“For thousands of years this land had lain buried from the knowledge of men, and now its discovery had fallen into the lap of a small band, themselves almost lost to the world, who far from their home remembered the homage due their sovereign, and gave to the newly discovered territory the name Kaiser Franz Josef Land. With loud hurrahs we drank to the health of our Emperor in grog hastily made on deck in an iron coffee-pot, and then dressed the Tegetthoff with flags. All cares, for the present, at least, disappeared, and with them the passive monotony of our lives. There was not a day, there was hardly an hour, in which this mysterious land did not henceforth occupy our thoughts and attention.”
In October the vessel drifted within three miles of an island lying off the main mass of land. Lieutenant Payer landed on it, and found it to be in latitude 79° 54´ N. It was named after Count Wilczek, whose deep interest in the expedition had won for him the affection of all.
PAYER’S SLEDGE JOURNEYS
A second winter settled upon the Tegetthoff and her crew at this point, the chief diversion being bear hunts, in which no less than sixty-seven bears were killed. On the 10th of March, 1874, Payer made a preliminary sledge journey, the object of which was to determine the position and general relations of the new land. A large sledge was used and was equipped for a week; it carried an extra quantity of provisions, which were intended to form depots, for the more extended sledge journey contemplated for later on. Thirty-nine pounds of hard bread, five pounds of pemmican, sixteen pounds of boiled beef, one pound of pea-sausage, one-half pound of salt and pepper, six pounds of rice, two pounds of grits, five pounds of chocolate, five gallons of rum, one pound of extract of meat, two pounds of condensed milk, and eight gallons of alcohol. The party consisted of Payer and six men, with three dogs.
Intense cold and violent snow-storms, the thermometer falling as low as -59°, caused great suffering to the men from frost bites. This frightful temperature was experienced March 14. On that day Payer with a Tyrolese mountain climber stood on the summit of the precipitous face of the Sonklar-Glacier, whose broad terminal front overhangs the frozen bay of Nordenskjöld Fiord.
After making deposits of provisions, the party were obliged to return to the ship, after an absence of five days.
On March 26, Lieutenant Payer with ten men and three dogs started on a more extended journey of thirty days. The equipment for this second trip consisted of:—
| lbs. | |
|---|---|
| the large sledge | 150 |
| the provisions, including packing | 620 |
| the dog sledge | 37 |
| the tent, sleeping bags, tent-poles, and Alpine stock | 320 |
| alcohol and rum | 128 |
| fur coats and fur gloves | 140 |
| instruments, rifles, ammunition | 170 |
| shovel, 2 cooking-machines, drag-ropes, dog-tent, etc. | 1565 |
Each of the four sacks of provisions—calculated for seven days and seven men—contained fifty-one pounds of boiled beef, forty-eight pounds of bread, eight pounds of pemmican, seven pounds of bacon, two pounds of extract of meat, four pounds of condensed milk, two pounds of coffee, four pounds of chocolate, seven pounds of rice, three pounds of grits, one pound of salt and pepper, two pounds of pea-sausage, four pounds of sugar, besides a reserve bag with twenty pounds of bread. Boiled beef was taken as food for the dogs, and it was hoped that game would supplement the general rations.
From almost the first hour violent blizzards, intense cold, and the uneven condition of the ice made the journey disheartening and laborious. By April 1 they penetrated by Cape Hausa into a newly discovered passage, covered with heavy ice, to which Payer gave the name of Austria Sound. By the 7th of April they advanced into Rawlinson Sound, over a track between hummocks some of which were forty feet high, the depressions between them filled with deep layers of snow.