IX.] STOPPED BY ICE. 345 



ill pretty open water to the headland which on the maps is 

 called Cape Oiiman. The natives too, who came on board here, 

 gave the place that name. The ice we met with on that day 

 was heavier than before, and bluish-white, not dirty. It was 

 accordingly formed farther out at sea. 



On the 27th we continued our course in somewhat open water 

 to Kolyutschin Bay. No large river debouches in the bottom 

 of this great fjord, the only one on the north coast of Asia which, 

 by its long narrow form, the configuration of the neighbouring 

 shores, and its division into two at the bottom, reminds us of the 

 Spitzbergen fjords which have been excavated by glaciers. The 

 mouth of the bay was filled with very closely packed drift-ice 

 that had gathered round the island situated there, which was 

 inhabited by a large number of Chukch families. In order to 

 avoid this ice the Vega made a considerable detour up the fjord. 

 The weather was calm and fine, but new ice was formed every- 

 where among the old drift-ice where it was closely packed. 

 Small seals swarmed by hundreds among the ice, following the 

 wake of the vessel with curiosity. Birds on the contrary were 

 seen in limited numbers. Most of them had evidently already 

 migrated to more southerly seas. At 4.45 p.m. the vessel was 

 anchored to an ice-floe near the eastern shore of the fjord. It 

 could be seen from this point that the ice at the headland, which 

 bounded the mouth of the fjord to the east, lay so near land 

 that there was a risk that the open water next the shore would 

 not be deep enough for the Vega. 



Lieutenant Hovgaard was therefore sent with the steam 

 launch to take soundings. He returned with the report that 

 tlie water off the headland was sufficiently deep. At the same 

 time, accompanied by several of the naturalists, I made an 

 excursion on land. In the course of this excursion the hunter 

 Johnsen was sent to the top of the range of heights which 

 occupied the interior of the promontory, in order to get a view 

 of the state of the ice farther to the east. Johnsen too returned 

 with the very comforting news that a very broad open channel 

 extended beyond the headland along the coast to the south-east. 

 I was wandering about along with my comrades on the slopes 

 near the beach in order, so far as the falling darkness permitted, 

 to examine its natural conditions, when Johnsen came down ; 

 he informed us that from the top of the height one could hear 

 bustle and noise and see fires at an encampment on the other 

 side of the headland. He supposed that the natives were 

 celebrating some festival. I had a strong inclination to go 

 thither in order, as I thought, "to take farewell of the Chukches," 

 for I was quite certain that on some of the following days we 

 should sail into the Pacific. But it was already late in the 

 evening and dark, and we were not yet sufficiently acquainted 



