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U DER AN AFRmiSUN, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. CHAPTER I. “ Well, 'pon my word, Fraser 1” “ What's the matter now?" “ I'm staggered ; I am, really." “ What about, boy 2 ’ ” To think I could be such an absolute noodle as to let you morally bind me hand and foot and hear me 03 into a desolate is- land in the Atlantic, to carry your confound. ed specimens ; be dragged out of bed at un- holy hours to walk hundreds of miles in the brolling sun ; to sleep in beds full of the ac- tive and nameless insect abhorred by the British housewife ; and generally become your white nigger, cad, carthorse, and"â€" “Have you nearly done 2’ said Horace Fraser, with a grim smile upon his dry, quaint countenance. “No ; that was only the preface." l “Then let's have the rest when we get home in the shape of a neatly printed book, . a copy of which yoy can present to me with a paper-knife of white ivory ; and I promise you I will never cut a leaf or read a line.” “Thanks, Dio ones." “Diogenes in end i" cried Fraser with a snort, asbis crisp hair seemed to stand on end. “ Now, look, Tom Digby ; you are about the most illconditioued, ungrateful, dissatisfied English cub that ever breathed.” “ Go it i" said the good-looking young fellow addressed, as he flung himself down among the ferns and began to nutie his shoes, after wiping his steaming brow and taking off his straw bat, to let the hot dry breeze blow through his crisp wavy brown hair. “ I mean to ‘ go it,’ as you so coarsely term it, sir,“ continued Fraser, crossing his arms on a roughly made alpenstock. “ I came to you in your black and grimy cham- bers, where you were suffering from a sect- engendered cold. I said : “ I am off to the Canaries for a three month’s trip. Leave this miserable London March weather, and I ’ll take you where you can see the sun shine. "’ “See it shine? Yes ; but you didn’t say a word about feeling it,” cried the younger man. “Do you know the skin is peelin off my nose, and that the back of my use is burnt '3" "Don’tbea donkey, Tomi I ask, did you ever see anything so lovely before in your life 2” “Humph l ’Tis rather pretty," grumbled the younger man. “Pretty l” echoed Fraser contemptuously, as he took 03 his hat, as if out of respect to Nature, and gazed around him at sea, sky, mountain, and hill, whose hues were daz zling in their rich colours. He then threw down his alpensiock, drew a large geological hammer from his belt, and seated himself upon the grass, while his companion brought out a cold chicken, some dark bread and a number of uard-boilei eggs, finishing cfl‘ with a bottle and silver cup. “ Lock at that wonderful film of cloud floating toward the volcano, Tom ! Look at the sun gleaming upon it 1 Just like a silver veil which the queen of mountains in about to throw over her head.” " Poetry, by jingol" cried Digby. “Brsyvo, old stones and bones, I say! Look at the golden yellow of the hard yolk lying within the ivory walls of this hard-boiled eg ; and at theâ€"There; I'll be hanged if didn’t forget to bring some salt 1” Tom Digby made a sound with his tongue as he tested some of the wine he had poured into the cup ; then he made a grimace. “I say, Horace, old chap, it was very well for the old people to make a fuss about their sack and canary ; but for my part a tankard of honest English beer is worth an ocean of this miser‘ able juice." “Don't drink it, then." said Fraser, eat- ing mechanically, as he gazed about him at the glorious pines around. and then down at the tropical foliage of banana, palm, orange, and lime, two thousand feet below, where it glorified the lovely valleys and gorges which ran from the black volcanic sandy shore right up into the mountains. Then a silence fell upon the scene, which continued till the "al fresco" repast was at an end, and Tom Digby deliberateiy lit up and be an to smoke. " W at an enthusiastic young gusher you are, Horace i" cried Digby banteringiy. “ For a man of forty-cue, you do rather o it." K " And for twenty five, you assume the airs of a boy," said Fraser grimly. “Well, I feel like one, old chap, out here. \Vhy, it’s glorious to breathe this delicious mountain air, to gaze upOu the clouds above, and below at that wonderful blue sea, and at the yellow pines which look like gold. Yes." he