Voyage through the Kara Sea. 135 



Fraiu to stop. Then we held farther out from land and 

 got into deeper water, so that the Frain could come on 

 again at full speed. 



From time to time our petroleum engine took to its old 

 tricks and stopped. I had to pour in more oil to set it 

 -oiiicr ao-ain, and as I was standing doing this, the boat 



o & o o *-* 



gave a lurch, so that a little oil was spilt, and took fire. 

 The burning oil ran over the bottom of the boat, where 



O 



a good deal had been spilt already. In an instant the 

 whole stern was in a blaze, and my clothes, which were 

 sprinkled with oil, caught fire. I had to rush to the 

 bow, and for a moment the situation was a critical one, 

 especially as a big pail that was standing full of oil also 

 took fire. As soon as I had stopped the burning of my 

 clothes, I rushed aft again, seized the pail, and poured 

 the flaming oil into the sea, burning my fingers badly. 

 At once the whole surface of the water round was in 

 tiames. Then I orot hold of the baler, and baled water 



o 



into the boat as hard as I could ; and soon the worst 

 was over. Things had looked anything but well from 

 the Fraui, however, and they were standing by with 

 ropes and buoys to throw to us. 



Soon we were out of Yugor Strait. There was now so 

 little fog that the low land round us was visible, and we 

 could also see a little way out to sea, and, in the distance, 

 all drift-ice. At 4 o'clock in the morning (August 4th) 

 we glided past Sokolii, or Hawk Island, out into the 

 dreaded Kara Sea. 



