260 THE (iERMAN ARCTIC EXrEDITION. 



pened to the aforesaid gentleman, who got upset with 

 the Kajak, and came on board wet as a poodle. But, 

 when close to the man-rope he turned round, sprang into 

 the water, and swam in the bitterly cold stream around 

 the Constance. Such a thing the Greenlanders had never 

 before seen ; and although they are, as it were, part of 

 their Kajaks, they can none of them swim : the bitter 

 cold of the element of itself forbids it. Their astonish- 

 ment found vent in all sorts of exclamations, when 

 Mr. Hildebrandt returned on board. Whenever they saw 

 him afterwards, they begged him to repeat the trick 

 once more. Patiently they waited the whole day by the 

 ship, but the artistic swimmer did not satisfy their 

 curiosity. 



The neighbourhood of Frederickshaab offered bat little 

 that was interesting. We passed the time in aimless 

 rambles, and viewing the prospects from the heights 

 which, at last, rewarded us with a lovely distant view. 

 We could not, however, count upon our stay here ; for 

 already, on the evening of the 24th, our business on shore 

 was nearly ended, so that we might hope to put to sea 

 the following day. But not until early on the 25th of July 

 could the anchor be weighed for our homeward voyage, 

 when, for the last time, we trod on Greenland soil. The 

 dense ice out at sea forced the Constance still to keep a 

 northward course. Wind and weather favoured us. By 

 the evening we had the great Ice-blink near Fiskerniiss, 

 the second great glacier of South Greenland, close to us. 

 The huge masses of ice showed the gateways and arches 

 in a greenish light ; and now louder, now fainter, we 

 heard the washing of the water. A lovely evening closed 

 the day. Once more did we see that magic light, which 



