306 THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXFEDITION. 



was impossible to penetrate into the interior by means 

 of the ship, on account of the numerous icebergs and 

 floes which were stranded at the entrance. There re- 

 mained, therefore, but one means to gain our end — the 

 climbing of a high overlooking mountain. The only one 

 we could see fit for this purpose was the Sattelberg, 3700 

 feet high, which formed the highest point to the north 

 of Gael Hamkes Bay, and was easily reached from our 

 anchorage by going through ' Konigin- Augusta Thai.' 



" Thus on the 11th of September, at eight a.m.. Payer 

 and Ellinger left the ship, provided with theodolite and 

 barometer, and wandered up the dreary, gently-rising 

 valley. Here Dr. Copeland joined them. A tiring, mono- 

 tonous road led us up and down the mountains and slopes 

 covered with scanty vegetation, through rough water- 

 rifts, and, lastly, over a small, steep glacier on to the 

 Dolerite- crest of the Sattelberg. A violent north wind 

 made the moderate cold of 14° Fahr. particularly painful 

 to the travellers during their stay on the summit, espe- 

 cially whilst carrying on their work. 



" The view westward was unimpeded, and afforded a 

 most interesting glimpse of the interior of the Greenland 

 Fjord, the exploration of which, by means of extensive 

 sledge-journeys (for which the time of year was most 

 favourable), seemed desirable. The opposite view, too, 

 of a broad, smooth, icy sea losing itself in the distance, 

 and the wild, imposing, rocky land to the west and north 

 was. in a purely landscape point of view, most beautiful. 



" And where was the so-called coast water ? It was a 

 small channel close to the south of Pendulum Island. 



" Here we observed, as upon all mountains previously, 

 and upon others since, the freedom from snow even on 



