XIII. J 



SANNIKOV'S EXPLORATIONS. 



555 



equip a caravan consisting of twenty-tliree reindeer, wliicli 

 started on the ]^^^ May to go over the ice to Kotelnoj Island, 

 which could be reached only with great difficulty in consequence 

 of " leads " in the ice and the large quantity of salt water which 

 had accumulated upon it. The reindeer were exceedingly 

 enfeebled, but recovered rapidly on reaching land, so that 

 Sannikov was able under specially favourable circumstances to 

 make a large number of interesting excursions, among others one 



^:^:^m^- 



FERDINAND VON WBANOEL. 



Born in 1796 at Pskov, died in 1S70 at Dorpat. 



across the island. He stated that on the heights in the interior 

 of it there were found skulls and bones of horses, oxen, 

 "buffaloes" (Ovibos ?) and sheep in so large numbers, that 

 it was evident that whole herds of graminivora had lived there 

 in former times. Mammoth bones were also fVjund everywhere 

 on the island, whence Sannikov drew the conclusions, that all 

 these animals had lived at the same time, and that since then the 

 climate had considerably deteriorated. These suppositions he 



