7. But however great our delight at the discovery of these unknown lands—trophies of our endurance—we were much discouraged by the view towards the south. An enormous surface of ice extended before us—a sad outlook, as we thought of our return homeward. Although one single serpentine thread of water, gleaming in the sun, stretched towards the south-east, separating the land-ice from the field-ice, yet it was but too certain that the next breeze from the south would again close it. All save this was a close sheet of ice. We spent some time in exploring the lower glacier region of the island, so that it was towards evening before we reached the tent. Much as we desired to prosecute our explorations, reflection forced us to limit them. In order to penetrate in a north-westerly direction several days would have been needed; but as it had been arranged that we must at once begin our return to Europe, we were constrained to abandon the thought of such a scheme and return at once to the ship. On the night of the 2nd of May we began our forced march of two-and-twenty hours, during which we were often bathed in perspiration, though the temperature on the 3rd of May varied between 5° F. and -4° F. The dogs alone drew the sledge with ease, though it carried a load of 3 cwt., giving us such a striking example of what they could do, that we felt persuaded that a sledge, with a strong team of dogs, must be the best form, beyond comparison, of sledge-travelling. In the evening we reached the _Tegetthoff_ and our sledge expeditions came to a close, after we had travelled in this fashion about 450 miles. “TEGETTHOFF” ABANDONED: RETURN TO EUROPE. CHAPTER I. LAST DAYS ON THE “TEGETTHOFF.”