WUSK OXEN. 427 



vessel at nine a.m. for the second time. Six men — 

 EUinger, Herzberg, Mieders, Klentzer, Wagner, the 

 carpenter, and our commander, Koldewey, and Payer — 

 dragged the large one ; four men — Sengstacke, Krauscli- 

 ner, Iversen, and the boatswain — managed the convoy. 

 As before, we realized the mildness of the temperature 

 in the harbour compared witli the snowy waste to the 

 north of Sabine Island. 



The whole of Sengstacke's right foot was frost-bitten 

 the first day, and rubbing with snow during the whole of 

 the night was of no use ; so the convoy sledge had to 

 return the following day, which, was a great loss for us. 

 We increased our store of provisions by taking that from 

 the other sledge, and continued our journey ; but on the 

 27th of March a snow-storm kept us in the tent, and on 

 the afternoon of the 28th the sledge broke down one of 

 the curved irons which supported it. With much trouble 

 this was repaired, but the violence of the storm raging 

 on the 29th and 30th prevented us from leaving the tent. 



On the 31st of March, after a night of torment, we 

 pulled through the straits between Shannon Island (from 

 which a herd of musk oxen watched us with astonishment) 

 and Hochstetter's Promontory. Upon reaching a large 

 iceberg to the south-east of the latter, we took advantage 

 of the sunny weather to shake out our ice-encumbered 

 sleeping-sack. Unfortunately this brought no relief 

 for tbe next night, as the low temperature robbed every 

 one of sleep. The coast-edge of Hochstetter's Promon- 

 tory (stretching direct north and south), we passed near 

 enough to allow of a fruitless raid upon a herd of musk 

 oxen. As soon as the hunter was within 200 steps of 

 them, the animals formed their accustomed square, and. 



