120 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



afternoon and re-entered the wide ocean, soon losing sight 

 of Staten Island, whose inaccessible rocky peaks could 

 only be seen as an indistinct outline above the clouds, 

 while the lower part of the Island, though but four miles 

 away, had been completely obliterated from view by 

 heavy fog. The breeze was quite refreshing but not very 

 strong, and as the weather seemed to be pleasant and 

 quiet, we set full sails and went with South-Southwest 

 wind. Though the coast disappeared more and more from 

 our horizon, it remained picturesque, as before. It was 

 now that the numerous small islands and the rough cliffs, 

 which projected out of the water, forming all kinds of 

 strange figures, would impress one with a peculiar long- 

 ing. The back-ground of this grand panorama was, of 

 course, the mighty chain of snowy mountains. 



As you may well imagine, I did not allow this rare and 

 favorable opportunity to pass by without making a few 

 sketches, of which I have six, taken from the most inter- 

 esting points of the coast. The magic beauty of the scen- 

 eries was so attractive that I continued my sketching 

 with fingers, stiffened by cold, for which the favorable 

 light and general quiet seemed to recompense me. The 

 opportunity is seldom offered and few will have ever 

 thought of making this use of it. 



We continued on our quiet journey, somewhat protect- 

 ed by the projecting land, and assisted by more favorable 

 ocean currents, which had hitherto been rather against 

 us, especially in the Strait Le Maire, where the waves 

 reach at times a height of thirty feet, i. e., under ordinary 

 conditions, while it exceeds this greatly in times of 

 storms. During the afternoon the air became heavier 

 and by eight o'clock in the evening the sky was quite 

 cloudy, though the wind remained steady and the sea 

 quiet. We expected to reach the Cape within the next 

 six or eight hours. Nobody of our merry crowd, that 

 passed the evening hours laughing and joking, thought 

 that it would take us yet fully a fortnight to reach the 

 long looked-for Cape. Nor did we realize that we would 

 have to suffer more on every single one of these days than 

 we had during our whole three months' voyage. 



