74 THE FOREST LANDS OF NORTHERN RUSSIA. 
ice-choked fiords and frozen seas will still be haunted by 
the white whale, the seal, the walrus, and the polar bear. 
‘Frequented until of late only by some dozen schooners, 
who visit its shores every year chiefly for white wale and 
salmon, and by a few roaming Samoides from the mainland, 
these Arctic shores have hitherto afforded an undisturbed 
asylum during the winter to game of all kinds, marine or 
terrestrial, which abounds there. Recently, however, the 
Russian Government have seen fit to plant a colony of 
Samoides, and these skilful bunters harry the game 
throughout the year with great vigour. Beyond visits - 
from European sportsmen or explorers, so rare that they 
might almost be counted on the fingers, no other human 
intruders ever invade these wild regions. oe oe 
‘Till the present century the contour of the two large 
islands which form what is now known as Nova Zembla 
was very differently represented upon the various manu- 
script charts in existence, these having been compiled 
from the observations of Dutch, Norwegian, and Russian 
navigators. Barents led off in 1598 with a chart repre- 
senting the west coast and that part of the north-east coast 
which he had visited ; this, though terribly out in longi- 
titude, was very good as to latitude, and since the days of 
this old explorer, his maps, with many additions and a few 
corrections, have been generally adhered to: some repre- 
senting the north coast as taking an abrupt turn to the 
east, and thus continuing ad infinitum, the authors veiling 
their perplexity by drawing a meridian line down the chart 
and thereby cutting it short, leaving the rest to the imagi- 
nation of the beholder. 
‘For our present knowledge of the shape and dimensions 
of the islands we are chiefly indebted to the Russian 
coast survey made during the early part of the present 
century, and continued by subsequent explorers, which’ is 
generally considered to be pretty accurate as far north as 
Admiralty Peninsula, the most prominent headland on the 
west coast on the north island. . . . . Cape Nassau, 
the point between Admiralty Peninsula and Cape Mauritius, 
