126 THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



ever, we are destined for a liappy return home, tlie next 

 will be a brighter one ; may God grant it ! " 



Early on the 26tli, we were awoke by a sliout from 

 the sailor on the watch. We were drifting to land ! an 

 island straight ahead of us ! Amid universal conster- 

 nation, all rushed out. The air was not clear, but 

 about three nautical miles distant we could distinguish a 

 dark mass, which looked like an island. The steersmen 

 went somewhat in advance to reconnoitre the distance, 

 and the nature of the appearance. The mass gave no 

 indication whatever, and we soon made out that what 

 we saw was an enormous iceberg. The next day we 

 passed the drifting mass, moving much slower than our 

 field, and soon lost sight of it. Saint Sylvester we 

 kept up exactly as they do at home, with salvos of fire- 

 arms and punch; and at midnight we did not forget 

 mutual good wishes for the " New Year," with the loud 

 clink of the glasses. 



These good wishes, so often nothing but a polite 

 formula, came here from the heart. Wonderful as our 

 preservation in great dangers had been up to this 

 time, we each felt how greatly we needed God's sup- 

 port for the future, in strength, endurance, and 

 health. 



The new year, at 16° Fahr., brought us the first clear, 

 fine weather we had had for a long while. The land 

 between north-east and south-west, was beautifully in 

 sio-ht; high sharp mountains and small glaciers. In the 

 west-sou' -west we saw the dark outline of an island, 

 the position of which was about 66° 14' N.L. and 33° 45, 

 W.L. as near as could be determined. The 2nd of January 

 brought frightfully bad weather; storm from the north- 



