Voyage through the Kara Sea. 137 



day it was no better, and we made fast to a great ice- 

 block which was lying stranded off the Yalmal coast. 



In the evening some of us went on shore. The water 

 was so shallow that our boat stuck fast a good way from 

 the beach, and we had to wade. It was a perfectly flat, 

 smooth sand beach, covered by the sea at full tide, and 



y 



' By Otto Sinking}, LANDING ON YALMAL. {from a Photograph. 



beyond that a steep sand bank, 30 to 40 feet, in some 

 places probably 60 feet high. 



We wandered about a little. Flat, bare country on 

 every hand. Any driftwood we saw was buried in the 

 sand, and soaking wet. Not a bird to be seen except 

 one or two snipe. We came to a lake, and out of the fog 

 in front of me I heard the cry of a loon, but saw no 



