IV.] 
OLD NOTIONS OF THE KARA SEA 
183 
ice, which during winter, on account of the severity of the cold 
and the slight salinity of the surface-water, is immensely thick, 
cannot, though early broken up, be carried away by the marine 
currents and be scattered over a sea that is open even during 
winter. ^ Most of the ice formed during winter in the Kara Sea, 
and perhaps some of that which is drifted down from the Polar 
basin, is on the contrary heaped by the marine currents against 
the east coast of Novaya Zemlya, where during early summer it 
blocks the three sounds which unite the Kara Sea with the 
Atlantic. It was these ice-conditions which caused the failure of 
all the older north-east voyages and gave to the Kara Sea its 
bad report and name of ice-house. Now we know that it is not 
so dangerous in this respect as it was formerly believed to be— 
that the ice of the Kara Sea melts away for the most part, and 
that during autumn this sea is quite available for navigation. 
In general our knowledge of the Kara Sea some decades 
back was not only incomplete, but also erroneous. It was be¬ 
lieved that its animal life was exceedingly scanty, and that algse 
were absolutely wanting; no soundings had been taken else¬ 
where than close to the coast; and much doubt was thrown, not 
without reason, on the correctness of the maps. Now all this is 
changed to a great extent. The coast line, bordering on the 
sea, is settled on the maps; the ice-conditions, currents and 
depth of w^ater in different parts of the sea are ascertained, and 
North Novaya Zemlya, it however often happens that large blocks of ice 
fall down from them and give rise to a swell, which may be very dangerous 
to vessels in their neighbourhood. Thus a wave caused by the falling of 
a piece of ice from a glacier on the 23rd (13th) of June, 1619, broke the 
masts of a vessel anchored at Bell Sound on Spitzbergen, threw a cannon 
overboard, killed three men, and wounded many more (Purchas, iii., 
p. 734). Several similar adventures, if on a smaller scale, I could relate 
from my own experience and that of the walrus-hunters. Care is taken 
on this account to avoid anchoring too near the perpendicular faces of 
glaciers. 
^ It may, however, be doubted whether the ivhole of the Kara Sea is 
completely frozen over in winter. 
