528 



NATURE 



[Oct. i8, 1877 



The wall was covered by driftwood. On the east side of 

 the island there is a similar lagoon, but much longer and 

 with brackish water. On my return to the boat I shot a 

 fox which came suddenly upon me and showed the 

 greatest curiosity at seeing a human being. 



The next day the wind and sea had risen, and landing 

 was impossible. We weighed, therefore, and sailed again 

 round the north part of the island. The clouds allowed 

 us to see the lower part of the land, and for a while 

 Beerenberg, the huge volcano of Jan Mayen, showed its 

 snow-white cone to our enchanted eyes. The captain, 

 assisted by his officers and myself, surveyed the coast as 

 far as circumstances permitted, and got abundant material 

 for an improved map of Jan JNlayen. The Admiralty 

 chart, constructed after Scoresby and Zorgdrager, proved 

 very good, and afforded us material aid both in navigating 

 and as a base for the improvements we were able to 

 obtain. At midnight we anchored on the eastern side, 

 south of the " egg-crater," and off the great lagune. 



The next day we took altitudes of the sun from the 

 ship's deck, landing being impossible. The latitude of 

 the map proved correct ; but our chronometers, compared 

 in Tromso and Bod 6 before and after our cruise with 

 Greenwich time, sent per telegraph from the observatory 

 in Christiania, showed that Jan Mayen lies about half a 

 degree of longitude farther west than in the chart. 

 Further measures indicated also that Jan Mayen is not 

 quite so long as given in the chart, and that its southern 

 half is somewhat broader. 



Next day we weighed, and went eastwards, sounding 

 and dredging. Beerenberg was quite clear, and pre- 

 sented a magnificent aspect (Fig. i). The winds were at 

 times very high, up to fifteen metres per second, and very 

 variable in direction, a phenomenon which Scoresby men- 

 tions in his description of the waters of Jan Mayen. The 

 fauna was very interesting ; it had much similitude to 

 that of Greenland. The temperature at the bottom was 

 about - 1° C, and in this cold water many well-known 

 animals reach quite gigantic proportions. At night we 

 anchored outside the lagoon. 



The following day we weighed, and steered northwards. 

 The height of Beerenberg was measured, the distance 

 and course of the ship being taken as base line. Three 

 different measures were in close agreement, and the mean 

 was a height of 5,836 feet, which is nearly 1,000 feet 

 lower than the height given by Scoresby. An appreciable 

 current from north-east to south-west would make the 

 number less still. This determination makes Beeren- 

 berg lower than the highest point in Iceland, viz., Oeroefa- 

 Jokull, which is more than 6,000 feet high. We went to 

 the north of the island, and found 1,000 fathoms in a 

 distance of only one geographical mile from the north 

 point, which indicates that the foot of Beerenberg con- 

 tinues its slope of 10° so far beneath the surface of the 

 sea. Thence we steered westwards and took soundings, 

 which were continued the whole night. The wind was 

 north-west, and the temperature of the air fell to -f o°-2 C. 



A depth of 1,032 fathoms having been found seven 

 geographical miles north-west of Jan Mayen, and a serial 

 sounding having shown 0° C. in a depth of only ten 

 fathoms — surface water being as low as + 2° C, we 

 steered again towards the west coast of Jan Mayen. On 

 the morning of August 8 we were near our first anchorage, 

 but the swell was too heavy to try to land. We then went 

 south-westwards along the shore and studied the country 

 as well as circumstances' permitted, the fog sometimes 

 hiding it from our view. We were nevertheless able to 

 get a series of sketches, and our rate told us that the 

 island, as mentioned above, must be shorter than it is 

 shown on the map. At noon we passed Cape Southwest 

 and got a fine view of it (Fig. 2). The point north of 

 Cape Southwest showed two extremely regularly built 

 volcanic cones, the outer one close at the sea, the inner 

 one quite small, and both of a reddish tint. On the higher 



land between Cape Southwest and this point there is also 

 a similar larger cone. The Cape itself is perforated by a 

 tunnel at the level of the sea. 



