650 THE GEEMAN AEOTIC EXPEDITION. 



direction of the Fjord arm. At two a.m. we reached a 

 rocky group towering above a snow plateau, the altitude 

 of which was at least 4900 feet; and from which we 

 convinced ourselves that the chief arm of Kaiser Franz- 

 Joseph's Fjord was really to be sought in a northerly 

 direction. 



" At half-past four a.m. all oar work was finished on 

 this spot, and at nine we returned to our tent." 



At Bennet Island we rested, after a good meal, 

 though five reindeer which we had shot in Mackenzie Bay 

 had already turned bad, showing the effects of a Greenland 

 sun. We could easily have provided some more, as a 

 herd of twenty-two lay about 1000 paces from us, and 

 dispersed only by degrees, with the exception of five or 

 six who seemed to have no desire to move ; this indo- 

 lence, however, was not encouraged, the old leader of the 

 herd returning and striking them with his horns, until 

 they lazily rose and followed the others. 



At the south-east cape from Bennet the loosened ice 

 floating eastward was so heaped up, that we were obliged 

 to tug the boat. Later on, too, we had to make a great 

 curve in order to avoid some large drifting masses, so 

 that not until midnight did we reach the ship, thoroughly 

 tired out. 



