As it appeared to Payer that Crown-Prince Rudolf’s Land and Karl Alexander’s Land formed a continuous whole, and therefore barred the way to the north, he diverged into Rawlinson Sound. The track lay between countless hummocks, some of which Payer estimated to be 40 feet high. The advance now became one continual zigzag. On the 9th April an iceberg was ascended from which it was seen that the hummocks in Rawlinson Sound appeared to stretch on without end. The course was therefore altered to a north-westerly direction in order to come under Crown-Prince Rudolf’s Land, but the character of the ice still remained unchanged, and Payer was compelled to make for Hohenlohe Island in the west, where he decided to divide the expedition into two parties.
Payer determined that he, with Orel, Zaninovich, and Klotz, should push on with the dog-sledge, and that the other three men should remain behind at Cape Schrötter. Payer explained the plan he meant to follow, and stated that he should be absent from five to eight days, but that if he should not return within fifteen days they were to march back to the ship with the sledge. A pocket-compass, a watch, an aneroid barometer, and a thermometer were left with the remaining party. The tent was divided in two, each party receiving a half. The advance party took provisions for eight days, and the two remaining dogs had to drag the sledge with a weight of about 4 cwt.
As they approached the promontory on the south of Crown-Prince Rudolf’s Land, numerous icebergs were met, which according to Payer were from 100 to 200 feet high. The Middendorf Glacier was now reached, and an attempt was made to cross it. Towards its lower part many crevasses were bridged over with snow. Farther on, the glacier appeared smooth and free from crevasses, and it was anticipated that it could be crossed without difficulty. Here, Klotz confessed to Payer that one of his feet was swollen and ulcerated. Payer decided at once that it would be necessary to send Klotz back to the other party at Hohenlohe Island. Laden with a sack and carrying a revolver, he set off, and soon disappeared.
Meanwhile Payer and the other two men had again packed the sledge and harnessed the dogs, and were setting out, when, without the slightest warning, the snow gave way beneath the sledge, and Zaninovich, the dogs, and the sledge disappeared in a crevasse. Payer, who was attached to the rope, was dragged backwards to the edge of the crevasse, and expected to be precipitated into it, but at this moment the sledge stuck fast between the sides of the crevasse. Orel now advanced to the edge and stated that he could see Zaninovich lying on a ledge of snow in the crevasse, with precipices all round him, and the dogs attached to the traces of the sledge. Payer, who was lying on his stomach near the edge of the crevasse, had still one of the traces fastened round his waist. This he decided to cut, although Zaninovich cried up that he was afraid that the sledge would then fall on him. When the trace was cut, the sledge made a short run and then stuck fast again. Payer now jumped the crevasse and shouted to Zaninovich that he would require to run back to Hohenlohe Island to fetch men and ropes for his rescue; that if he could contrive for four hours to keep himself from freezing, all would yet be well. Payer at once started to run down the glacier back to Cape Schrötter, 6 miles off. Bathed in perspiration, he threw off his bird-skin garments, his boots, and his shawl, and ran in his stockings through the deep snow. On the way he passed Klotz, who at first feared that Payer had lost his senses. On reaching Cape Schrötter a rope was detached from the large sledge, and the whole party, with the exception of Klotz, set off for the glacier. Reaching the glacier, they tied themselves together, Payer leading. On arrival at the crevasse, Payer shouted, but at first could hear no reply. At last he heard the whining of a dog, and then an unintelligible answer from Zaninovich. Haller, who was immediately let down by a rope, found Zaninovich still living, but almost frozen, on a ledge of snow 40 feet down the crevasse. He fastened himself and Zaninovich to the rope, and they were drawn up after great exertion. Haller again descended, and fastened the dogs to the rope. They had managed to free themselves from their traces and had sprung to a ledge near where Zaninovich had lain. After they were drawn up, they gave expression to their joy, first by rolling themselves vigorously in the snow, and then by licking the hands of the party. Haller was next raised to the level of the sledge, so that he might cut the ropes which fastened the loading. The articles were brought up one by one. Nothing of any importance had been lost. The party now descended the glacier, and the three men from Cape Schrötter returned there, while Payer and his companions camped at Cape Habermann.
