204 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 



think, take Indian snow-shoes, the best contrivance I 

 suppose for work of this kind. They would be most 

 useful as a support when walking- in the lakes. In these, 

 though there is no danger of disappearing altogether, 

 your feet often sink so deeply as to tire you very 

 much. 



July \\th. — Ice unchanged. 



Now we had one of those rare lovely days which 

 redeem these regions from the charge of monotony. 



The south-west wind held all day, and when I went 

 out to the long creek, before five in the morning, the 

 tent thermometer showed 6o° even at that early hour. 

 At 3 p.m. it registered the same, for the wind had grown 

 a little, and at 8.30 p.m. it had dropped to 41°. 



I did nothing at the creek, and was back pretty hungry 

 by eight o'clock. 



In the afternoon I struck inland and found the lakes 

 you see on the map. Here I secured four long- tailed 

 ducks at one shot, and got horridly wet through lying in 

 the reeds while I waited for them to come within distance. 

 I found that by moving my cap about they would come 

 through curiosity ; Sailor was also a good draw some- 

 times, the long-tailed ducks following him round, as the 

 ducks follow the dog of the decoy ponds. 



Musquitoes, which regularly appear when the heat 

 reaches 6o°, were a nuisance in the swamps. 



Red-throated divers were mewing and braying like 



