308 FARTHEST N0R2H 



exceeded the neighboring hummocks in height. I scru- 

 tinized it carefully from the highest ridge hereabouts, but 

 could not make it out. I thought it too big to be only 

 a piled-up hummock mixed with black ice or earthy mat- 

 ter, and I had never seen anything of the kind before. 

 That it is an island seems highly improbable; for al- 

 though we are certainly drifting, it remains in the same 

 position in relation to us. We saw it yesterday, and see 

 it still to-day in the same quarter. I think the most 

 reasonable supposition is that it is an iceberg. 



" No sooner does the horizon clear in the south than 

 one of us may be seen taking his customary walk to the 

 'watch-tower' (a hummock beside the tent) to scan for 

 land, sometimes with a glass, sometimes without it; but 

 there is nothing to be seen but the same bare horizon.* 



" Every day I take a turn round the ice in our neigh- 

 borhood to see if the snow has decreased, but it always 

 seems to be about the same, and sometimas I have mo- 

 ments of doubt as to whether it will clear away at all this 

 summer. If not, our prospects will be more than dark. 

 The best we can hope for will then be a w^inter some- 

 where or other on Franz Josef Land. But now the 

 rain has come. It is pouring down the tent walls 

 and dripping on the ice. Everything looks hopeful 

 again, and we are picturing the delights of the autumn 

 and winter at home. 



* Compare, however, what I say on this subject later — i.e.. July 24th. 



