299 
the Birds of the Lower Pet char a. 
out on the surface of the waters of the inland 'sea, or their 
footprints detected on the damp sand or mud: The sand¬ 
hills and gravelly ground were frequented by Ringed Dot¬ 
terels, and the sea-shore by a few Sanderlings, Gulls, and 
Arctic Terns. 
The inland sea is a large sheet of water connected with 
the Petchora Gulf by a narrow channel between the two 
low sand capes of Dvoinik, and is about 2| versts across in 
any direction. It is surrounded by a strip of grassy meadow- 
land on a gentle slope above high-tide mark, which is from 
40 to 100 yards in width, except, as already mentioned, on 
the seaward side, where it is replaced by the level meadow 
with a different and coarser vegetation. The whole stretch 
of this sloping meadow is covered with yellow grasses and 
car ices; and here and there over its surface are diminutive 
plants of dwarf-willow (Salisc glauca ), considerable quantities 
of wild leeks, and isolated patches of a species of Sphagnum. 
Surrounding this, again, is the tundra, which, in some places, 
rises abruptly in a great wall 6 or 8 feet high, and in others 
slopes gently till it meets the meadow. At the latter points 
the vegetation of the tundra proper is found to blend with 
that of the meadow. A ridge of bleached and weather-worn 
drift wood of all sizes—branches, huge trunks, and roots— 
lies piled up close to the margin of the tundra; and small 
pieces are strewn over the surface of the meadow. The high- 
tide mark at the lower edge of the meadow is, in most places, 
sharply defined, an abrupt bank, a foot or two in height, 
having been formed by the action of the water. At low tide 
about forty yards of the black ooze is exposed; and upon this, 
as already noted, flocks of Dunlins, Stints, and other Waders 
are usually seen at feeding-time. 
The river Dvoinik runs into the inlet close to the sea, 
flowing from a southerly and easterly direction. It is a 
muddy still stream, with oozy bottom; and the tide ascends 
its tortuous course for several versts. The tundra on either 
side dips sharply down, forming steep banks on the upper 
reaches; but these give place, near its confluence with the sea, 
to low perpendicular banks cut through level meadow-land 
x 2 
