THE NORTH-EAST PASSAGE. 43 



next we found it covered with ice six to eight inches 

 thick. Should there happen to be a snowstorm dur- 

 ing the night, it was immediately filled up with 

 snow, and then the ice became still thicker. 



From the 1st of December until the 1st of April, 

 magnetic observations were made every hour ; and 

 in addition, on the 1st and 15th of every month, 

 observations were made every five minutes. Meteor- 

 ological observations were also taken every hour, 

 from the 1st December till the 1st of April ; for the 

 remainder of our stay, only every four hours. These 

 observations were conducted by eleven persons, of 

 which nine were men of science and officers, and two 

 of the crew. The watch lasted for six hours, and 

 the person on duty remained in the observatory all 

 that time. The magnetic observatory consisted of a 

 building twelve feet long and ten feet broad erected 

 on the land one hundred feet from the shore, and 

 formed of sawn ice-blocks of an equal size. That we 

 might, during snowstorms and darkness, have com- 

 munication with the vessel without risk of losing 

 our way, ice-pillars were raised at a distance of forty 

 feet from each other, between which ropes were 

 stretched. 



During the whole time we were shut up, the wind 

 blew almost continually from 'N.'N.'W. to N.W. 

 Winds from other quarters were exceptional. The 

 winds between E.KE., K, and S.W. were cold; 

 while, on the contrary, the winds from S. and S.E. 



