264 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 
We managed to dodge it, and landed near the harbour 
entry, but at such a steep spot that we couldn’t get the 
boat up. So I left Hyland there to fend off the ice while I 
took a walk. 
I could not come at any geese, and after a long walk 
returned to find the tide just making. Such a body of 
ice was coming up that I really felt it was not wise to risk 
it. The boat would move in a bit out of the ice’s reach 
as the water lifted; so I concluded that I had better run 
home and bring some food. 
I set off carrying gun, axe, and camera, tried to cross 
a creek three times and failed, ran and splashed and 
tumbled through the mud, perspiring for the first time 
(‘I have it in my notes’) since we landed on Kolguev. 
Finally I waded across, and walking three miles up the 
coast reached camp, cooked long-tailed duck, and left 
again at midnight with my companion’s food. 
But I had not gone two miles before I met him coming 
wearily along to meet me. The tide had lifted the boat, 
and he had been able to haul it up out of harm’s way. 
Then he had walked south along the sand-bank and had 
crossed at the head of the creek I had waded. 
The glaucous gulls, he said, had mobbed him most 
persistently, actually touching his cap. He was afraid 
they would strike and hurt him, so he had to shoot two 
in self-defence. 
And so ended. our second boat adventure. But the 
boat was now far away on the sand-banks. 
