to
witness some curious freaks of refraction and other odd phenomena for
which the high latitudes are so remarkable. On July 30, the fine weather
continuing, everybody was correspondingly elate and merry when both
Herald and Wrangel islands were sighted from the "cro'-nest" and, as
they were neared, apparently free from ice. This illusion, however, was
soon dispelled. On approaching the land strong tide rips were
encountered, and finally the ice, the drift of which was shown by the
drop of a lead-line to be west-northwest. We steamed through about
fifteen miles of this ice before being stopped, less than half a mile
from the southeast end of the island by the fixed ice, to which the ship
was secured with a kedge. We got off, and after considerable climbing
and scrambling up and down immense hummocks, and jumping a number of
crevices, finally set foot on the land we had been so long trying to
reach. Our advent created a great commotion among the myriads of birds
that frequent the ledges and cliffs, and the intrusion caused them to
whirl about in a motley cloud and scream at each other in ceaseless
uproar. A few minutes sufficed to survey the situation, before
attempting to ascend at a spot that seemed scarcely to afford footing
for a goat. Near the foot of the cliffs were seen on the one hand
several detached pinnacles of sombre-looking weather-worn granite that
had withstood the vigor of many Arctic winters; on the other hand a
seemingly inaccessible wall, vividly recalling the eastern face of the
Rock of Gibraltar. This sight, strange and weird beyond description, did
not fail to awaken odd thoughts and emotions, far removed as we were
from all human intercourse, amid solitude and desolation, and for a
moment the mind absorbed a dash of the local coloring. Selecting what
was believed to be the most favorable spot to ascend the cliff, two of
our party in making the attempt would occasionally detach large
bowlders, which came bounding, down like a bombardment.

The attempt was abandoned after climbing a few hundred feet. In company
with several others, I tried what seemed to be a more practicable way--a
gully filled with snow--up which we had gone scarcely a hundred feet
when it, too, had to be abandoned. In the meantime the skin boat had
been brought over the ice, and one of the men pointing out another place
where he thought we might ascend, it was the work of but a few minutes
to cross a bit of open water which led t