378 THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



The first number of the " East Greenland Gazette '* 

 appeared. 



We thought that on this point too we ought to follow 

 the example of our predecessors, although our prevailing 

 state of mind had as yet in no way required such cheer- 

 ing and refreshing. Materials for the publication of such 

 a number every fourteen days could never be wanting. 

 Unfortunately, a small printing press, given by the print-^ 

 ing-house at Bremerhaven, had not followed us on board. 

 In order, therefore, to have two copies, one for the cabin 

 and one for the forecastle, we had to take the trouble to 

 write it. Already on the 10th had appeared " Invitation 

 to assist in the publication." Dr. Pansch was appointed 

 editor, and a locked box was hung up, in which every 

 one dropped his contribution anonymously. 



At last, on Sunday at noon, the first number appeared 

 " with a supplement," sixteen pages in the whole. It 

 contained all sorts of fun, some poems, " official pro- 

 clamations," and an address to the men by the doctor. 



That afternoon merriment reigned in both rooms, and in 

 the fore-cabin the well known " Volkslieder " were heard 

 in the evening. Well might we enjoy this fine still day. 



On the 15th, just eight days after the last catastrophe, 

 it again began to blow a storm from the north, and that 

 crescendo. The storm howled and sobbed, the squall 

 crashed and thundered, the tent bent, and the poles 

 cracked; dense, wildly- drifting snow without, and fine 

 powdery drifts on deck. It is the same mighty spectacle 

 of northern nature that we so vividly remembered the 

 week before. And it raged thus unabated for quite 

 eighty-one hours ; as far as we could ascertain, the fall 

 of snow lasted forty-five hours. 



