230 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. chap. xix. 



merely to feed. The only trace of nests we found was that 

 of the two of the glaucous gull. The shores of the island 

 were devoid of all material for nest-building, except sand 

 and a very slight quantity of seaweed. A few whelks, some 

 broken mussels, and other bivalves lay sparingly scattered 

 about ; here and there a few pieces of drift-wood, and near 

 the south shore the stranded decaying body of a seal, pro- 

 bably the harp seal. 



At two o'clock we returned on board, and after a couple of 

 hours' sleep, we woke to find ourselves lying at anchor in 

 a thick fog that completely hid Island No. 3 from us. The 

 sun, however, was shining brilliantly overhead. After an 

 early breakfast we watched the fog lifting, and gradually we 

 caught sight of the island, over which a flock of ten thou- 

 sand black ducks was whirling and circling. This island 

 we computed to be some eight or ten miles in length. It 

 appeared to be exactly the same sandy desert as Island 

 No. 4, but we were told that some persons who had visited 

 it declare that grass grows upon it. Unluckily for us, its 

 beacon had not been carried off, only laid upon its side by the 

 ice, so that in an hour's time it was repaired and set up on its 

 legs again, and all hands ordered back on board. Near it 

 lay another dead seal, apparently the common one, in a con- 

 dition described by Cocksure as having " beaucoup d'aroma." 

 A few herring and glaucous gulls were upon the island, and 

 we found two empty nests ; but what interested us most was 

 the presence of large parties of dunlins and small floKks of 

 sanderlings. Numbers of black ducks continually passed 

 like clouds overhead. The large flocks did not come nea^ 



