THE NEW SIBERIAN ISLANDS. 739 



stand quietly all the time, and my hands and feet are 

 in bad condition from the cold in consequence. 



At 4.30 p. M. Chipp and the doctor returned. They 

 had walked about five miles out and back, and though 

 seeing deer droppings and antlers, found no game what- 

 ever. They found this sand spit to be the low beach 

 extending out from the main land, and we are, beyond 

 doubt, on Kotelnoi Island. This projecting piece of land 

 has a creek or river on its northwest face which could 

 be traced in toward the high hills (sixty feet high), and 

 we are seemingly at its broad mouth. From this fact, 

 and the immense amount of drift-wood seen by Lee, I 

 am inclined to think we are at the mouth of the Zareva 

 River, though I hope we may prove to be more to the 

 southward, and nearer the southern rivers about Bar- 

 encap. 



Chipp and the doctor saw several ruined huts and 





Hut on Kotelnoi Island. 



much drift-wood. In one place the soil was composed 

 of rotting wood, being quite black. By five P. M. ev- 

 erybody had come in, but no game was brought. The 

 sky had cleared somewhat before a light N. W. air, and 

 we could see something of our surroundings. Kuehne, 

 who had gone around our sand bank to the southward, 

 reported that he had found the ruins of half a dozen 

 huts together, and around them piles of deer horns ; 

 and this showed conclusively that some people had 

 been here who could hunt and eat. Besides, Ninde- 



47 



