ch. xx] Russian A rctic Discoveries 1 79 
manatee or sea cow, which was named Rhytina Stelleri, 
This animal not long after became extinct. 
Next to Bering Strait the most important Russian 
Arctic discovery was the group of islands off the coast 
between the mouths of the Lena and Indigirka, now 
known as the Liakhov or New Siberian Islands. They 
consist of five large and some small islands between 
73 0 10' and 76 0 10' N. Liakhov, the most southerly, is only 
25 miles from the Siberian coast at Sviatoi-nos. It is 
50 miles long and 30 broad. At a distance of 55 miles 
N.N.W. of Liakhov is Kotelnoi, 100 miles long by 60 
broad. To the east Kotelnoi is connected by a sand- 
bank with Faddiev (Thaddei) Island, which is 50 miles 
long by 30, with a narrow spit 35 miles long running out 
to the north-west. Faddiev is separated from New 
Siberia Island by a strait 15 miles across, and Bennett 
Island lies due north of the latter. 
This group, which is very remarkable for several 
reasons, was discovered in 1770 by a fur-hunter named 
Liakhov. He had seen a great herd of reindeer coming 
south over the ice, and rightly concluded that there was 
land to the northward. This led to his discovery of 
Liakhov and Maloi Islands and in 1773 of Kotelnoi Island. 
Faddiev and Belkova Islands were discovered in 1805, 
New Siberia in 1806, and Bennett Island in 1881. 
With the exception of a few granite hills, practically 
the whole soil of Liakhov Island was found to consist 
of mammoth bones. Kotelnoi is composed of strata of 
the Devonian period and Silurian coral. But New Siberia 
with its " Hills of Wood '* is the most curious island 
of all. On its northern coast there are lofty and pre- 
cipitous rocks of sandstone. The "wood hills," 210 feet 
high, are formed of horizontal sandstone strata alternating 
with bituminous trunks of trees. On the summit there 
are long rows of tree-trunks fixed perpendicularly into 
the rock, and projecting 7 to 10 inches. The "wood 
hills" extend for more than three miles along the coast. 
The largest trunk is 10 inches in diameter, the wood is 
friable, black with a slight gloss, and not very hard. 
The mammoth ivory from Liakhov Island soon became 
a source of commercial profit ; indeed, the quantity that 
was carried off by Liakhov and his successors was 
12 — 2 
