‘ 
256 General Notes, | [ March, 
staff on a cairn, in the center of which they left a record. On 
these islands a number of curious specimens were found. The 
last Dutch expedition sighted land westward of this, and called 
it Barents Hook. This point was also seen by Mr. Smith, and 
the Eira was steered towards the land. They passed the point 
close to the land in foggy weather. Early one morning they 
landed on the island some twenty miles from the easternmost 
point, and found luxuriant vegetation. While off this island they 
sounded and found the average depth to be from fifteen to twenty 
fathoms about a mile off the coast. 
Very large icebergs were seen quite unlike those met with in 
Baffin’s Bay. The Franz-Josef Land iceberg is a vast mass from 
one hundred and fifty feet to two hundred and fifty feet high and 
of great extent, with a perfectly level top. Breaking off from 
the glaciers which line the coast, these do not float southwards, 
and the direction of their drift is one of the problems which are 
waiting for solution. 
e new country was forbidding enough. It was covered with 
a glacier extending down to the sea. Even the off-lying islands 
had their caps, and the land was only visible at long intervals, in 
black precipitous masses, rising up between the icy expanses; yet 
animal life was abundant. Two right whales were seen; there 
were great numbers of walrus and seals, and the ivory gulls were 
breeding on one of the islands. 
At noon on the 18th they discovered a new harbor, which they 
had no hesitation in naming Eira Harbor, after their vessel. It is 
formed by two islands, and affords good anchorage of from five 
to seven fathoms. It is well sheltered from all sides. It lies in 
80° 5’ 25’’ north latitude, and about 48° 50’ east longitude. 
Here the lofty cliffs formed a vast amphitheater, and below 
there was a flat plain where many hyperborean plants were grow- 
ing. But the surrounding scenery was wild and desolate in the 
extreme. Nearly the whole coast was occupied by glacier after 
glacier rolling down to the sea, with black headlands abruptly 
rising through the ice at long intervals, The great size of the 
icebergs and the extent of glacier are indications that F ranz-Josef 
Land is of vast extent. 
This harbor was made a rendezvous, from which, the next few 
days, numerous trips were made up the numerous fjords which 
pierce the mainland to the north and north-west. From the point 
named by the Dutch, Barents Hook, they traced the land west- 
ward some 110 miles, and from the extreme north-west point 
reached sighted land 40 miles further to the north-west. ‘They 
found that this land was divided from the newly-discovered islands _ 
by a sound, which seems to be an extension of Markham’s Sound. 
Lying in this hitherto unexplored tract of sea they discovered 
seven small islands, each measuring four to five miles long, and 
four larger islands—these latter being in the vicinity of Eira Harbor 
