CHAP, VII.] 
LANDING ON AN ISLAND. 
319 
Dickson. The sky was hid by mist, the temperature of the air 
rose to + 10°’4 C. ; that of the water was at first + 10°, after¬ 
wards + 8°; its salinity at the surface of the sea was inconsider¬ 
able. No ice was seen during the course of the day. Favoured 
by a fresh breeze from the south-east, the Vega could thus 
begin her voyage with all sail set. Small rocky islands, which 
are not to be found on the chart, soon reminded us of the 
untrustworthiness of the maps. This, together with the pre¬ 
vailing fog, compelled Captain Palander to sail forward with 
great caution, keeping a good outlook and sounding constantly. 
Warm weather and an open sea were also favourable for the 
next day’^ voyage. But the fog now became so dense, that the 
Vega had to lie-to in the morning at one of the many small 
islands which we still met with on our way. 
Dr. Kjellman, Dr. Almquist, Lieutenant Nordquist, and I, 
landed here. The bare and utterly desolate island consisted of 
a low gneiss rock, rising here and there into cliffs, which were 
shattered by the frost and rather richly clothed with lichens. 
On the more low-lying places the rock was covered with a layer 
of gravel, which, through drying and consequent contraction, 
had burst into six-sided figures, mostly from O'S to 0*5 metre in 
diameter. The interior of the figures was completely bare of 
vegetation, only in the cracks there was to be seen an exceed¬ 
ingly scanty growth of stunted mosses, lichens, and flowering 
plants. Of the last-named group there were found fifteen 
species,^ which could with success, or more correctly without 
Namely, according to Dr. Kjellman’s determination, the following : 
Saxifraga oppositifolia L. 
„ rivularis L. 
,, caespitosa L. 
Cardamine bellidifolia L. 
Cochlearia fenestrata K. Be. 
Ranunculus hyperboreus Rottb. 
Stellaria Edwardsii R. Be. 
Cerastium alpinum L. 
Alsine macrocarpa Fenzl. 
Sagina nivalis Fe. 
Salix polaris Wg. 
Glyceria vilfoidea (Ands.) Th. Fe. 
Catabrosa algida (Sol.) Fe. 
Aira c^spitosa L. 
Juncus biglumis L. 
