After enclosing a brief account of the journey in a bottle and depositing it in a cleft of rock, the return journey was begun. Cape Schrötter was reached on the evening of the 13th April. It was well for those left there that nothing serious happened to Payer’s party, for although all the means of ascertaining their position had been given to them, when asked what direction they would have taken to return to the ship, they pointed north-east up Rawlinson Sound! Cape Schrötter was left on the 14th April, and the party made for the Coburg Islands, in very bad weather. Klotz’s foot had become much worse, and all those who had been left behind were more or less snow-blind. It struck Payer as peculiar that the dogs did not suffer from this affection, close as they were to the glare of the snow and without any protection against it. Coburg Islands were reached in the evening. Next day, after a severe march, they got clear of the region of ice-hummocks, and were able to use their sledge-sail. On the return journey Payer ascended Cape Hellwald, 2200 feet, and Cape Tyrol, 3000 feet, above sea-level. On the 19th April, south of Cape Tyrol, they came on open water, and had to take to the coast of Wilczek Land. The iceberg on which one of the dépôts had been placed was afloat, and could not be reached. Their provisions were now running short, and they were still 55 miles from the ship. During the next two days they struggled on in terrible weather. Their last dépôt, fortunately, was discovered, and also the remains of a bear killed on the way north. The open water was now found to have retreated to the west, and this enabled them to reach Cape Frankfurt, on Hall Island. From here the ice could be seen stretching away to the south. When Cape Orgel was reached, it was with anxious feelings that Payer began its ascent. It was from here he would be able to ascertain whether the _Tegetthoff_ had been drifted away from its former position. He was overjoyed to find the ship about 3 miles off. The whole party reached it on 23rd April. The weather towards the end of April was good, and favoured the carrying out of the third and last sledge-expedition. Payer was anxious to ascertain, if possible, how far Franz-Josef Land extended towards Spitzbergen. On the 29th April he again left the ship, with Haller, Lieutenant Brosch, and the two dogs. Provisions for a week were carried. Cape Brünn, on McClintock Island, was to be their objective. This was ascended on the 2nd May, and was found to be 2500 feet high, but the boundaries of the land towards Spitzbergen could not be determined. On the night of the 2nd May they began a forced march of twenty-two hours back to the ship. The total distance of the sledge-journeys was estimated to be about 450 miles.