22 TEAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



On the 25th of August, following the coast, we 

 passed the North Bay, and then took our course 

 eastward in four to eight fathoms of water. In the 

 early morning of that day, which was a Sunday, there 

 was a dense fog; but about 10 A.M. it completely 

 dispersed, and the day became the warmest and most 

 beautiful we had during our whole voyage along the 

 coast of Siberia. The thermometer showed as high 

 as + 4.7 C. in the shade. 



After we had passed the North Bay, the want of 

 depth compelled us to go so far out to sea that we 

 could barely keep sight of land. There we met with 

 many torosser aground. Toross is the Eussian desig- 

 nation for walls formed during the winter by the 

 constant forcing up of the ice. They sometimes reach 

 the height qf 100 feet, and consist of ice-blocks cast 

 one upon another, the whole not unlike a heap of 

 gigantic sugar -loaves lying topsy-turvy. These 

 torosser, should they be of large dimensions, are 

 not acted upon by the summer sun, but remain, and 

 certainly constitute a good beacon for seamen to 

 avoid the ground upon which they rest. 



On the 26th of August we continued to follow the 

 coast in an easterly direction in a depth of from six 

 to eight fathoms, pursued by our old enemy, the fog. 

 In the evening, at dusk, we sighted a long narrow 

 sandbank, which rose only a few feet above the level 

 of the sea. We steered southwards towards land 

 with the intention of sailing round its southern ex- 



