104 BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 



scarcely out yet ; but we saw many lovely patches of a deep blue 

 gentian, and trollius and marsb marigolds were opening rapidly in all 

 the more sheltered portions. A list of the birds seen here will be 

 found in Appendix I. 



June 26th. — We steamed down the coast in search of the Kiya 

 river, and after traversing thirteen or fourteen miles, arrived at what 

 Hansen declared was that stream, but I feel sure it was really the 

 Shoina ; and the latter agrees far better with Rae's description of his 

 journey. However it signified very little what the river was, for we 

 were unable to land. When two and a half miles from shore the 

 lead showed only three and a half fathoms ; the wind was now from 

 the west, and a slight swell was setting in to the sand beach ; so that 

 Hansen seemed fairly justified in declining to proceed farther in, and 

 the distance was too great to take a boat in that state of weather. 

 As far as I have been able to learn, Rae's method of chartering a 

 Russian sailing-boat is the only practical one for visiting the greater 

 part of this coast ; the sand-banks extend so far from shore, and 

 there are no charts of sufficient accuracy to allow a captain to take 

 his steamer near them with reasonable safety. Also a sailing boat can 

 be taken into many of the creeks and drawn up on to the beach during 

 a storm, whereas no harbour exists on the whole coast for a ship. 



There appearing to be no possibility of effecting a landing to the 

 south of the Shoina river, I decided to make an effort to reach Korga 

 island before returning to the Murman coast. This island, situated 

 off the mouth of the Kambalnitza river and some fifty miles to the 

 east of Kanin Nos, forms the north-east corner of the peninsula of 

 Kanin ; and is shown on our charts only as a shoal, although the 

 Norwegian charts give it as land. In the Arctic Pilot it is stated to 

 be three and a half miles long by one mile wide, and to be covered 

 with grass and boulders. It is divided from the mainland by three 

 miles of water varying in depth from two to eleven feet, which, like 

 all the rest of this coast, affords no harbour for even small vessels. 



Soon after turning north fog came on, causing much delay, so 



