TIDES AND CUKRENTS. 679 



"Until the autumn of 1873 winds were highly variable. In 

 the vicinity of Nowaja Semlja many S.E. and S.W. winds were 

 observed; in the spring these veered more to N.E. A prevalent 

 direction of winds was only recognized when in the second winter 

 the Expedition was near Franz-Joseph's Land. There all snow- 

 storms came from E.N.E., and constituted more than 50 per cent, 

 of all winds. They generally produced clouded skies, and the 

 clouds only dispersed when the wind turned to the north. The 

 explorers never met with those violent storms from the north, 

 from which the Germania party had so much to suffer on the 

 east coast of Greenland, and which seem to be the prevalent winds 

 in the Arctic zone. Altogether, they never observed those 

 extreme forces of wind which occur regularly in our seas several 

 times in every winter (for instance, the " Bora " in the Adriatic). 

 Every Arctic seaman knows that the ice itself has a calming 

 effect upon the winds ; very often white clouds are seen passing 

 with great rapidity, not particularly high overhead, while there 

 is an almost perfect calm below. 



" One peculiarity must here be mentioned. Lieut. Weyprecht 

 made the remarkable discovery that the ice never drifted straight 

 in the direction of the wind, but that it always deviated to the 

 right, when looking from the centre of the compass ; with N.E, 

 wind it drifts due W. instead of S.W. ; with S.W. wind it drifts 

 due E. instead of N.E. ; in the same manner it drifts to the north 

 with S.E. wind, and to the south with N.W. wind. There was 

 no exception to this rule, which cannot be explained by currents 

 nor by the influence of the coasts, as with these causes there would 

 be opposite results with opposite winds. Another interesting 

 phenomenon in both years was the struggle between the cold 

 northern winds and the warmer southern ones in January, just 

 before the beginning of the lasting and severe cold ; the warm S. 

 and S.W. winds always brought great masses of snow and pro- 

 duced a rise in the temperature amounting to 30-35° R. within a 

 few hours. 



" Little can at present be said on the result of the barometer 

 readings, without a minute comparison of the long tables of 

 figures, although very extreme readings occurred at times. The 

 explorers had three mercury and four aneroid barometers ; by way 

 of control. Ensign Orel took the readings from five of these 

 instruments every day at noon, while the intermediate observa- 

 tions were made with an aneroid. 



" The thermometers were suspended about four feet from the 

 surface of the snow, in the open air, and perfectly free on all 

 sides, about twenty-five yards from the vessel. Excepting the 

 maximum thermometers, they were all spirit thermometers, made 

 by Cappeller of Vienna. They were often compared with a very 

 exact normal thermometer of the same make. Readings from a 

 minimum thermometer were noted daily at noon ; during the 

 summer a black bulb thermometer was exposed to the rays of tlie 

 sun ; during the winter frequent observations were made with 

 exposed and covered minimum thermometers to ascertain the 

 nightly radiation at low temperatures. In both winters February 



