x ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 
The companionship of my friend Mr. Mervyn Powys 
made the voyage to Kolguev a pleasant one for me. 
To him is due very much of the success of the venture, 
for upon his hands fell the preliminary work connected 
with the sailing. I was as sorry for his sake that 
Kolguev proved so disappointing a sporting ground as 
I was delighted to find he had met with some success 
during his adventurous visit to the wilds of Novaya 
Zemblya. Credit is also due to him for his subsequent 
attempts to reach the island. It was not surprising that 
he failed. The ice borne down with the tide, the con- 
stant fog, the treacherous sand-banks, the shallow sea, 
were odds too great. They would have been serious 
difficulties even had he possessed—as he could not 
possess—an intimate knowledge of the dangerous entry 
to our harbour; a harbour which, because of the bar at 
its mouth, could never have admitted the Saxon. 
Later on two ladies, Mrs. Leybourne Popham and 
Mrs. Ponsonby, started from Vardé in the steam yacht 
Blencathra to our relief, but were driven back by storms. 
They could never have landed, but I thank them much. 
I am glad, none the less, that the gallant intention and 
kind thought were never realised ; for ‘Rescue by Ladies’ 
in the morning papers would, I think, have been harder 
to survive than even a winter upon Kolguev. 
And one more word. 
