POST NIIEILA PIILEBUS. 155 



ever, no montli of delight to us here. Setting aside the mild 

 temperature and the brightness, it differs but little from 

 January, resembling it in the continued northern storms. 

 Real nights we have now no longer ; the sun rises at 

 three o'clock and sets shortly before nine ; the inter- 

 mediate period is half twilight. The time must be near 

 for the birds to choose their quarters and lay their eggs. 

 This east coast of Greenland is, indeed, a dead, deserted 

 neighbourhood ; and one may judge how difficult it is to 

 get at, as, had our lives depended upon it, we could not 

 once have reached it with the boats." As no change took 

 place in the position of tbe ice, Ave resolved to drag our 

 boats to the Island of Illuidlek, about three miles distant,' 

 wliich we were obliged to admit was hard work. We 

 began on the evening of the 20th. The tow-line which 

 we had made for the purpose during the winter, was 

 made fast through the thole-holes ; and we harnessed 

 ourselves to it by a band round the shoulders, Only 

 300 steps did we advance. Snow fell plentifully, but 

 soon turned to water, so that in our night-quarters in the 

 boat we suffered much from the damp. On the afternoon 

 of the 21st, the weather cleared. The captain and 

 Mr. Hildebrandt undertook a ramble in the direction of 

 land. They found the ice but little adapted for our 

 purpose, nothing but burst fragments, high towering 

 floes, a7]d huge blocks ; there were but few fields, and 

 those not more than 100 paces in extent. It seemed 

 almost impossible to pull tlie boats through these laby- 

 rinths of ice to the land ; and we were oblio^ed to ag-ree 

 to wait for the working of the spring-floods, wliich would 



^ In rcckouing by mile^, luuitical milcti miibt be uutlcrsitood, fuur ul' 

 ■\vLicli 00 to oue Gcrmuii luile. 



