VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 149 



the land through broken ice, but in the course of the day 

 went further out to sea, the blueness of the atmosphere 

 to the east and northeast promising more open water in 

 that direction. However, about 3 p.m. the ice became 

 so close that I thought it best to get back into the open 

 channel along the land. It was certainly possible that 

 we might have forced our way through the ice in the 

 sea here, but also possible that we might have stuck fast, 

 and it was too early to run this risk. 



Next morning (August 5th), being then off the coast 

 near to the mouth of the River Kara, we steered across 

 towards Yalmal. We soon had that low land in sight, 

 but in the afternoon we got into fog and close ice. Next 

 day it was no better, and we made fast to a great ice- 

 block which was lying stranded off the Yalmal coast. 



In the evenins: some of us went on shore. The water 

 was so shallow that our boat stuck fast a good way from 

 the beach, and we had to wade. It was a perfectly flat, 

 smooth sand -beach, covered by the sea at full tide, and 

 beyond that a steep sand -bank, 30 to 40 feet, in some 

 places probably 60 feet, high. 



We wandered about a little. Flat, bare country on 

 every hand. Any driftwood we saw was buried in the 

 sand and soaking wet. Not a bird to be seen except 

 one or two snipe. We came to a lake, and out of the 

 foe in front of me I heard the cry of a loon, but saw no 

 living creature. Our view was blocked by a wall of fog 

 whichever way we turned. There were plenty of rein- 



