FaRTHER COASTING OF THE GEEMANIA. 309 



depth, is only safe for ships drawing less than ten feet of 

 water, and which can He inside the straight hne which 

 unites the two hind points in the east and west. 



As oui' ship coukl effect nothing further in a southerly 

 direction, and our anchorage was now insecure from the 

 pressure of the ice and the violent north wind, we 

 steamed out at half-past ten a.m. on the 13th of Sep- 

 tember, after having made another geological excursion 

 to Sabine Island, to the harbour which, for ten months, 

 was to be our home. 



In looking back upon the summer's enterprise and 

 summing up the results, we had cause, in spite of all 

 failures and disappointed hopes, to be thankful for what 

 we had attained. If we had not succeeded in advancing 

 northwards, and our separation from the Hansa, and her 

 continued non-appearance, limited our investigations in a 

 great measure, the fact remained (the condition sme qua 

 non of the whole undertaking) that we had reached the 

 coast with the Germania quite safely, and had already 

 made some important discoveries, which, the winter 

 happily over, might result in a rich store of knowledge, 

 however unfavourable the condition of the ice might be. 

 We found ourselves in a field (which, scientifically, was 

 almost unknown), on a coast respecting which the most 

 unreliable and contradictory reports obtained, and nearly 

 all our discoveries and observations seemed new, thus 

 affording important contributions to the knowledge of the 

 Arctic region. Events proved that Captain Koldewey 

 was right in choosing the coast of East Greenland for 

 the basis of Arctic exploration, instead of Dr. Peter- 

 mann's suggestion of advancing between Nova-Zembla 

 and Spitzbergen to the North Pole. Captain Koldewey 