I got the distinct impression that Jan Mayen is from 

 end to end of comparatively recent volcanic origin. Its 

 aspect reminded me of parts of Iceland, which are of 

 more recent volcanic origin, e.«. the peninsula of Reyk- 

 janes. It had nothing in common with the doleritic 

 formation of the Faro Islands. In the afternoon a 

 sounding was taken and the dredge lowered some five 

 geographical miles south-west of Jan Mayen. The depth 

 was only 263 fathoms. The dredge brought up lots of 

 stones and a rich fauna. The stones were mainly vol- 

 canic, but among them I found a piece of granite, one of 

 quartz, and of green chloritic schist. Here we bade adieu 

 to Jan Mayen ; the island was a long time out of sight, 

 covered by the always prevailing fog, and the next morn- 

 ing we obtained eight geographical miles farther south, 

 already 1,050 fathoms. Having sailed some ten geogra- 

 phical miles farther south we sounded again and found 

 1,004 fathoms and 0° C. at a depth of twenty fathoms. 

 This achieved, all sail was set and the course shaped 

 eastwards ; the water was let off the boiler in order to 

 get it cooled and cleaned. The next afternoon this was 

 finished and we started under steam eastwards and home- 

 wards. When we were under sail the wind was north- 

 west, but very feeble. The next day observations showed 

 that we had moved south-south-east instead of east — a 

 proof of our being in the Polar current. The following 

 days we sailed in the finest weather eastwards, sounding 

 and taking observations of deep-sea temperatures. C)n 

 the morning of the 7th we had a depth of 2,005 fathoms. 

 The temperature of 0° C. was later found in a depth of 

 450 fathoms. In the afternoon of the 9th we sighted 

 land — the southern islands of Lofoten. Next day we 

 entered the Vestfjord, where we dredged on the nth, and 

 arrived at midnight at Bodo. 



In Bodo Capt. Wille took absolute magnetical obser- 

 vations. On the 15th we steamed into the Salton-Fjord 

 and Skjerstad-Fjord, where we dredged and took tem- 

 perature soundings, which showed, by means of Negretti 

 and Zambra's thermometer, that the temperature was 

 constant (3°'3) from 90 fathoms to the bottom in 270 

 fathoms. On August 18 we went from Bodo, out in the 

 Vestfjord, and took a temperature series in the same 

 place where we had been on June 22. The result was 

 that the temperature had still its minimum in sixty 

 fathoms, but it was now in this depth 4°7, and at the 

 bottom, in 140 fathoms, 5°'8. The whole mass of the 

 lower water had consequently had its temperature raised 

 as much as 1° C. The cause of this singular distribu- 

 tion of temperature so late in summer is inexplicable to 

 me. This was our last operation this year. The course was 

 shaped southwards, and on August 23 we arrived at 

 Bergen, where the ship was paid off and the members of 

 the scientific staff returned to their homes. 



The expedition has this year been favoured with the 

 best weather. Nothing has prevented the work from 

 being carried on day and night, and the results obtained 

 are therefore very extensive compared with last year. 



The accompanying small chart shows in broad features 

 the results of the soundings, combined with those of the 

 Swedish expeditions to Spitzbergen and those of the Bull- 

 dog, Poiiupuu', and J'alonu/s expeditions. The shaded 

 line shows the boundary line at the sea-bottom between 

 the ice-cold water of the Polar Sea and the warmer water 

 of the Atlantic, as far as our observations hitherto have 

 determined it. 



Next year the expedition will work up the region 

 between North Cape, Jan Mayen, and the north of Spitz- 

 bergen, and possibly make a trip eastwards in the direc- 

 tion of Novaya Semlya, in order to determine the site of 

 the isothermal line of 0° C. at the sea-bottom, which may 

 be regarded as the hmiting line for the wanderings of the 



