FRANTvIJN POINT. 549 



tlien began a quick march over the declivitj, fragments 

 of which were set in motion at every step. This de- 

 clivity ended at a high basalt-wall, which cut like a road 

 through the massive rocks of the Cape, seeming to isolate 

 them from one another. We scrambled through this 

 confusion of rocks over a craggy ridge to the edge of a 

 high roof-shaped glacier, and then on to a weather-beaten 

 cone, thus reaching the north-easterly summit of the 

 group of rocks forming the Cape. 



" What an unexpected sight met our delighted eyes ! 

 A monstrous Fjord with numberless glistening icebergs 

 lay to the westward at our feet, with its high many branch- 

 ing rocky masses covered with ice, sometimes enclosing 

 real islands with rugged walls. 



" More than ten German miles to westward we could 

 see that one of the chief arms of the Fjord curved in a 

 south-westerly direction, at the foot of a mountain-chain 

 about 8750 feet high. To the south the solitary Cape 

 Parry stretched far into the sea, in spite of the crowding 

 of the pack-ice which lay silent and stiff to the farthest 

 horizon, and through which we should one day have to 

 make our return journey to Europe. 



" It was eight p.m., as after five hours' march we 

 reached the summit ; the temperature was 34° Fahr., and 

 not a breath of wind was stirring ; and Payer sat down 

 without a coat to sketch the panorama, and then proceed 

 to trigonometrical measurement. By the help of some 

 solar observations the azimuth of the most southerly 

 point of our trigonometrical net was decided, in order to 

 connect our standing-point with it. 



" After four hours' stay Ave went along a craggy ridge 

 to the south-west, to satisfy ourselves as to the northerly 