added, as he sprang up and gazed about him, “ it is a perfect Eden i What a jolly shame that it should belong to the Spaniards instead of us." “ I daresay they appreciate it." " Must have done, or else they wouldn‘t have taken it from theâ€"the â€"theâ€"what did you call the aborgines 3’ "Guanohes." “ What a chap you are, Horace i You seem to know a bit of everything." “ I only try to go about with my eyes open, and take interest in something better than coloring a meerschaum pipe.” ‘ Severe 1" "Well, you do annoy me, Tom, you do indeed. A man vi ith such capabilities, and you will not use them. Why, you haven't even tried to learn Spanish yet." "What's the cod! You know plenty for both. I‘m we enough efl" not to bother my brains about Spanish." “Ah, Torn, 'I‘omi if you only had some aim in life." ‘ “Rather have some of these delicious oranges." “Eating again 3" “No, for drinking. Thirsty land, Horace, and I never knew what an orange really was before. And why should I worry myself about languages! I've a lively recollection of your namesake at school, and Virgil and Homer and all the other dead-language bcfl'eraâ€"I say, though, that's fine." They had come suddenly upon one of the gushes in the island known to the Spanish as “barraucos"â€"-a thorough crack or crevice in the rocky soil, with perpendicular sides clothed with mosses, ferns, and the various growths which found a home in the disin- tegratingfllava of which the place was com- posed. are the various patches of green were of the most brilliant tints, and keit ever verdant by the moisture trickling down from above. “ Mind what you are doing i” said Fraser, after steeping to chip off a fragment of per. fectly black lava from a bare spot. " Yes; it would be an awkwnd tumble," said Digby, as he leaned forward and peered over the ledge. “ Five hundred feet, I daresay." “ More likely a thousand," said Fraser. “The distances are greater than you think." “ Ah, well, don't make much difi‘ereuce to a man who falls whether he tumbles five gundred or a thousand feetâ€"Going along ere?" “ Yes ; the track leads to a steep descent. Then we can get up the other side, and round over the mountain, and so back to the part where, after dinner, we can go and call on Mr. Redgrave. I did send on the letter straight from London.” “ All right, old chap. I’m ready. How man miles round 2" " at more than ten. You will not mind ' the climb down 2" “ Well, if it's like thisâ€"yes. what's he doing i" Digb y pointed across tne ban-ance to where, a couple of hundred yards away, upon the opposite rock-face, a man seemed to be slowly descending the giddy wall. “After birds or rabbits, perhaps," said Fraser. "Take care of yourself, old chap 1" shout- ed Digby ; and then, as his voice was lost in the vastness of the place, he followed his companion seaward for a few hundred yards till the track led them to a zigzag descent out in the wall of rock, down which they went cautiously and not without hesitation till they reached the little_ stream at the bottom, crossed it, and ascended the other side, a similar dangerous path taking them to the top. “By George, this is a place i" cried Digby as they paused for a few moments. “ Listen 1" whispered Fraser, stopping short; and there beneath them was s. pant- ing and rustling, followed directly after by the appearance of a dark face with a band across the brow, a man with a basket sup- ported on his back by the band, to leave his hands free, climbing up from a hidden path among the ferns, and pausing before them to set down his load. “ What have you there i" asked Fraser in Spanish. ” Dash of the old people, senor Inglese," said the man, smiling. “ That is one of the caves below therewhere they used to bury them; and he pointed to an opening just visible amongst the growth where the side of the barraoco sloped. “ Buried 2 There?" said Fraser. “ Yes, senor; there are plenty of such places as this in the sides of the mountain." " Curious,” said Fraser, eagerly peering into the basket of brown dust, stirring it with the end of his alpenstock, and uncover- ing something gleaming and white. " Why, it’s a tooth i" said Digby, stoop- ing to pick it out of the basket, but dropping it suddenly “ Ugh !" he ejaculated; “why they're bios of bone.” “ Yes ; very interesting," said Fraser. “Dust of the Guanche mummies. ' I knew