34 



GUNNAR ISACHSEN. M.-N. Kl. 



tween Borgmester Island on the south and a little peninsula on the north, 

 there is a depth of only from 2 to 5 metres. In the outer part of the 

 harbour lie Steinkjer Islands. Between Borgmester Island and the land, 

 there was formerly an arch connecting the two, through which a boat could 

 row, and to which Nordenskiöld in 1864 gave the name of Borgmester 

 Porten. In 1899, when the Swedish expedition under Johan Gunnar An- 

 dersson was working on the island, the arch had fallen, but it was stan- 

 ding on July 7, 1878, when Professor Mohn, of the Norwegian North At- 

 lantic Expedition, rowed under it. 



Sörhamna is a good harbour except in southerly winds, which blow 

 straight into the bay. On the present chart of Bear Island, Borgmester 

 Porten is incorrectly placed on the east side of this harbour instead of on 

 Russe Hamna. Inside Sörhamna there is a sandy beach, but a few metres 

 farther in, almost inaccessible cliffs rise to a height of about 50 metres. 



There are no harbours on Bear Island besides those mentioned above, 

 the island being almost entirely surrounded by perpendicular cliffs, broken 

 only by the above-mentioned harbours, and in a few other places. Else- 

 where along the coast it is difficult to land, partly on account of the 

 almost inaccessible cliffs, partly because of the breakers. 



There are several houses on the island. Near Sörhamna, up on the 

 highest part between that harbour and Hvalros Hamna, there is a timber 

 house that was erected by the German warship, Olga, in 1899. In 

 Hvalros Hamna, to which the Germans, on the occasion of the Olgas 

 visit to Bear Island in 1899, gave the name of Olga Hafen, stands the now 

 abandoned whaling establishment belonging to the Norwegian, M. Inge- 

 brigtsen. In this harbour and in Kolbugta (Coal Bay) farther north, 

 the Olga also put up wooden houses, one in each place. The one in 

 Hvalros Hamna has been removed. In Russe Hamna there are the 

 remains of a Norwegian timber house from 1838, and a small wooden 

 house built by the German, Lerner, in 1899, who has also indicated 

 his claims by putting up a similar house at the mouth of Ella Lake. 

 Immediately east of Nordhamna, by the harbour called Herwig-Hafen in 

 1899 by the German Sea-fisheries Association, there still stands the house 

 in which the Norwegian whaling-skipper, Sivert Tobiesen, wintered in 

 1865—66. West of Tobiesen's house, the above-mentioned association 

 built a "Station des deutschen Seefischerei- Vereins". 



As early as the i8th century, Russians wintered on Bear Island, but 

 to what extent is not known. The accounts we have are few in number, 

 and have possibly been misunderstood on account of the name of the island, 

 as there is also a Bear Island in the White Sea. It is certain, however. 



