NORWEGIAN DEEP-SEA EXPEDITION OF 1S78. 271 



doubled South Cape, T\ith the \ow island off it, and a pretty stiff north 

 wind having- meanwhile set in, we steered toward the southeast point 

 in order to get in lee of the land, and at the same time get, to begin with, 

 some idea of Spitzbergeu's grand natural aspects. From a broad val- 

 ley, completely filled with snow, a mighty glacier extends far into the 

 sea, having abrupt edges and floes at the base. Above it rises a beau- 

 tiful, dome-like mountain, which bears the name Keilhan's Mountain, 

 so called after our celebrated countryman Keilhan, whose explorations 

 in these northern regions form the basis of geological knowledge of this 

 Arctic land. East of Keilhan's Mountain we got a glimpse of a consid- 

 erable portion of the east coast facing Storfjord. It lay illuminated by 

 the clear light of the midnight sun, while the west side was enveloped 

 in dense masses of fog. Having made some physical and zoological in- 

 vestigations right by the foot of the glacier, we set our course to the 

 southeast out into Storfjord, until we found a depth of 150 fathoms, 

 where a careful series of observations of temperature was taken, and a 

 dredging made, which gave us a tolerably complete idea of the fauna of 

 the sea-bed. The stem was then turned to the west again in order to 

 complete our first i)assage between Spitzbergen and the Greenland ice. 



The same day we reached the ledge, where a coui)le of Greenland 

 shark-hunters were seen lying at anchor. The lead here showed a pretfy 

 abrupt descent toward the deep, and at a comparatively short distance 

 from the edge we had a depth of 750 fathoms. Here the trawl was sent 

 down, but it was brought up with the net comjjletely torn asunder, which 

 was the more to be regretted, since, from the animals still sticking fast 

 in the meshes of the net, it could be seen that the fauna here must be 

 extraordinarily plentiful. But the bottom was evidently here of such a 

 nature that it would involve a great risk to make another haul, where- 

 fore we proceeded westward, throwing the lead and taking careful ob- 

 servations of the temperature at suitable intervals. 



On Thursday, the 8th of August, at noon, we were warned that ice 

 was in sight. And it was found that to the north of us, at the horizon, 

 appeared a white line of considerable length, from which blocks of ice 

 came drifting with the current southward. But the sea being free from 

 ice to the west, we continued our course in that direction. In the eve- 

 ning we passed longitude 0° without our having met with any ice, 

 wherefore the ice previously seen clearly must have been an isolated 

 collection of drift-ice. In the night the trawl was sent down to a depth 

 of 1,700 fathoms, and we awaited with great suspense the result of this 

 haul, as we had never before tried the trawl at so great a depth. But, 

 in hauling it uj) on the following morning, the rope suddenly snapped on 

 account of the great weight, and the whole trawl, together with 2,000 

 fiithoms of rope, was lost. This was a misfortune greatly to be regretted, 

 and for the time being it could not help depressing our spirits, not only 

 because we had given much time and toil to the maneuvering, but also 

 because we had sent tJie trawl down with great expectations. As mat- 