there were remains to be found." “ Disgusting l" ejaculated Digby, recoil- in . g‘ Why do you get this dust i" asked Fraser of the man. “ For my garden, senor. The and onions like it, and it is superb.” “ What does he say 2" “They use it for manure for their gar- dens.” Digby seized his friend’s arm. “ Come away,” he said. “ No more vegetables while I stay in Isola. Hang it all, Fraser, I hope they don’t put it among the orange-trees. ‘ " Possibly i Why not? This is the debris of mummies, the remains of the old dwel- lers here, made of the dust of the earth, returned to the dust of the earth ; and the salts here are taken up by plant-life by Nature's chemistry." “ I say don't preach science," cried Digby. “ Come along." “ Yes we must go on now,” said Fraser thoughtfully ; “ but we shall have to come and explore these caves. I should like to take back a few perfect skulls." For the next two hours they wandered on throu h scenes of surpassing loveliness, following the faint track which led them over the mountains till they could see the sea on the other side of the little island, as they began to descend. Fraser was always busy chipping fragments of pumice and lava; picking rare plants, and making a goodly collection for study at the little venta or hotel where they had taken up their quart- ers, when a rabit suddenly darted out across the_verdaut path they pursued. "Rather disappointing place as to game," said Digby. "Few birds, too. I say, I ex- pected to see the place with canaries as yellow as gold singing on every bough. -â€"l’st l" He caught his companion's arm, and they both stopped short to listen to a sweet pure voice singing the words of some Spanish ditty, the notes ringing out melodious and clear, though the singer was hidden among the trees through which the path led. “ There's one of your Can birds,” said Fraser in a whisper ; and directly after there was a rustic amen the bushes, which were thrust aside; an Digby stood on Hillo, potatoes thralled by the picture before him, as a ly eyes, they had men's moustachesâ€"th ought to shave.â€"This wayâ€"to the ht. think," he added,for the road had so denly forked. “ Andâ€"â€" Well, she is beautiful," cried Digby. “I wonder who she is." “A Spanish settlsr’s descendant, whom_ in all human probability, you will never see again," said Fraser quietly ; and they both went on for half an hour in a silence which was broken by Fraser. “ Going wrong, evidentlv," he slid ;“ this can't be the way round to the town." “ Well, I thought we were going up bill a . ' “ Osght to have taken the other turning." This was so evident, that they turned back, retracing their steps, till, close upon the spot: where they had diverged, they came suddenly upon a tall, handsome, well dress- ed mm, who started and looked at them curiously. “ Will the senor direct us to the town i ’ said Fraser, in Spanish. The haughty searching look gave lane to a winning smile, and the stranger vo ubly in- dicated the right road, and than said laugh- ingly in English : “ But do you understand me 3" ” Yes, perfectly," replied Fraser ; “ and I :ish my Spanish were as good as your Eng- lis .” Then punctilious words were exchanged, and the stranger passed on. “ Do you believe in first impressions, Ho- race 2" said Digby, glancing back, and then uttering an impatient exclamantion. “ Noâ€"What’s the matter?" “ That fellow was looking after us." “ Well, you were looking after him, or you would not have seenâ€"What do you mean by your first impressions 2" “ I don’t like the looks of that follow.” “ Insular prejudice." “ Don’t care what it is ; i don't like him, I'm sure I nevir should.-â€"-Why, Horace, look there i" Not twenty yards in front was the girl they had so lately met ; and as Digby drew attention to her presence, he stoppcd and hastily picked up a twi of flswers such as he had seen her carry ng, and which her despondeut attitude suggested that she had dro ped. For she was walking slowly on wit her face buried in her handkerchief, evidently sobbing bitterly; and as they followed, she let others of the flowers she had gathered fall. "Stop!" whispered Fraser hastily, as he caught his companion by the arm.