GROLOGY AND ICEBERGS. 431 



perature, altliougli only lasting some hours, made the 

 snow melt inside our tent, placing us in a most uncom- 

 fortable state. On the 6th of April we crossed the 76° of 

 Lat., and reached the level mountain-foot of a cape 

 called Karl Ritter, which was bounded to the north by 

 the beautiful bay of Bessel (named after the great German 

 astronomer), so rich in fjords. The shore consisted of 

 mica gneiss, alternating with amphibolite, and a very 

 coarse-grained granite, with red orthoclase, green oligo- 

 clase, and black mica. To our great astonishment, on 

 the south side of the cape, amongst some remains of 

 bones of sea animals, we came upon some Esquimaux 

 dwellings. They were summer tents, marked by a circle 

 of stones, the hide being held down, and kept upright by 

 a centre pole. 



Our road, in the meantime, had assumed a totally 

 different character. It consisted of lumps of ice rounded 

 by evaporation, amongst which we lost our can of bear's- 

 grease. Nevertheless, the same evening we reached the 

 southern exit of a second very large bay (Roon Bay), 

 north of Cape Peschel, which was marked by the wildest 

 mountain character. 



The icebergs here increased everywhere both in size 

 and numbers. They are successors of the glaciers, and 

 are distinguished by their light green colour, their shar[), 

 craggy formation, and more particularly the layers, 

 which differ from the bluish and less dense ice of the 

 sea-formed ice-floe. The appearance of these icebergs on 

 the open sea is very irregular, as the icing of the bays 

 stops all communication of the Fjord with the Arctic 

 currents often for a decade of years, and the icebergs 

 o-row tosrether with the flat ice into masses, until a 



