PREPAEATIONS FOR WINTERING. 351 



On the 1st of November we succeeded in dredging 

 once more from the edge of the old ice. With that this 

 geological work was also brought to an end, as the days 

 were growing darker and shorter, and storms were 

 breaking out again. The scrupulous, minute record of 

 meteorological calculations from hour to hour (so sneered 

 at by the uninitiated) had begun, and was now part 

 of our daily work, and was carried on through the 

 whole of the winter without intermission. 



Besides this it was desirable (and was also mentioned 

 in the instructions) that longer journeys should bo taken 

 into the interior. These were to have chiefly a geo- 

 graphical aim, and, as far as the necessary care for our 

 safety allowed, Koldewey endeavoured to carry these out. 



In the beginning of October, therefore, a sledge journey 

 was planned, first in a westerly direction, in order to 

 ascertain if in the interior of Flache Bay there might be 

 a stratum of coal ; and then southwards towards Cape 

 Wynn to Clavering Island, to find whether the Esqui- 

 maux settlement seen by Clavering in the year 1823 still 

 existed. Preparations were made for this excursion, 

 and on the evening of the 7th of October the party 

 started (Captain Koldewey, First Lieutenant Payer, Dr. 

 Copeland, Peter EUinger, Peter Iversen, and George 

 Herzberg). The air was heavy, but otherwise fine 

 weather, and the travellers reached Flache Bay the same 

 day, raising their tent under a mountain to the north. 



The next morning the weather was gloomy and foggy, 

 with some snow falling. We could, therefore, only make 

 a hasty geological excursion to the mountain which 

 lay near. We found coal-formation and petrifactions, 

 without coming upon real coal. Fog and snow prevented 



