice. Indeed, a glance at the logs showed that since their 

 separation the two vessels had never been far from one 

 another, that they had sailed in the same course to the 

 ice, and had also sighted it the same day, and that 

 nothing but continued fog had prevented us from sighting 

 each other sooner. Captain Hegemann reported that 

 farther north a larger bay penetrated to the westward. 

 We, however, preferred trying the southerly one. We 

 further agreed, conformably with our instructions, that in 

 case of a separation among the ice, the next place of 

 meeting should be Sabine Island, as it was plainly loss of 

 time to return to 74^° N.L., to th e line of heavy ice, if 

 we had each found an opening ; besides which, the attempt 

 ought not to be given up before the middle of Sep- 

 tember, and we hoped to get through much sooner, as 

 the position of the ice, in comparison with that of 1868, 

 seemed more favourable. 



Meanwhile, the gentlemen sat in the cabin over their 

 wine, exchanging the experiences and results of the last 

 few days. The zoologists, it is true, were the only men 

 who were particularly satisfied, as both in the higher and 

 lower classes of animals they had already an interesting 

 collection. Of birds there were several " Mallemucke " 

 shot and properly prepared ; also one of the robber-gulls 

 with the two peculiar elongated middle tail feathers 

 (Lestris crepidata, Brehm). Several seals (Fhoca Green- 

 Icmdica, L.) had also fallen a sacrifice to science. But 

 the lower animals had yielded the richest harvest, and 

 besides different species of Calanus, Lysianassa, Gam- 

 niarus, and so forth, several specimens of the beautiful 

 Beroe had been obtained. Pity that these wonderful 



