3-008-890 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The International Exhibition: "Western Coast of the Island of Heligoland", by Hermann Eschke, 1862. Engraving of a painting. 'The picture represents the winter aspect, the ground covered with snow and the coast incumbered with ice, the sea obscured by mist, and the sky laden with storm-clouds, of that part of the small British dependency of Heligoland which is exposed to and constantly encroached upon and worn away by the storms, the tides, the winds, and waves of the great German Ocean. This part of the coast...is only visited by flocks of birds. As many as three hundred different species of birds are said to visit the island in their migrations; but only three - viz., the sparrow, the guillemont [sic], and the razor-bill auk - breed here. The island is so exposed, and the gales and tides from the north-west are so violent, that wrecks are of not uncommon occurrence, although the lantern of its lighthouse is 257ft. above the sea-level, and can therefore be seen at a great distance if it is not foggy or rainy. There is a portion of some unfortunate lost vessel in the picture'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.