VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 20r 



but ice ahead. No ! it is only smooth water with the 

 snowy land reflected in it. This nmst be Taimur Strait ! 

 But now we had several large ice-floes ahead, and it 

 was difficult to get on ; so we anchored at a point, in a 

 good, safe harbor, to make a closer inspection. We now 

 discovered that it was a strong tidal current that was car- 

 rying the ice-floes with it, and there could be no doubt 

 that it was a strait we were lying in. I rowed out in the 

 evening to shoot some seals, taking for the purpose my 

 most precious weapon, a double-barrelled Express rifle, 

 calibre 577. As we were in the act of taking a sealskin 

 on board the boat heeled over, I slipped, and my rifle fell 

 into the sea — a sad accident. Peter Henriksen and 

 Bentzen, who were rowing me, took it so to heart that 

 they could not speak for some time. They declared that 

 it would never do to leave the valuable gun lying there 

 in 5 fathoms of water. So we rowed to the Frani for the 

 necessary apparatus, and dragged the spot for several 

 hours, well on into the dark, gloomy night. While we 

 were thus employed a bearded seal circled round and 

 round us, bobbing up its big startled face, now on one side 

 of us, now on the other, and always coming nearer; it was 

 evidently anxious to find out what our night work might 

 be. Then it dived over and over again, probably to see 

 how the dragging was getting on. Was it afraid of our 

 finding the rifle } At last it became too intrusive. I 

 took Peter's rifle, and put a ball through its head ; but it 

 sank before we could reach it, and we gave up the whole 



