13. Both ships were dressed with flags, and round one common table we celebrated the birthday, Aug. 18, of the Emperor and King, Francis Joseph I. On Aug. 19 we fetched some drift-wood from the land, and saw from a height an “ice-hole” stretching to the north at no great distance from the coast. As we returned to the ship we came across a bear, which, being assailed by so many hunters at once, took to flight. Aug. 20, some changes in the ice seemed to make navigation possible, and we forthwith went on board the _Isbjörn_ to bid adieu to our friends. It was no common farewell. A separation to those who are themselves separated from the world moves the heart to its depths. But besides this, in bidding adieu to Count Wilczek, we felt how much we were indebted to him, as the man who had fostered the work we were about to undertake, who dreaded no danger while providing for our safety in the event of a catastrophe to the expedition. Our high-minded friend was at this moment the embodiment of our country, which, honouring us with its confidence and trust, demanded that we should devote all our energies to the high objects of the expedition. Often afterwards did this adieu return to our memories. With a fresh wind from the north-east we passed the _Isbjörn_ as we steamed towards the north, while this vessel, veiled in mist, soon disappeared from our eyes. [Illustration: THE “TEGETTHOFF” FINALLY BESET.] 14. Our prospects, so far as the object of our expedition was concerned, had meantime not improved. To cross the Frozen Sea to Cape Tscheljuskin in the present year was not to be dreamt of, and yet the thought of wintering in the north of Novaya Zemlya was positively intolerable. The navigable water was becoming narrower every day, and the ice seemed to increase in solidity, especially in the neighbourhood of the coast. In the afternoon of this day we ran into an “ice-hole,” but in the night barriers of ice stopped our further progress. As usual, the ship was made fast to a floe, the steam blown off, and we awaited the parting asunder of the ice.[16] Five walruses who had been watching us from a rock as we entered that ill-starred “ice-hole,” sprang into the water and disappeared.