272 



THE GERMAN AECTIC EXrEDITION. 



these can only be produced in all tlieir beauty by tbe 

 midnight sun in a region of ice ; indeed, to fully appre- 

 ciate the peculiar beauty of such a scene, one must see it 

 with one's own eyes. 



All had long since been hushed on board, but we felt 

 no fatigue. This wonderful repose of nature, without 

 either motion or life, overcomes one with a feeling of 

 boundless desolation and soHtude. Now and again the 

 stillness is broken by a thundering and cracking, softened 

 by the distance, and suddenly a rushing of water is heard, 

 accompanied by a groaning and blowing ; it is a herd of 

 narwhals coming to the surface for breath. But the 

 hours of night are fast running out, and with one more 

 look we descend to our cabin. 



About four a.m., as we were about to start again, a 

 dense fog rolled up ; some hours later, however, it dis- 



FrKST APPEARANCE OF LAND. 



persed, and we steamed in a northerly direction, as from 

 that quarter we should most probably sooner see open 

 water. At half -past eight the fog cleared completely, 

 and we forced our way through a chain of connected 



