rope some ten feet higher than the ledge on which Zaninovich had lain, so that he might be able to cut the ropes which fastened the loading of the firmly wedged in sledge. At this moment, Orel arrived, and with his help we raised one by one the articles with which the sledge was loaded. It was ten o’clock before we were convinced that we had lost nothing of any importance in the crevasse.” [Sidenote: _CAPE FLIGELY_] On April 12, 1874, Payer and his companions attained their farthest north, 82° 5´ north latitude; on that day they stood on a promontory about one thousand feet high, to which the name of Cape Fligely was given. “Rudolf Land still stretched in a northeasterly direction,” writes Payer, “to wards a Cape, Cape Sherard Osborne—though it was impossible to determine its further course and connection.” In the distant north, blue mountain ranges indicated masses of land and to these the names of King Oscar Land and Petermann Land were given. “Proudly we planted the Austro-Hungarian flag,” continues Payer, “for the first time in the high North. A document we enclosed in a bottle and deposited in a cleft of rock.” The return to the ship was rendered doubly hazardous by the insecurity of the ice, and the increasing water holes. The results of the journey may be summed up as follows—Payer found the newly discovered country to be about the size of Spitzbergen, and consisting of two large masses, Wilczek Land to the East, and Zichy Land to the west, intersected by numerous fjords and skirted by many islands. Austria Sound divides the two main masses of land and extends to 82° N., where Rawlinson Sound forks off to the northeast. The mountains reach a height of two thousand to three thousand feet; glaciers abound in the ravines, and even the islands are covered with a glacial cap. A third sledge journey was undertaken by Lieutenant Payer on April 29 to explore a large island named after M’Clintock. [Sidenote: _HOME_] The momentous day, May 20, on which the _Tegetthoff_ was abandoned, came at last. Three boats were selected by the return expedition. Two of these were Norwegian whale-boats, twenty feet long, five feet broad, and two and one-half deep; the third was somewhat smaller. The hummocks rendered their advance discouragingly slow. It was necessary to pass over the same short distance many times in the course of a day, and after two months of indescribable efforts, the distance reached by the party was not more than two German miles. An occasional bear, shot by the men, restored the waning strength and courage, but not until August 14, did the welcome sound of the open water reach their ears, and in 77° 40´ north latitude, they launched their boats. Nine days later they were picked up by Russian fishermen off the coast of Nova Zembla. CHAPTER XVI