174 THE. GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



low-lying Sihbaldia spread its violet flower-bed. Below, 

 at our feet, lay the light blue straits; branching off 

 here and there, and forming deep Fjords stretching into 

 the mountains, which with the glittering glaciers and 

 bluish ravines bounded the distant view. I thought of 

 the glorious Lake of the four Cantons ! The small ice- 

 bergs drifting on the water, gave life to the picture, 

 looking like a fleet of blinding white sails; but instead 

 of the smiling banks which delight the eye on that 

 Swiss lake, it fell upon a desert shore. And yet what a 

 different impression the landscape made upon me now 

 to what it did a short time ago, when we were so un- 

 certain as to our fate, and scarcely ventured to look up, 

 much less give our souls to the great beauty of a 

 northern landscape !" 



June 13, started at four in the morning. We crossed 

 between floes, until we had gone round the north point 

 of the island, ran before the wind through the Straits of 

 Torsukatek, and then took our course as a calm fell, 

 rowing westward, remaining as near as possible to the 

 coast, looking sharply in the direction of Friedrichsthal. 

 There suddenly, after rounding a low promontory, the 

 longed-for bay lay before us ! It was a never-to-be- 

 forgotten moment. The wind was now favourable, so 

 we at once set sail, and hoisted our flag. A few hundred 

 steps from the shore, on the green ground, stood a rather 

 spacious red house, topped by a small tower. It was the 

 mission-house. More to the side, and somewhat nearer 

 to the bank, stood a similar smaller building, near which 

 lay a dark mass of stony heaps ; these we conjectured 

 were the Esquimaux houses. Further on to the left 

 opened a broad Fjord running from the north. High 



