VARDO TO KOLGUEV 25 



land — in a word, the idea of the unknown, this it was 

 which really attracted me, as it has attracted many before. 



I do not know that it had a charm as strong for all 

 on board. I think the whalers, when they discussed 

 things in their bunks, very likely condemned it as a 

 poor move which might probably lead to disaster, but 

 could not bring in a barrelful of fat. I think the skipper 

 and the mate both considered it a queer sort of game 

 for a pleasure trip, and very different from the gentle- 

 men's yachting of which they had always heard. 



However, I did my best to show them all what we 

 might expect, reading aloud in the cabin after meals 

 extracts from the only two accounts I had been able 

 to find by men who actually had been on Kolguev. I 

 do not know that either of these were very exhilarating. 

 But just see how different they were in those particulars 

 which we wanted most. 



For Maximow's priest says this : — ' The rivers Krivaya 

 and Gusina are already known to the inhabitants of 

 Mezen as a good resting-place for vessels ; and the bay, 

 which cuts deeply into the island, is a safe harbour for 

 the big-crest vessels coming from the White Sea : for 

 boats and schooners.' 



But this is Saweljew : — 



' In its whole circuit Kolguev does not afford a single 

 safe anchorage or road, and its coasts are extremely 

 dangerous on account of the slight depth of the sea 

 and the sandbanks or koski.' 



