16. Soon after midnight on the 22nd of April (the thermometer standing at -6° F.) we reached Schönau Island, round which the ice had broken up, so that we frequently fell into the fissures. As we erected our tent, the sun was setting behind the violet-coloured edges of the ice-hummocks, while the lofty pinnacle of Cape Berghaus stood out sharply marked against the sky. The situation of the island we had reached being extremely favourable, on the highest point of it, I took some observations, which completed the surveys which I had made during this expedition. Close to the eastward of us, the ice had broken up round Hochstetter Island. Orel had meanwhile put up the tent, and Klotz had dug out the depôt of provisions, which, to our great joy, we found had not been disturbed by bears. The danger of starvation was at an end, and after satisfying the claims of hunger we enjoyed a delicious sleep of seven hours, and again set forth. We were still twenty-five miles from the ship. This distance I now determined to compass with the dog-sledge with all the speed possible, in order to ascertain whether the Tegetthoff remained where we left her. Orel was to follow close with the large sledge. The day was of unusual brightness. All the land, which a month ago had been the home of storms and enveloped in snow, now shone in the sunlight, and the walls of rock wore their natural brown colour. My route lay close under Koldewey and Salm Islands. At first every fragment which had fallen from a glacier on either of these islands was used as a pretext by the dogs for turning out of the course, and the trail of a bear seemed quite to distract them. It was to little purpose that I went on first to show them the way. No sooner was the least liberty allowed them, than they used it to make now for Cape Tegetthoff, then for Cape Berghaus, and, in preference to every other point, for the sun! Ever and anon Torossy dragged Jubinal out of the road, and this unruliness lasted till we came on the old sledge track, which was almost obliterated by the snow. Suddenly they seemed to feel as if they had entered on a familiar region. With their heads raised, and tails in the air, they now rushed along at the rate of 180 paces in a minute, though I had now taken my place on the sledge. The south-west corner of Salm Island was beset by a crowd of apparently stranded icebergs. Under the sheltered side of one of these colossal masses I made a short halt, and lighted the cooking-machine to thaw some boiled beef, and enjoy a meal in common with my canine companions, who regarded all my movements with fixed attention. Just as I was intently observing a small dark point on the horizon advancing in my direction—it was Orel and his party—the iceberg, in whose stability I was placing complete confidence, suddenly capsized, and, rolling on to the ice, shivered into fragments. In an instant I was surrounded by fissures, pools of water, and rolling pieces of ice. Seizing the cooking-machine, which I had lighted, I escaped with great difficulty. I had often observed, that icebergs were surrounded by circles of shattered surface-ice, with sea-water standing in their fissures. The overturning of icebergs, which occurs, I apprehend, more frequently than is generally imagined, easily accounts for the fact. It is therefore advisable to shun the immediate neighbourhood of an iceberg when the tent has to be erected, and to avoid using the iceberg itself as a place for a depôt of provisions.
THE “TEGETTHOFF” DESCRIED.
17. When I turned into the narrow passage between Salm and Wilczek Islands, Orgel Cape, visible at a great distance, was the only dark spot in the scene. At once the dogs made for it, and about midnight I arrived there. A few hundred steps further, and I should stand on the top of it, and see the ship, if ship were there. With an anxious, heavy heart, I then began the ascent. A stony plateau stretched before me. With every advancing step, made with increasing difficulty, the land gradually disappeared, and the horizon of the frozen sea expanded before me—an immeasurable white waste. No ship was to be seen—no trace of man for thousands of miles, save a cairn, with the fragments of a flag fluttering in the breeze, and a grave covered with snow-drifts. Still I climbed on. Suddenly three slender masts emerged—I had found the ship: there she lay about three miles off, appearing on the frozen ocean no bigger than a fly. The snow-drifts and icebergs around her had hitherto concealed her from my eye. I directed my telescope towards her, and every spar and sail I saw seemed to promise a happy conclusion to our expedition. I held the heads of the dogs towards the ship, and pointed with my arm to where she lay, that they might share in my joy. We soon descended, and took our way towards her. At about a hundred yards off the watch detected us. All on board but the men who composed it were asleep, for it was night. At first they were exceedingly alarmed to see me alone, but having calmed their apprehensions, I went down at once into the cabin to awaken the sleepers. Great was the joy caused by the account of the high latitude we had reached, and of the discoveries we had made, which I endeavoured to explain by the rough outline of a map which I sketched. In a few hours the stock of questions was answered and exhausted, and everyone now left the ship to welcome the approaching party, which was soon descried with the sledge-flag flying. Hearty and joyful were the mutual greetings; and the appetite of the emaciated adventurers occupied this night and for a week afterwards, all the attention of the rest of the crew.[51] We formed a strange group to look upon, but Klotz carried off the palm from us all. He had never shown any weakness in counteracting the effects of weather and exposure on his motley garments. His cap, a wondrous piece of patchwork, resembled the winged helmet of a knight-errant, and of his boots nothing remained but the feet, over which hung the legs of them in shreds and tatters. Carlsen, when he saw him stepping along proudly and silently, forgot for a moment his walruses, and compared him to Saint Olaf, who could find only one horse in “Gulbrandsdalen” strong enough to carry him.
KLOTZ.
18. During our absence the greatest activity had reigned on board ship. Weyprecht and Brosch had finished their magnetical observations, and measured on the ice the base, which I have already mentioned, for the trigonometrical portion of my surveys. The crew had begun the equipment of the boats for our return to Europe, and packed up the provisions in water-tight cases. The number of the sick had diminished; the frost-bites had yielded to a persevering course of poultices and baths. The only unpropitious circumstance was the accident which had befallen Stiglich, who had shattered his right arm by accidentally discharging a rifle. Sores and wounds in Arctic regions are difficult to heal, and especially during the winter. Thanks to the care of our physician, Stiglich’s severe wound healed more quickly than many a slighter injury during the cold period of the year. The sanitary condition had essentially improved, owing to the rich supplies of fresh meat afforded by the chase. Even before our arrival the ship’s company had killed several bears. Scarcely a day now passed without a bear coming near the ship. On the 25th of April we shot one in the act of tearing down with his fore-paws a cask sticking in the ice, and on the following day another fell a victim to the curious attention with which he was regarding some meat packed in a tin case. Birds also, especially divers, appeared in greater numbers; the cliffs of Wilczek Island were no longer desolate as before. Hence it was that we indulged in dishes of stewed birds and roasted bear’s-flesh. We had brought with us seven bears’ tongues; each day brought an accession, and our culinary art exercised itself on the refined preparation of bears’ tongues, which, together with the brains of this animal, were esteemed the greatest delicacies. Weyprecht, according to agreement, had caused a boat and provisions for three months to be put on shore, intended for the use of the sledge-party in the event of the ship being driven from her moorings. As these precautionary measures could now be dispensed with, the boat and all these provisions were removed to the ship. Later experience proved that the exploring party could not have escaped in this manner, for the united strength of three-and-twenty men was required to raise and place such a boat on a sledge.