88 CAPE CHELYUSKIN 



free from ice at the extremity of Cape Chelyuskin. 

 With the rounding of the most northerly point of the 

 Old World the first object of the expedition had been 

 attained. The salute fired in honour of the event 

 having frightened away the only polar bear who had 

 stood watching the ship from the western horn, some 

 of the party landed, the botanists to discover that 

 all the plants of the peninsula had apparently been 

 stopped on the outermost promontory when trying to 

 migrate further north. The flora was not extensive 

 a few luxuriant lichens and twenty-three flowering 

 plants, eight of them saxifrages, most of them with a 

 tendency to form semi-globular tufts ; the fauna con- 

 sisted of the bear, a few seals, a walrus, two shoals of 

 white whales, some ducks and geese, and a number of 

 sandpipers. Not so long a list as was obtained at 

 other landings, but by no means a bad one for the 

 half-way house to the Pole. 



After passing the cape the course was laid for the 

 New Siberian Islands, but ice prevented progress 

 in their direction beyond 77 45', the highest north of 

 the voyage, and the ship had to work her way out by 

 the route she went in, thus losing a day, which had 

 serious consequences, though it proved the correctness 

 of Nordenskidld's theory that the water delivered by 

 the Siberian rivers is, for a few months, of sufficiently 

 high temperature to give a clear passage to vessels 

 content to keep near the coast. On reaching the 

 mouth of the Lena the ships parted company, Captain 

 Johannsen taking the smaller steamer up the river as 

 intended and bringing the news of the rounding of 

 Cape Chelyuskin and the promise of the North-east 



