40 REY. D. GATH WHITLEY, ON THE 
passing through difficulties, owing to the want of provisions for 
his dogs, he succeeded in regaining the coast at Svaiatoi Noss. 
He next went to Yakutsk, and informed the Russian authorities 
there of his discoveries, and they forwarded the account to 
St. Petersburg. The Empress Catherine Il. ordered the islands 
to be called by Liakofl’s name, and she also granted to him the 
sole right of collecting mammoths’ tusks and of searching for 
furs in the islands he had found, and in any others that he might 
discover. 
In the summer of 1773 Liakoff resumed his discoveries. 
He was accompanied by Protodiakonoff and other companions, 
and as the ice had at this time melted, they made the voyage 
to the islands in a five-oared boat. They crossed the strait 
between the mainland and the first island, and found the water 
in the strait very salt, with the current setting strongly from 
the west. From the first island they went to the second— 
which was afterwards calied Maloi—and then steered boldly 
towards the north, in search of still more distant lands. The 
air was clear, and they soon discerned land to the north, and 
before long the bold voyagers reached a third island, which was 
of great size. The land was barren and mountainous, and 
bore not the least vegetation, although the shore was covered 
with driftwood. No trace of man could anywhere be seen, but 
bears, wolves, and reindeer were wandering over the desolate 
wastes, and whales were swimming and spouting amidst the 
waves. Liakoff and his companions found tusks of mammoths 
on this island, which they called Kotelnoi, as one of the party 
left a copper kettle on it. Liakoff returned to his first island, 
and built a hut of driftwood for his workmen on it, and all 
were engaged in collecting mammoths’ tusks, which were also 
found abundantly on the first island. Having passed the winter 
on the latter, Liakoff returned in the spring to UstYansk, with 
a rich supply of mammoths’ tusks and valuable furs. 
The enormous quantities of mammoths’ bones and tusks 
found by Liakoff in these islands raised the curiosity of the 
Government, and the Russian officials at Yakutsk ordered a 
surveyor named Chwoinoff to proceed to the islands, and to 
survey them thoroughly. Chwoinoff left Yakutsk for this 
purpose in the early part of 1775, and reached Liakoff’s station 
on the mainland at Ustyansk in the end of March. He crossed 
the bay to Svaiatoi Noss, and reached the first island discovered 
by Liakoff, and which has always afterwards been called 
Liakotf’s Island. He found that this island—which contained 
the huts of the diggers for fossil ivory—was of considerable 
