254 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap. 
with flowers few indeed, but so much the larger on that account, 
large tufts of Silene acaulis and Alsine macrocarpa, studded with 
flowers, several Saxifrages, two Claytonia3, the Cl. amtifolia, 
important as a food-plant in the housekeeping of the Chukches, 
and the tender Cl. sarmentosa with its delicate, slightly rose- 
coloured flowers, and, where the ground was stony, long but yet 
flowerless, slightly green tendrils of the favourite plant of our 
homeland, the Linncea horealis. Dr. Kjellman thus reaped a rich 
harvest of higher plants; and a fine collection of land and marine 
animals, lichens and algae was also made here. The ground 
consisted of sand in which lay large granite blocks, which we in 
Sweden would call erratic. They appeared however not to have 
been transported hither, but to be lying in sitib, having along with 
the sand probably arisen through the disintegration of the rocks. 
In the sea we found not a few algae and a true littoral 
evertebrate-fauna, poor in species indeed, something which is 
completely absent in the Polar seas proper. As I walked along 
the coast I saw five pretty large self-coloured greyish-brown seals 
sunning themselves on stones a short distance from land. They 
belonged to a species which I had never seen in the Polar seas. 
As there was no boat at hand, I forbade the hunters that accom¬ 
panied me, though the seals were within range, to test their skill 
as shots upon them. Perhaps they were females of Histrioplioca 
fasciata, whose beautifully marked skin (of the male) I had seen 
and described at St. Lawrence Bay. The natives had a few dogs 
but no reindeer, which however might find food on the island in 
thousands. No kayaks were in use, but large laydars of the 
same construction as those of the Chukches. 
St. Lawrence Island was discovered during Behring’s first 
voyage, but the first who came into contact with the natives was 
Otto von Kotzebue^ (on the 27th June 1816, and the 20th July 
^ Kotzebue says that he was the first seafarer who visited the island. 
This however is incorrect. Billings landed there on the 1st August (21st 
July), 1791. From the vessel some natives was seen and a haydar which 
