460 FARTHEST NORTH 



variation of the compass. Unfortunately, I had no chart 

 of the variations with me, and I could not remember 

 where the zero meridian of variation lay — the boundary- 

 line between easterly and westerly variation. I thought, 

 however, that it lav somewhere near the Northeast 

 Land ; and here we had still a variation of about 20°. 

 llie whole thing was, and remained, an insoluble riddle. 

 As the daylight began to lengthen later in the spring, 

 I made a discovery which had the effect of still more 

 hopelessly bewildering us. At two points on the horizon, 

 about W.S.W., I fancied that I could see land looming 

 in the air. The appearance recurred again and again, 

 and at last I was quite certain that it really was land ; but 

 it must be very far away — at least 69 miles, I thought.* 

 If it had been difficult to find room between Franz 

 Josef Land and Northeast Land for the islands we 

 had hitherto seen, it was more difficult still to find room 

 for these new ones. Could it be the Northeast Land 

 itself.'* This seemed scarcely credible. This land must 

 lie in about 81° or so northward, while the Northeast 

 Land does not reach much north of 80'. But at least 

 these islands must be pretty near Northeast Land, and 

 if we once reached them, we could not have much 

 farther to go, and would perhaps find open water all the 

 way to the Tromso sloop, on which our fanc)' had now 

 dwelt for over a year, and which was to take us home, 



* It proved afterwards that the distance was about 56 miles. 



