182 FOG AGAIN. 



exist about tlie north-east corner of Spitzbergen, 

 wliich, as I mentioned before, is rarely acces- 

 sible. No vessel has ever succeeded in circum- 

 navigating Spitzbergen, and although separate 

 voyages have been made which overlap one 

 another in this direction, still very little indeed 

 is known about those parts of the Spitzbergian 

 archipelago marked in the charts as " Nord- 

 ost Land " and " New Priesland." 



On the 9th and 10th there was a dense fog, 

 with both barometer and thermometer high. 



E^ather dull work. We have read all our 

 books, we cannot see forty yards from the deck, 

 and the smell from the hold is getting almost 

 intolerable. It changes silver to the colour of 

 copper, and copper to that of iron, and actually 

 turns white paint blaclc. 



On the 11th a slight breeze sprung up, and, 

 clearing off the fog, enabled us to ascertain the 

 very unsatisfactory fact, that we are exactly in 

 the same place as we were before the fog came 

 on. Some streams of good ice, however, lie in 

 different directions around, but no seals or sea- 

 horses in sight. 



The fog returned as bad as ever on the 12th, 

 but the 13th was a trifle clearer, and, being in 

 amongst the ice, we discovered two big seals in 



