CAPE FRANKLIN AND FJORD. 547 



would make for Bennet Island, and if possible advance 

 as far as Cape Franklin. 



It was the 7tli of August. The sky was clouded in the 

 east, and it had rained hard in the night. But it cleared 

 at ten o'clock, and we set sail with a light south-easterly- 

 wind. This soon lulled, and we had to take to the oars, so 

 that we did not reach Cape Bennet until the afternoon, 

 when we had to seek protection in the tent from the 

 rain. 



On the morning of the 8th the fog seemed to have dis- 

 persed, and we steered straight for Cape Franklin. The 

 icebergs increased and although the land retreated to the 

 south-west, we could still see no glaciers. It was evident 

 to us that we were on the point of making an important 

 discovery. At two nautical miles east of the Cape we 

 were obliged to halt. The ice lay fast to the land, and 

 sheer across the mouth of the Fjord, forming a barrier 

 that our ship could not force. The boat must, therefore, 

 be tugged over, but before doing this it was advisable to 

 ascertain whether it was navigable. 



Tent and tools were therefore landed, and Copeland 

 and Payer prepared to climb the mountain, 4550 feet 

 high. After doing all necessary work, we followed, 

 and Borgen and the Captain mounted a rocky height of 

 475 feet, from whence their astonished eyes beheld a 

 landscape, which was indescribable in its extraordinary 

 grandeur. The interior of Greenland lay there like a 

 splendid picture, displaying the Alpine world in its highest 

 style. At our feet lay the mouth of a great Fjord, or rather 

 arm of the sea, perfectly free from drifting ice, but 

 covered with numerous icebergs of from 95 to 190 feet 

 high, and stretching westward in the far, far distance, 



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