‘ “ Going to see if I can "â€" D'gby did non finish his sentence, for the irl had evidently heard the harsh whisper. he turned, gazing back at him in an afi‘righted way ; and as they caught sight of the tearful convulsed face, she darted down a side-track, and was gone. “ What do you think of that 2" cried Digby excitedly. “ A Spanish woodland romance," said Fraser dryly.â€"-“ What do you think about it, Tom 1" “ That I should like to go after that haughty looking Spanish customer and ask him what it all mannaâ€"Shall I i" “ No. Be sensible for once.â€"Ah, you can see the town from here.â€"â€"Come along.” CHAPTER II. The accommodation at the vents ‘was ‘ of the “ bumblest ' description ; but the place was cleanly, the best- use was attentive, and she was evi- dently proud of being honoured by those she termed the illustrious strangers, who had come from the main island to her unfro- quented house. The homely dinner was discussed, the cooking declared to be not so very bad, the Malvasia an outrage on the name of wine, and the magnificent view from the open window a banquet in itself. " Yes," said Fraser ; “ I’d have braved a worse voyage to see what I have seen to- day." Digby, who was toyiu with an orange which he had begun to pee , and then left un- tested, looked up sharply, and his face flush- ed alittle as he exclaimed : “ Yes; wasn’t she lovely 2" " I was talking about the scenery," said Fraser coldly. Digby turned impatiently away,aud began to fill his pi e as he gazed out over the flat roofs of the cases among which the leafy crowns of stately palms arose. “ Don‘t turn like that, Tom," said Fraser, after a few moments’ silence ; and he rose to lay his hand upon his young oampauion’s shoulder. “ Turn like what 2” “ Huffy, my dear boy. I wouldn’t, Tom ; let's be sensible. You must not be so in- flammable. We bave come to admire the beauties of Nature and to collect in this, one of the least visited of the Canaries. You must not try to work up a romance by taking a fancy to the first pretty Spanish maiden you see." Digby flushed more deeply, and he gazed up in hrs companion’s face, sober, quiet Ho- race Fraser couli not help marking what a frank handsome young Englishman he look- ed thers, with the golden rays of the westerlng sun bathing is countenance in its low. 8 Di by's eyes for a moment looked resent- ful : us a smile came upon his lips directly. “All right, Horace," he said. “I am an awful donkey, I know ; but that girl's sweet face impressed me ; and then seeing her evidently in trouble directly after that Spanish chap had left her, seemed to raise my bile.” " How do you know that gentleman had beautiful girl of about nineteen bounded just left her?’ down from a rocky led e above the path, " E's? 0b, of course! I couldn't know, her straw hat hanging y its string from could i? â€"-There; it's all over, andI'll return her creamy throat, and her sun-browned to my duty like a mamâ€"Let’s have a look face turning crimson at the siaht of the M": W'd‘Y’l 0°“me ; “1d W-NOH‘OW 1'11 strangers, who made way for her to swallow my repugnance, and we'll do some laden with flowers, which she had evidently of your ghoulish ethnology in the mummy been gathering in the openings among the caves, eh!" trees. tut-L; o “1:30”?! " And tonight, let's go up in the cooland " Horace, old fellow, did you see i" whis. call on Mr. Red vs. I want him to give per-ed Digby, his eyes sparkling with excits- us a few hints I. out what we ought to see most. and how to get a guide." "Yes," was tbs quiet reply. ” Right. Let's go at once, before snu- "Why, you old ascetic i" cried Digby. io‘." “An angel. Violet eyesâ€"brown hairâ€"a The walk was delightful, the western oomph xlcn of which Belgravis might boast. side of the island being glorious in the glow I did not think the Spaniards had it in of radianceinwhich it was bathed. while them." the sea and the islands around seemed glen- “Yes,” said Fraser slowly. "Some of fied by colours that were almost beyond the old race possessed that fair hair. Mary's belief. Philip was fair." " Better than sitting in that study little " But did you notice her mouth lâ€"Frascr, room. Torn." don't raik of such a vision of beauty as ifshs “ Bless you, my son, for bringing me wereanstural-his:ory specimen." here,“ cried Digby merrilyâ€"“Cheerful " Well, don't go on like that about the first kind of growth to tumble among," he added, pretty woman you see. Only yesterday, you pointing to the prickly-pears which lwors grumbling about their