IN THE BOATS. 723 



undoubted proof of the correctness of my surmises, I 

 can only think that the cape was Cape Peszowij. At 

 two p. m. passed the last line of ice between us and 

 the land, and sounded in fourteen feet water one and 

 a half miles from the land. At 3.10 made the cape, 

 but, to my surprise, upon getting to within fifty yards 

 of the beach, my boat struck in the mud. Com- 

 pelled to seek another place, I headed across the bay 

 for the spot marked as Faddejew Hut ; but seeing 

 a nice looking place for a landing, at six P. M. I stood 

 in towards it. To my pleased eye there was pre- 

 sented a grassy or mossy slope for a camp, whole trees 

 of drift-wood, and small snow piles which I felt con- 

 fident did not contain salt ; but alas ! w r e struck the 

 mud a hundred yards from the beach, and could do 

 nothing. I lightened the whaleboat of all but two men 

 and Melville, and sent her in to try and make a land- 

 ing, then act as a ferry, but she struck fifty yards from 

 the beach. We pulled away again, and, anticipating a 

 night in the boats, we commenced to cook supper. 



But I then perceived further south a piece of beach 

 which showed gravel and not mud, and I ordered Mel- 

 ville in to try it, relieving him of his men as before. 

 To my great satisfaction he succeeded, and then, acting 

 as a ferry back, he assisted us, and by 6.45 P. m. all of 

 us were on good firm ground for the first time in two 

 years. My relief was great after the strain of the past 

 ten days, and the mental tension caused by the last two 

 days' work. To get moss and grass under my feet 

 again warmed me, and my freezing feet got back their 

 usual temperature. We moved up on the mossy level 

 back from the beach and camped, and our remaining 

 dog, Snoozer, tore around in glee, chasing lemmings, 

 whose holes were abundant, while we human beings 



46 



