NORTH MAGNETIC POLE AND NORTHWEST PASSAGE. 273 



"vvlion the flowers came decorated it Avith them. It is situated on a 

 very prominent point, and will be a landmark for the numerous ships 

 which pass by it. 



The spring was a cheerful time. The continual passage of Eskimo 

 and whites made the time pass quickl3^ On Juh' 2 we got out of the 

 ice and brought up under the Bonanza., so as to avoid the ice which 

 was drifting backward and forward in the land lead. 



On July 11 two of the American whalers came to our place to col- 

 lect driftwood, and the same evening we stood out. We took a last 

 farewell of our comrade whom we were leaving behind us out there, 

 and dipi^ed our flag as a last mark of honor to him as we passed under 

 his grave. Already at Herschel Island we were stopped by the ice, 

 and were kept there a whole month. After many narrow passages 

 and abrupt turns we stood down Bering Strait on August 30. The 

 day afterwards we went into Xome, a gold-digging town in Alaska. 

 The reception we received and the enthusiasm our enterprise had 

 aroused there we shall never forget. 



On September 5 the Gjoa set sail southward under Lieutenant Han- 

 sen's command for San Francisco, and on the Tth I left with the mag- 

 netic instruments for Sitka, in order to conclude our work. On 

 October 19 we met again in San Francisco, where we confided the 

 vessel to the hands of the American Xav}\ There rests the old Gjoa^ 

 and gi'eatly does she need it. 



SM 190fr IS 



