VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 183 



have gone on in front with the boat and sounded, but I 

 had ah'eady had more than enough of rowing in that 

 current. For the present we must stay where we were 

 and anoint ourselves with the ointment called Patience, 

 a medicament of which every polar expedition ought to 

 lay in a large supply. We hoped on for a change, but 

 the current remained as it was, and the wind certainly 

 did not decrease. I was in despair at having to lie here 

 for nothing but this cursed current, with open sea out- 

 side, perhaps as far as Cape Chelyuskin, that eternal cape, 

 whose name had been sounding in my ears for the last 

 three weeks. 



When I came on deck next morning (August 23d) 

 winter had come. There was white snow on the deck, 

 and on every little projection of the rigging where it 

 had found shelter from the wind; white snow on the 

 land, and white snow floating through the air. Oh, 

 how the snow refreshes one's soul, and drives away all 

 the gloom and sadness from this sullen land of fogs ! 

 Look at it scattered so delicately, as if by a loving hand, 

 over the stones and the grass-flats on shore ! But wind 

 and current are much as they were, and during the day 

 the wind blows up to a regular storm, howling and rat- 

 tling in the Fi^anis rigging. 



The following day (August 24th) I had quite made 

 up my mind that we must get out some way or other. 

 When I came on deck in the morning the wind had gone 

 down considerably, and the current was not so strong. 



