chap. xix. BEACONS. 231 



enough for identification, but we made out among smaller 

 ones the long-tailed duck and the black scoter, and were 

 inclined to think that the large flocks were composed of the 

 latter species. 



At eight o'clock we had a more substantial breakfast than 

 that partaken of in the earlier hours; then we went to lie 

 down on sofas in the cabin. All day we drifted down a sea 

 almost as smooth as a mirror; not a breath of wind stirred 

 during the night or day. We had also left the mosquitoes 

 behind, and only saw one or two after leaving the delta of 

 the Petchora. The steamer returned to No. 4 Island as we 

 slept, to get into the right course and deposit a " carabas " 

 on the William Bank, and a long pole (with a besom on the 

 top and a stone at the foot) upon the Alexander Bank. 



We commenced our next day at 4 p.m. It was a very 

 short one, but it proved a very eventful one. After a 

 refreshing wash and a promenade on deck for half an hour , 

 we dined and smoked a pipe. By that time the boats were 

 ready, and we went on shore a couple of versts south of the 

 river Dvoinik, there to erect another beacon, which we were 

 afterwards told the Samoyedes had pulled down. 



Harvie-Brown and I struck off at once for the tundra in the 

 direction of the Pytkoff Mountains (580 feet high), about 

 fifteen miles distant. The tundra was very fiat, and we 

 soon came upon ground exactly similar in character to that 

 tenanted by the grey plovers near Alexievka. We had not 

 walked far when we heard the well-known cry, and there 

 rose four grey plovers. My companion soon after met with 

 another pair and lay down to Match them. We parted 



