NOVA ZEMBLA AND LANDS BEYOND. 75 



the north point has traditionally acquired an evil reputa- 

 tion amongst the walrus hunters, as being a sort of 

 bewitched headland, to round which means to say farewell 

 to the world ; for it was believed that vessels were 

 mysteriously drifted thence into the Arctic Ocean, beset 

 by ice, and never heard of again. That there is some 

 foundation for this tradition, is proved by the fate of the 

 Austrian Polar expedition of Weyprecht and Payer in the 

 steamer Tegethoff, which was beset near this Cape in 

 1872, and never got free again, being drifted about the 

 Arctic Ocean for two years, during which the expedition 

 involuntarily discovered Franz- Josef land, and only at last 

 got free by abandoning their ship, and undertaking a most 

 perilous and laborious journey over the ice with their 

 boats, which lasted three months, when they had the good 

 fortune to reach the shores of Nova Zembla, and to encoun- 

 ter a Russian schooner which was just leaving for home. 



' Lying between the parallels of 77 35' N. and 70 40' 

 N., the two main islands, with a curved outline, cover a 

 space/ says our author, ' of about 450 English miles, while 

 their average breadth may be taken as 60 miles. The two 

 islands are divided by a strait called the Matotchkin Sharr, 

 which also well marks a central position in the physical 

 configuration of the country ; for it is in this locality that 

 the highest mountains and wildest scenery are to be found, 

 the land thence sinking to lower levels both to the north- 

 ward and southward. Matotchkin Sharr may likewise be 

 said to be a central position as to the distribution of the 

 various objects of sport ; for it is on the slopes of the snow 

 and glacier clad mountains of this part of the country that 

 reindeer are most plentiful, whilst wildfowl of all kinds 

 prefer the south island. Bears, walrusses, and seals, on the 

 other hand, may be looked for with greater confidence on 

 the shores of the north island, and more particularly on 

 the eastern and northern parts of it/ 



Mention is made of Barents, and of the Austrian 

 expedition under Payer. 



