352 DISCOVERIES OF 1735. 



set sail, on the 1st August, and in three clays 

 reached the mouth of the A?iabara, in latitude 

 73^ proceeded on his voyage on the 10th, passed 

 through much ice, and was obliged to take shelter 

 at the mouth of the Katanga, in latitude 75° 

 nearly. Continuing along the shore to the north- 

 ward, he reached Taimura on the 18th: a chain 

 of islands stretching to the northward prevented 

 his further progress, and with much difficulty 

 he returned to the Olenek, which he reached on 

 the 29th August. If this account given by 

 Gmelin were correct, the promontory between the 

 Katanga and the Taimura would have been 

 doubled, and the difficulty surmounted. Muller, 

 according to Coxe, says, that Prontshistshef did 

 not quite reach the mouth of the Taimura; 

 and that he was stopped by a chain of islands 

 stretching from the continent far to the north- 

 ward, the channels between which were choked 

 with ice ; and that, having worked among them 

 as high as latitude 77° 25', and seeing no prospect 

 of forcing a passage, he returned to the Olenek. 



The Russians, from Archangel and other ports, 

 make annual voyao'es to the western coast of 

 Nova Zembla for the purpose of catching seals, 

 bears and sea-horses, but it does not appear that 

 any vessel, excepting that of WilHam Barentz, the 

 Dutchman, ever passed the northern extremity to 

 the eastern coast. 



From the Lena eastward to the Kovyma, the 



