180 Arctic and Antarctic Exploration [part i 
enormous. In 1821 a merchant brought back 20,000 lb. 
of ivory, each mammoth tusk averaging a weight of 108 lb. 
In 1809 Sannikoff collected 10,000 lb. of ivory. The 
supply continued, and in 1856 and 1857 great boats are 
mentioned in the river Lena, laden with fossil ivory. 
At Yakutsk, from 1825 to 1831, the sale of ivory amounted 
to 54,000 lb. annually, besides 5700 lb. sold in other 
markets. Middendorfs calculation was that the annual 
sales amounted to 110,000 lb., representing 1000 individual 
mammoths. A very large proportion of this ivory comes 
from Liakhov Island, and there appears to be no 
diminution in the supply. There is also believed to be 
a vast additional store on the sea bottom, as tusks are 
found in abundance when the sea recedes after a long 
continuance of easterly winds. 
Sannikoff saw land to the north of the New Siberian 
Islands, but was prevented from reaching it owing to 
open water. This was the Bennett Island, discovered by 
De Long in 1881, in 76 0 38' N. and 148 0 E. He explored 
17 miles of the south coast of the island, and found 
great numbers of birds breeding on the cliffs. Here also 
mammoth tusks were met with. A barren rocky ice- 
capped islet, named Jeannette Island, was also discovered 
by him, and another named Henrietta Island, 27 miles 
away. 
Hedenstrom, a Russian officer residing at Yakutsk, 
was employed by the Government to survey the New 
Siberian Islands in 1809, accompanied by Sannikoff, and 
he was occupied on this service for three years. 
In 1 82 1 Lieutenant (afterwards Admiral) Anjou was 
sent to make a more accurate survey, and to discover 
the land reported by Sannikoff to the north of Kotelnoi 
Island. He crossed the ice with narti or dog sledges, 
but at a distance of 40 miles north of Kotelnoi he was 
stopped by unsafe ice on two occasions. On April 9th 
he started over the ice to the eastward of New Siberia, 
and again met with thin ice at a distance of 60 miles 
from the land. His conclusion was that all efforts to 
advance on sledges to any considerable distance from the 
land would prove unavailing owing to thin ice and open 
water. He completed a survey of the New Siberian 
group of islands. 
