observed on Waigats, &^c. 187 



hope we should reach our goal at once without obstruction : 

 hopes, alas ! destined to be soon destroyed, for the ice 

 appeared four hours later, the ship being then north of the 

 Petchora. We coasted down the edge of the ice to the 

 west, but found the whole coast closely packed for some 

 distance beyond the mouth of that river, and extending sea- 

 ward as far as the ten-fathom line, a distance of twenty to 

 thirty miles. As there is no safe anchorage on this coast, 

 we dared not attempt to push through the pack to shore, 

 and were therefore obliged to return along the edge of the 

 ice to the north-east. Fog caused considerable delay, but 

 early on the 29th it lifted a little and enabled us to see 

 some islands ahead. These proved to be oflP the north-west 

 corner of Waigats in the Kara Straits, and we decided to 

 get through the ice into Dolga Bay if possible. After some 

 trouble we succeeded in doing this, and found a very good 

 anchorage near a small island on the east side — the only 

 place where a ship is fairly safe from ice in the whole bay. 

 Our steam-launch, which was too large to take on board and 

 so had to be towed after us, was exposed to many vicissitudes, 

 for she was often dragged over the ice, and would have 

 sunk if she had not been well covered with painted 

 canvas. 



As we now knew that owing to the state of the ice we could 

 not reach our original goal for some time, we decided to spend 

 the interval in working Waigats, and eighteen days were 

 passed at Dolga Bay, Cape Greben, and Cape Matinsela, very 

 pleasantly. During this time we saw or shot examples of 

 thirty-three species of birds; among these the Wheatear, 

 Rough-legged Buzzard, RufiF, Temminck^s Stint, and Goosan- 

 der were recorded from there for the first time. We also 

 obtained eggs of thirteen species. We next visited the 

 country round Habarova on the mainland, where a Merlin 

 was seen and a White Wagtail shot. 



At last, on July 19th, both wind and ice appeared favour- 

 able for an attempt to reach Khapidirsh Bay, so we left 

 Habarova at noon and steamed down the coast; at first 

 keeping it some six miles off, but the shoal-water obliged us 



o2 



