144 Chapter V. 



Though not very high, it was a hilly country, with 

 patches and even large drifts of snow here and there, 

 some of them lying close down by the shore. Next 

 morning I sighted the southernmost of the Kamenni 

 Islands. We took a tack in under it to see if there were 

 animals of any kind, but could catch sight of none. 

 The island rose evenly from the sea at all points, with 

 steep shores. They consisted for the most part of rock, 

 which was partly solid, partly broken up by the action of 

 the weather into heaps of stones. It appeared to be a 



OSTROVA KAMENNI (ROCKY ISLAND) OFF THE COAST 



OF SIBERIA. 



stratified rock, with strongly marked oblique strata. The 

 island was also covered with quantities of gravel, some- 

 times mixed with larger stones ; the whole of the 

 northern point seemed to be a sand heap, with steep 

 sand-banks towards the shore. The most notice- 

 able feature of the island was its marked shore lines. 

 Near the top there was a specially pronounced one, 

 which was like a sharp ledge on the west and north 

 sides, and stretched across the island like a dark band. 

 Nearer the beach were several other distinct ones. In 



