THE NOKTH-EAST PASSAGE. 19 



which we had anchored was simply an isolated heap 

 of stones of a C form lying out in the sea. For the 

 remainder of the 13th and part of the 14th we lay 

 in compact drift-ice and fog, unable to make any 

 advance. On the evening of the 14th we were 

 favoured with a few hours' clear weather, and man- 

 aged to make a little progress landward, where the 

 ice appeared thinnest. As our scientific party wished 

 to go ashore for the purpose of collecting, we an- 

 chored in a bay on the south-west of Taimyr Island. 

 The bay was named Actinia Harbour, on account of 

 the vast numbers of Actinia (or sea-anemones) which 

 were found on the bottom. Here we were detained 

 three and a half days by a dense fog. During that 

 time, with the aid of the steam-launch, there were 

 several excursions made to investigate the sound 

 lying between Taimyr Island and the mainland, 

 which at its western mouth was so shallow, narrow, 

 and rocky, that the Vega could not pass through it. 

 The current here always runs westwards with a speed 

 of three to five knots. 



On the morning of the 18th of August the fog 

 rose so far as to permit us to go to sea. The course 

 was taken north of Taimyr Island, between some 

 reefs covered with boulders, which were now and 

 then discernible through the rapidly-returning fog. 

 During the night, after having passed through a 

 great deal of drift-ice, and seen at a distance several 

 large islands lying northwards, we sighted the land 



