340 THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



September, we had three more. On the 7th they blew the 

 fiercest, lasting seventeen hours, and bringing much snow 

 with them. These were followed by the others on the 

 18th and 30th. During these storms the roof of the 

 observatory was completely torn off, and scattered in por- 

 tions wide over the ice, so that we had to construct a new 

 and stronger one. Fortunately we had delayed putting 

 in the instruments, or they would have suffered terribly. 



On the 12th of October we began hourly meteorological 

 readings. Besides the thermometers hanging in their 

 cases in the observatory, some were posted up between 

 the ship and the land, and by them was hoisted a black 

 white and red flag, partly for ornament and partly to 

 show the direction of the wind. At the stern of the ship 

 an ingenious apparatus was erected, by which the rising 

 and falling of the tide could be observed. The hole in 

 the ice, through which the pole protruded for some dis- 

 tance (" Flutloch " ^ we named it), served the cook for 

 getting out the water wanted, and in case of fire was our 

 only means of preservation. To keep this free from 

 ice and of uniform dimensions was our daily care. 



In the course of October the cold increased sensibly, 

 though not so much as we expected. Whilst at the end 

 of September the mean daily temperature was still 14° 

 Fahr., it fell by the 19th of October, with few exceptions, 

 to 12°, which was its minimum, whilst its maximum was 

 25°. The temperature of the water under the ice was 34°, 

 and remained at that point during the whole winter. 



For a long time we noticed a peculiar appearance, 

 which, at the first glance, seemed to contradict all known 

 facts. At first the surface of the young ice in the harbour 



" I. e. Tide-hole. (Tr.) 



