242 T1TI<] GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



and the body was covered over and over with them. 

 Even if their stins: on our hardened bodies did not have 

 quite the same effect as those bloodtliirsty gnats have 

 upon the tender skin of our ladies at home, still this 

 continual worrying was in the highest degree irritating. 



The view from the summit of the mountain is extensive 

 and beautiful. Over the bald mountain chain, strewn 

 with giant rocks, and its neighbours beyond (which 

 remind one of the Brockenfeld of the Hartz), the eye 

 strays, until the far distant mountains of the inland 

 with their glaciers set the last boundaries. At our 

 feet the lake shimmered blue, and on the other side of 

 the island and strait the eye met the glistening sea 

 with its icebergs and floes. It was an excursion well 

 rewarded ; deep in the contemplation of this grand 

 scenery, one could even forget the gnats' stings. 

 The steersmen were not particularly edified by the 

 sight of the ice in the sea. Did it mean longer 

 waiting ? 



The bay of Julianeshaab seemed very rich in fish. A 

 boat sent out by the Constance dorse-fishing, returned 

 to the ship after a short absence with a rich booty. 

 The fish were split up and salted, and, in angling, a 

 dog-fisli nine feet long was pulled up. Immediately a 

 whole body of natives received the sea-hyaena, brought 

 it to the shore, there dissected it, and quite close to 

 the dung-pits before their houses buried it, in order, 

 according to their ideas, to improve the taste of the 

 meat. For the next day, which was Sunday, another 

 pleasant dance was in prospect. The men, too, now 

 wished to be of the party. Sixty ladies, after the 

 last ball, had escorted those who were returning on 



