PENDULUM ISLAND. 283 



old charts. At first we thought there must be some 

 mistake in the log's reckoning, so, as a calm had fallen we 

 lay -to. Our observations gave 75° 17' Lat., and 17° 22' 

 W. Long, from Greenwich by our chronometer, the 

 standpoint of which was on Sabine Island. Later on we 

 ascertained that the position of the north-east cape of 

 the island was 75° 26' N. Lat., and 18° 0' W. Long. 



The correctness of our reckoning we proved beyond a 

 doubt, and we were therefore obliged to conclude that it 

 was impossible for Glavering to have reached the spot 

 indicated by Dr. Petermann on the chart at 75° 14' 

 N.W. of the frozen bay, and that most likely the whole 

 boat journey rested upon some misunderstanding ; and 

 later, upon going through Sabine's and Clavering's 

 original reports, we found that this supposed journey had 

 never actually taken place. 



We stayed by the ice all that day (12th August), partly 

 to take more observations, and partly because there was 

 so much ice in the north which could only be penetrated 

 by a favourable wind or steam. 



In the afternoon the current set the ice strong to the 

 south, at a speed of one and a quarter nautical miles an 

 hour in a perfect calm; but from four to ten p.m. it 

 stopped completely, when it began to drift again. It 

 seemed, therefore, as if there was ebb and flood, but that 

 the current to the south decidedly prevailed.^ And with 

 all our late observations we could not prove a decided ebb 

 and flood, although the tidal wave could regularly be 

 seen along the coast. 



^ According to our later observations the liarbour time on this spot 

 was 12h. Om., consequently high water on this day was at 6h, 41m. ; 

 the current noticed must therefore be ascribed to some local influence, 

 especially as the tidal waA-e ran to the north. — Koldcwcij. 



