344 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



broken through, but it was unsuccessful, probably in consequence 

 of the exceedingly dense fog which prevailed. 



Dredging gave but a scanty yield here, probably because the 

 animal life in water so shallow as that in which we were 

 anchored, is destroyed by the ground-ices, which drift about 

 here for the greater part of the year. Excursions to the neigh- 

 bouring coast on the other hand, notwithstanding the late season 

 of the year, afforded to the botanists of the Vega valuable in- 

 formation regarding the flora of the region. 



On the 22nd I made, along with Captain Palander, an excursion 

 in the steam launch to take soundings farther to the east. We 

 soon succeeded in discovering a channel of sufficient depth and 

 not too much blocked with ice, and on the 23rd the Vega was 



PIECES OF ICF, FEOM THE COAST OF THE CHUKCH PENINSULA. 



(After a drawing by O. Nordquist.) 



able to resume her voyage among very closely packed drift-ice, 

 often so near the land that she had only a fourth of a metre of 

 water under her keel. We went forward however, if slowly ._ 



The land here formed a grassy plain, still clear of snow, rising 

 inland to gently sloping hills or earthy heights. The beach 

 was strewn with a not inconsiderable quantity of driftwood, and 

 here and there were seen the remains of old dwelling-places. 

 On the evening of the 23rd September we lay-to at a ground-ice 

 in a pretty large opening of the ice-field. This opening closed 

 in the course of the night, so that on the 24th and 25th we 

 could make only very little progress, but on the 26th we 

 continued our course, at first with difficulty, but afterwards 



