CLEARING THE PETCHORA 231 



supper, when Engel suddenly heaving on the anchor, we 

 got under way again. The captain took the helm, and 

 I remained below cooking the steaks and making the 

 coffee ; but we were soon aground once more, and sat 

 down to eat our meal in the cabin. For some hours we 

 went on, sometimes aground, sometimes scraping the 

 bank, until at last we crossed the bar ; then Engel towed 

 us until we sighted the beacon at Dvoinik. All sails 

 were now set, and we steered N.E. by N. with a gentle 

 breeze. All the following day and night we tacked from 

 one bank of shoal water to another, with a head wind 

 against us. The lead was kept constantly going, and as 

 soon as the water under the keel was less than a foot, 

 orders were immediately given to "'bout ship." By 

 good luck or good management, we succeeded in getting 

 out of the lagoon of the Petchora without running 

 aground again, though Captain Taylor vowed that 

 nothing should ever induce him a second time to risk a 

 ship in such a dangerous and difficult river. We had 

 scarcely cleared the banks more than half an hour before 

 the wind dropped entirely ; the sails flapped idly on the 

 masts, and we sent the crew to bed. We were lounging 

 on the after part of the ship, telling our adventures to the 

 captain, when three curious clouds, like beehives, appeared 

 to rise on the horizon. We were leaning over the bul- 

 warks watching these unusual shapes in the sky, when 

 our attention was caught by the sound of a distant rum- 

 bling. The sea was as smooth as glass, and we were 

 debating whether the noise was not that of the Arctic 

 ice, when the captain descried a distant ripple on the sea, 

 and started up as if he had been shot. Hastily asking 

 me to take the rudder, he ran to the hatchway and cried 

 out, at the top of his voice, " All hands on deck ! " Every 

 possible exertion was made to haul down the canvas ; but 