plainness, and abouuded on one side of the narrow saying that though the women here had love- . rocky path they were ascending, the other side being furnished with an abun- dance of leaved bananas. " There's a house in that nook yonder," said Fraser; “ that must be it." " And this chap coming in our man, for a shilling," said Digby, as a tall, sturdy, middle-aged personage came towards them smoking a huge cigar. “ An Erglishman, by the way he keeps his hands in his pockets." “ Hush i" whispered Fraser, as the man approached ; and then addressing him in Snanish,he asked to be directed to Senor Radgrave's house. “ Suppose you ask me in English, sir.” said the ether blu fily. " You are Fraser, I presume; and this is Mr. ngby iâ€"-Giad to to see you, gentle- men. I had your letter, and was com- ing down to the ten!!! to hunt you up. Don’t often see a countryman here;so, be- fore we say any more," be added, after warmly shaking hands, "I’ll give orders for your traps to be fetched up here, and you can make this your home while you stay.” But Fraser would not hear of it. “We are in capital quarters,” he said, “and will not impose on you.â€"â€"But if you will have us, we’ll come up pretty frequently for a chat." "You shall do as you like, gentlemenâ€"In here. please." “By George i" cried Digby involuntarily, as they passed through a ate into a lovely villa- rden, “what a par ise l" " ell, pretty tidy. You see, everything rushes into growth here with little trouble. I am a bit proud of my home, and make it as English as I can. It was my poor dead wife's favorite place, the garden." He raised his hat slightly as he uttered the last words, and a silence fell upon the group. “ Forgive me," said the host the next moment, as he looked in the eyes of his two visitors. " You are Englishmen, and can sympathise with one who has lost a dear companion out here in a strange land. But there, that’s f lurteeu years ago, gentlemen," he said cheerin ; “ and I'm not quite alone â€"-Hsre. Nelly 1" he cried; “ where are you 2 Visitors from home, my dear." The sun was very low now, and it turned the porch, covered with Bouoainyilleas and alovely scarlet geranium, into a frame of gold into which suddenly stepped, as it were out of the inner darkness, the picture wanting to complete the scene. “ My daughter Helen, gentleman,” said their host ; and both the visitors stood speechless, Di by even spellbound. For there before him, winning in her beauty, stood the lady of the semi-tropic wood, whose sweet notes he had heard, and whom he had seen in smiles and tears ; while, as he gazed at her, the bright look of welcome in her eyes changed to one of pain. and it was as if a dark shadow had been cast across her. It was no seeming. The edge of the sun was kissing the western wave, and the tall dark shadow of a man was cast across her as a click of the gate was heard, while Mr. Red- grave turned sharply and said in rather a constrained tone of voice : " Ah, Senor Ramon, you here i" D'ghy and Fraser turned sharply, as if to seek the cause of Helen Ridgrave’s troubled face. The Spanish gentleman they had en- countered in the woodland was coming to- ward them hat in hand. (To BE CONTINUED.) Open Your Window at Night- Auextraordiuaryfallacyisthedreadofni ht air. What air can we breathe at night ut night air? The choice is between pure night air from without and foul are from within. Most people prefer the latterâ€"an unac- countable cholce. What will they say if it is proved to be true that fully one -half of all the diseases wesufi‘er from are occasioned by people sleeping with their windows shut? An open window most nights in the year can never. hurt any one. In great cities night air is often the best and purest to be had in twenty-four hours. One could better understand shut- ting the windows in town during the day than during the night for the sake of the sick. The absence of smoke, the quiet, all tend to make the night the best time for airing the patient. One of our highest medical authori- ties on consumption and climate has told me that the air of London is never so good as after 10 o‘clock at night. Always air your room, then, from the outside air if possible. Windows are made to open, doors are made to shut â€"a truth which seems extremely diffi- cult of apprehension. Every room must be aired from without. every passage from with- iu.