“Everywhere we find nothing,” writes one of the party, “but bare barren cliffs, the higher the wilder, sparingly clothed with moss and stunted willows. But no trace of human inhabitants.”
Two days later (June 6) they started once more; their object was to make for Friedricksthal, the nearest colony on the southwest coast of Greenland. On June 13, 1870, after passing through the Straits of Torsudatik, and skirting the coast, the longed-for bay was reached. “A few hundred steps from the shore on the green ground, stood a rather spacious red house, topped by a small tower. It was the mission house. Groups of natives from the shore speedily welcomed the wanderers and the cheerful greeting of the Moravian missionaries: ‘That is the German flag! They are our people! Welcome, welcome to Greenland!’ fell like music in their ears. After partaking of the generous hospitality extended by the missionaries, and taking a much-needed rest, they pushed on in the hopes of reaching the settlement of Julianeshaab, distant some eighty miles, where the Danish Constance was expected at any moment, and would be their only means of reaching Europe that year.”
By the 25th of July, the officers and crew of the Hansa weighed anchor for the homeward voyage. By the 31st of July they were on the high sea in Davis Strait. “No more ice! Set southwards, and—O heavenly music of the word—homewards!”
“GERMANIA” BESET
It will be remembered that on July 20, 1869, the two ships had parted company, the Germania proceeding on her course with officers and crew, under the impression that the Hansa would rejoin her within a short time. When this did not take place, much concern was felt for her fate. By the 27th of July, the Germania stood 73° 7´ north latitude, and 16° 4´ west longitude. Two days later an interesting note is made of the peculiar condition of the atmosphere.
“The weather was clear and still, and we had a good opportunity of observing the refraction of light and the mirage. The whole atmosphere was quivering with a kind of wavy motion, so that the exact outline of the object was often so distorted as to be unrecognizable. It may be imagined that pictures of things far beyond our range of sight could thus be seen. Scoresby relates, and it afterwards proved true, that he once saw and recognized his father’s ship perfectly in the mirage when it was thirty miles distant. The effects of this phenomenon on the distant ice was wonderful; sometimes it appeared like a mighty wall, and sometimes like a town rich in towers and castles.”
Carefully pushing a way between the floes, the Germania stood within thirty miles of Sabine Island by August 4. Sailing straight for Griper Roads, she at last anchored in a small bay which was afterward her winter harbour.
On the 5th of August, anchor was dropped, and the German flag hoisted on Greenland soil, amid loud cheers. Sabine Island forms a part of the group known as Pendulum Islands, discovered by Clavering in 1823. Sabine’s observatory was carefully searched for, but no indications of its remains were found. Traces of Eskimo summer huts were discovered, however, giving evidence of long habitation.
On the 15th of August, the Germania sailed as far as 75° 31´ north latitude, some distance beyond Shannon Island, the extreme point discovered by Clavering and Sabine. At Shannon Island, First Lieutenant Payer, accompanied by seven companions, and provisioned for six days, made a try of investigation. Lieutenant Payer’s description of the plateau to the southwest of Shannon is interesting. Tell-platte, as it is called, is six hundred and seventy feet above the sea. “Here on the broad mountain top were masses of rubbish of gneiss formation resembling those on Pendulum Island. We were also astonished by the sight of a large flat promontory (south of Haystack) which is not distinctly marked on Clavering’s charts. The view of the front coast of Greenland was full of majestic beauty.”