14 TKAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



On the 1st of August, with beautiful weather, all 

 four vessels (the Express in tow of the Fraser) left 

 their anchorage at Yugorscharr, and were soon in the 

 Kara Sea, which was then completely free from ice 

 as far as the eye could reach. 



At our entrance into the Kara Sea the scientific 

 work of the expedition began. From that day were 

 instituted complete meteorological observations, dredg- 

 ing, sounding, investigations of the temperature, 

 and of the specific gravity of the water at different 

 depths. 



Early on the morning of August 3d we met the 

 first drift-ice, which was, however, of such a descrip- 

 tion as could be easily passed through. With the 

 object of avoiding contact with more compact and 

 stronger ice we steered down towards the coast of 

 the Samoiede peninsula, which we followed as close 

 as the shallow water permitted. The land, which 

 is properly only a sandbank cast up by the powerful 

 river Obi, could not be seen by us, although the at- 

 mosphere was quite clear. We met here only spread 

 and easily navigable drift-ice. 



The Lena, with Hovgaard, Almqvist, and Nordq- 

 vist on board, was sent off to investigate the sound 

 lying between the peninsula and White Island, but 

 found it impossible, on account of the numerous 

 sandbanks, to go through it. As a result of very 

 nasty weather, and the poverty of the land in 

 animal and vegetable life, the harvest reaped by our 