â€"[Sanitary World. ___â€"-+â€"-â€"-â€"â€" As Smart as a Yankee. Among other passengers in a third-class compartment in railway carriage are an Am- erican and a Scotch farmer, who are seated facing each other. V Americanâ€" “Wall, friend, guess yeou think a deal of this ole country of yeours." Farmerâ€"“00, ay ; it's guid eneuch for me at ony rate.” American “'8 that so. Guess yeou've ne~ ver seen the States 2 Graaud countryâ€"jest make yeou stare. Yeov could make yeour fortin in a year or two, friend ; I’ll lay my last dollar on that there i ’ Farmerâ€""Ab, man, d'ye say see? But yer American bodies are siccan atrocious leears that'ower here we diuna believe a word ye sa . ' .yAmericauâ€"“Wall, friend, guess my mouth never uttered a lie in all my tar-nation career.” Farmerâ€"“Weel, maybe you're rieht ; for, like the rest 0’ yer kind, yer speak through yer nose." Concerning Dogs. Over 7,000 persons have been treated for hydrophobia at the Pasteur Institute, Paris, and only 71 have died. hi. Pasteur, how- ever, thinks there is no reason why there should be any hydrophobla at all. He he- lieves that simple police regulations would stamp out hydrophobia in the British Is- lands, sinoe the disease is invariably caused by the bite of an animal afl'ected with it. The Prince of Wales has also expressed his belief that if all dogs in the British Islands were muzzled for one year rabies would be unknown. Quite Impractioable. A London paper says that all the people now living in the world, or about 1,400,- 000_000, could find standing room within the limits of afield ten miles square, and by aid of a telephone could be addressed by a single speaker. To successfully carry out such an undertaking would attract a large crowd, no doubt, but we fear the scheme is mpractlcable. would offer their hospitality hausting journey, there being no similar _â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"’â€" - Oressinr the Great Ioe Fields of Greenland. New York Times : At a meeting of the Royal Geogra ical Society at Burlington House, in Lon on, on the ht of June 24, over which the Right Hon. S E. M. Grant Dofl‘ presided, D. Fridtoff Nansen, the Greenland explorer, gave a description of hi. recent journey across the inland ice of Greenland from east to west. Dr. Nansen was received with warm cheers and proceed- ed to deliver his lecture with the assistance of a great many sketches in color of Greene land scenes. A sledge referred to in the loc- ture was in front of the table, and a map of the country dealt with faced the audience. The report of the lecture printed in the London " Times" says that Dr. Nansen be~ gan by remarking that since the discovery. Greenland, 900years sgo, its interior has remained a mystery. Many attempts have been made to etrate it, but none have succeeded. The first expedition known of- was one toward the middle of last century led by the first and last Governor in Greenv land, Maj Jl' Paars, who, with an escort of more than twenty soldiers, with their wives and children, twelve horses, guns, etc, wished to cross the continent on horseback and to found a colony on the east coast. The next was the Dane, Dalager, some years afterward. In the present century there had been many attempts by adventurous. travelers and men of science. In 1868 two Englishmenâ€"the well-known Alpiuist, Mr. Edward Whymper, and Dr. Robert Bros it. â€"-tried it from the shores of Disco Bay but. were obliged to return after penetrating only a few miles, convinced thatto cross the. wide ice plateau was an impossibility. More fortunate were the subsequent expeditions of the crest Arctic exp‘orer, Nordeuskiold, in 1870 : of the (lanes, Captain Jensen, Kornerup, and Groth, in 1878 ; Nordenskiold again in 1883, and the American, Peary, with the Dane Maigaark, in 1886 As these attempts were made from the west coast, no one had tried to solve the problem by. THE LITTLE-KNOWN EAST COAST. Dr. Nansen had been long of opinion that the- only way of crossing Greenland was to start. from the east coast and make for the west, where the Dmish-Ezquimau settlements after the ex- settlements to made for on the east coast. Most people thought his plan was that of a madman, but notwithstanding all warnings a generous Dane, Mr. Augustin Game], of- fered to contribute to the fittln out of the