204. ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 
think, take Indian snow-shoes, the best contrivance I 
suppose for work of this kind. They would be most 
useful as a support when walking in the lakes. In these, 
though there is no danger of disappearing altogether, 
your feet often sink so deeply as to tire you very 
much. 
July 14th.—Ice unchanged. 
Now we had one of those rare lovely days which 
redeem these regions from the charge of monotony. 
The south-west wind held all day, and when I went 
out to the long creek, before five in the morning, the 
tent thermometer showed 60° even at that early hour. 
At 3 P.M. it registered the same, for the wind had grown 
a little, and at 8.30 p.m. it had dropped to 41°. 
I did nothing at the creek, and was back pretty hungry 
by eight o’clock. 
In the afternoon I struck inland and found the lakes 
you see on the map. Here I secured four long-tailed 
ducks at one shot, and got horridly wet through lying in 
the reeds while I waited for them to come within distance. 
I found that by moving my cap about they would come 
through curiosity; Sailor was also a good draw some- 
times, the long-tailed ducks following him round, as the 
ducks follow the dog of the decoy ponds. 
Musquitoes, which regularly appear when the heat 
reaches 60°, were a nuisance in the swamps. 
Red-throated divers were mewing and braying like 
