102 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRANDA. 



they had secured was the Rigel, commanded by Captain 

 George W. Dixon, of Gloucester, Mass. The history of the 

 expedition after the schooner is a very interesting one, and I 

 have abridged it from the diary of one of the members, Mr. 

 Russell "W. Porter, who kindly placed his notes at my dis- 

 posal. For a fuller description of this trip I can refer my 

 readers to Mr. Porter's own narrative. 



The expedition started, as I mentioned before, at about 

 six o'clock on the evening of August 10. Early the next 

 morning they arrived at Kangarmuit, otherwise known as Old 

 Sukkertoppen. Here they remained for a day and a half on 

 account of bad weather, being allowed by the governor to 

 take up their quarters in the loft of the church, as there was 

 no other building large enough to accommodate the party. 

 On Sunday morning, the 12th, they started away, and sailed 

 intil eleven that night, when they camped upon a small 

 island. They broke camp the following morning, but as there 

 was a heavy wind and rain storm, they found that they could 

 make no progress, and were obliged to go into camp again. 

 For two days the storm continued, and they had great diffi- 

 culty in keeping the tent from blowing away. The party 

 finally got away early on August 15, and sailed and rowed for 

 sixteen hours, arriving at Holsteinborg at eight o'clock in the 

 evening. On the way they stopped at Itirdlek, a small settle- 

 ment, to inquire about the schooners. No schooners were 

 there, but some were reported at Nepisat, not far away ; they 

 went to Nepisat, but found no ships, and so went on to IIol- 

 steinborg. As they neared this place they ran up the Ameri- 

 can flag and fired a salute with rifles ; a Danish flag was im- 

 mediately run up on shore, and an answering salute fired from 

 the governor's cannon. They were hospitably entertained by 

 Governor Miiller, of Holsteinborg, who made the party take 

 their meals at his house, and gave them a room in one of 

 nis outhouses. They found out that .the schooner Rigel, of 



