218 THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



Once more we were to be terrified by the malice of an 

 iceberg. Before the harbour of Lichtenau lay some small, 

 malicious, jagged bergs. Some were so weak that the 

 natives' shooting put them in danger of demolition, but one 

 in its last moments would fain commit a crime, which, for- 

 tunately for us, did not succeed. Ourselves in the whale- 

 boat had just passed it; the small boat, with the native 

 crew and Mr. Hildebrandt, was following us ; the large 

 one was farther behind, when the berg burst, falling ^^ith 

 a rustling and cracking over the craft beneath. It did 

 not, however, touch it, but the masses of ice fell close to 

 it in the water, which rose in huge waves, hurling the 

 boat far away. For one moment we looked with horror 

 at the spectacle ; but our horror changed at once to joy, 

 as we saw the little craft dancing on the water, and the 

 natives, wet as poodle dogs from the spurting of the 

 water, spitting, and spluttering, and drying their faces, 

 which for a long time had never been free from dirt. 



In a short time Lichtenau had for ever disappeared 

 from our sight. At the entrance of the Fjord is a 

 small outlying town, SMproven. Here we rested a 

 moment to greet the merchant and his wife once more. 

 Here our convoy took leave of us, and the three boats 

 made the last portion of the road to the colony alone. In 

 the evening we reached the Island of Karsok. The 

 natives, who at first hid themselves, came forward when 

 they saw Mr. Warmow, and received bread and meat 

 with delight. They lived high above the strand on a 

 cliff", the house rather large and in good order. Our 

 people, who followed them into it, were immediately 

 regaled with coff'ee, which they praised. 



Through channels and straits, between a labyrinth of 