A route along the west coast of Crown-Prince Rudolf’s Land was now followed. When Cape Brorok was reached, the latitude was found to be 81° 45′. Payer here writes: “To the north-west we saw at first nothing but ice up to the horizon; even with the telescope of the theodolite I could not decide for the existence of land, which Orel’s sharp eye discovered in the far distance.” Payer also remarks that, in the Arctic regions, it often happens that banks of fog on the horizon assume the character of distant ranges, for the small height to which these banks rise in the cold air causes them to be very sharply defined. It is also very common, he says, to make the same mistake in the case of mists arising from the waste water of enormous glaciers.
When Cape Auk was reached, a dark water-sky appeared in the north, and great numbers of birds were seen. Seals lay on the ice, and traces of bears and foxes were numerous. Had Payer been inclined to believe, like Hayes, in the existence of an open Polar Sea, these signs of a richer animal-life would have gone far to support the belief. Payer, however, called this belief an “antiquated hypothesis.”
The ice was now so thin that they thought it expedient to tie themselves together with a long rope. Ascending an iceberg in Teplitz Bay, the open sea was seen stretching far to the west; and at Cape Säulen the open water reached the coast. Here Payer ascended a height to reconnoitre the track for next day. Land was no longer visible towards the north. The 12th April was the last day of advance in a northerly direction. The march lay over snowy slopes to the summits of the coast-range, from 1000 to 3000 feet high. At noon the latitude was taken at Cape Germania, and found to be 81° 57′. They reached Cape Fligely in five hours, and here decided to turn back. Payer estimated the latitude of this point to be 82° 5′. Rudolf’s Land still stretched in a north-easterly direction towards a cape named after Sherard Osborne. From Cape Fligely it could be seen that the open water was simply a “Polynia” surrounded by old ice. Blue mountain-ranges were believed to be visible in the distant north, and were named “King Oscar Land” and “Petermann Land.”
After enclosing a brief account of the journey in a bottle and depositing it in a cleft of rock, the return journey was begun. Cape Schrötter was reached on the evening of the 13th April. It was well for those left there that nothing serious happened to Payer’s party, for although all the means of ascertaining their position had been given to them, when asked what direction they would have taken to return to the ship, they pointed north-east up Rawlinson Sound!
Cape Schrötter was left on the 14th April, and the party made for the Coburg Islands, in very bad weather. Klotz’s foot had become much worse, and all those who had been left behind were more or less snow-blind. It struck Payer as peculiar that the dogs did not suffer from this affection, close as they were to the glare of the snow and without any protection against it. Coburg Islands were reached in the evening. Next day, after a severe march, they got clear of the region of ice-hummocks, and were able to use their sledge-sail. On the return journey Payer ascended Cape Hellwald, 2200 feet, and Cape Tyrol, 3000 feet, above sea-level.
On the 19th April, south of Cape Tyrol, they came on open water, and had to take to the coast of Wilczek Land. The iceberg on which one of the dépôts had been placed was afloat, and could not be reached. Their provisions were now running short, and they were still 55 miles from the ship. During the next two days they struggled on in terrible weather. Their last dépôt, fortunately, was discovered, and also the remains of a bear killed on the way north. The open water was now found to have retreated to the west, and this enabled them to reach Cape Frankfurt, on Hall Island. From here the ice could be seen stretching away to the south. When Cape Orgel was reached, it was with anxious feelings that Payer began its ascent. It was from here he would be able to ascertain whether the Tegetthoff had been drifted away from its former position. He was overjoyed to find the ship about 3 miles off. The whole party reached it on 23rd April.