expedition, and more than forty orwegians asked to accompany him. Dr. Nansen. selected threeâ€"Otto Sverdrup (shipmasterl, Dietrichsen (Lieutenant in the Norwegian. army), and Keistiansen (a peasant) He engaged in addition - two Lappsâ€"Samuel- Balto and 013 ana. Arriving at Ioelandt on their way in J use, 1888, they embarked on board a Norwegian sealing ship on the 17th of July ; the party left this ship in their two lzoats at a distance of ten miles from the land near Cape Dan (65 deg. 30 min. north latitude). In their boats they tried to force a way through the ice to reach the land, but: one of the boats was crushed, and while it was being mended they were swept by a rapid current southward for twelve days. along the coast. After many difficulties and- dangers at last they reached the land at Anoritok (61 deg. 30 min. north latitude) on the 29;h'0f.July. They had now to force their way northward-along the coast to reach a more northerly latitude. At last, on the 15th of August, they disembarked, and witb~ out delay commenced their inland journey. Dr. Nansen’s original destination was the settlement of Kristianshaab, in Disco Bay., For twelve days the party pushed forward in this direction. At first the snow was rather hard, but it became looser, and the‘ pulling of the sledges was very hard work. A continuous snowstorm blow in their faces. Findinglit would be impossible at this rate. to resc Krisaianshasb in time to catch the last ship of the season by Denmark, they. altered their course to a more westerly direc. tion, making for the settlement of Godhaad.. The' drifting snow continued to ham or their progress, but the sufaoe was even l he a floor, gently risln , untril at the beginning of September they ad reached the height of 9,000 feet above sea level. They were now on an extensive ice plateau resembling a in zen sea. For more than two weeks they traveled over this desolate region. The cold was quite unexpectedly severe, the thermometer falling below the scale in the nights, and on some nights reaching, as be calculated. 45 AND 50 DECS. nusow rm: FREEZING. POINT (Sentigrade). On the 19:h of Septem- ber a favorable wind sprang up. The trave- lers lashed the sledges, together and hoisted the sails, so that it was unnecessary to draw them. They held on to the sledges standin on their “s is" (Norwegian snowshoes). an thus rattled down the western slope of the continent at a splendid rate. At last, on the 24 2h, they reached the zone of land bare of ice on the west coast, and on the 26m descended to a ijord called Ame: - alik. Here they constructed a boat out o the canvas floor of the tent, using willow boughs and bamboo staffs as ribs. In this small boat two of the party paddled fifty. miles to the nearest Danish settlement, Gad- thsab, arriving on the 31 of October, and immediately sending two boats to bring on the four men left behind. The scientific re- sults of the expedition had not yet been fully worked out ; the observations made related to questcns of a geographical, geological and meteorological nature. There were, how- ever, some few im rtant points which might be mentioned. 0 expedition, Dr. Naussn believed, had proved the whole of the interi- or of Greenland to be covered by an immense shieldsbsped cap of ice and snow, which in some places must have a thickness of at least 5,000 or 6,000 feet. The investigation of this immense ice and snow field would, no doubt, yield results of the greatest import- ance to the study of glacial theories. An- other point of interest was the very low tem- rature found in the interiorâ€"a fact which id not seem to agree with the received me- teorological laws. ~ Dr. Nansen thought that this low temperature might throw a good deal of light on the much-discussed question. â€"the cause of the great cold of the glacial period in Europe and North America, which at that time were covered with an ice sheet similar to that now seen in Greenland. He thought that the best way of solving the pro- blems of the great ice age was to go and ex- amine the places where similar conditions were now found, and no better place for this could be found than Greenland. But Green- land was a vast region. His expedition was the first to cross it. but he hoped it would not be the last. He considered Greenland Scandinavia. and the characteristics of Scotland and.