412 
KRONPRINSEN. 
into the »sclieme. It was in pursuance of it that we 
were now bending our course to the east. 
The circumstances that surrounded us, the daily in- 
cidents, our destination and purpose, were the same as 
when approaching- the Sukkertoppen a year before. 
There were the same majestic fleets of bergs, the same 
legions of birds of the same varieties, the same anx- 
ious look-out, and rapid conning, and fearless encoun- 
ter of ice-fields. Every thing was unchanged, except 
the glowing confidence of young health at the outset 
of adventure. We had taken our seasoning : the ex- 
perience of a winter's drift had quieted some of our en- 
thusiasm. But we felt, as veterans at the close of a 
campaign, that with recruited strength we should be 
better fitted for the service than ever. All, therefore, 
looked at the well-remembered cliffs, that hung over 
Kronprinsen, with the sentiment of men approaching 
home for the time, and its needed welcomes. 
We reached them on the 16th. Mr. Murdaugh, and 
myself, and four men, and three bottles of rum, were 
dispatched to communicate with the shore. As we 
rowed in to the landing-place, the great dikes of in- 
jected syenite stood out red and warm against the 
cold gray gneiss, and the moss gullies met us like fa- 
miliar grass-plots. Esquimaux crowded the rocks, and 
dogs barked, and children yelled. A few lusty pulls, 
and after nine months of drift, and toil, and scurvy, 
we were once more on terra firma. 
G-od forgive me the revulsion of unthankfulness ! 
I ought to have dilated with gratitude for my lot. 
Winter had been severe. The season lagged. The 
birds had not yet begun to breed. Faces were worn, 
and forms bent. Every body was coughing. In one 
hut, a summer lodge of reindeer and seal skins, was 
