to Chvoinov the ground
there consists at many places of a mixture of ice and sand with
mammoth tusks, bones of a fossil species of ox, of the rhinoceros,
&c. At many places one can literally roll off the carpet-like bed of
moss from the ground, when it is found that the close, green
vegetable covering has clear ice underlying it, a circumstance which
I have also observed at several places in the Polar regions. The new
islands were rich not only in ivory, but also in foxes with valuable
skins, and other spoils of the chase of various kinds. They
therefore formed for a time the goal of various hunters'
expeditions. Among these hunters may be named SANNIKOV, who in 1805
discovered the islands Stolbovoj and Faddejev, SIROVATSKOJ, who in
1806 discovered Novaya Sibir, and BJELKOV, who in 1808 discovered
the small islands named after him. In the meantime disputes arose
about the hunting monopoly, especially after Bjelkov and others
petitioned for permission to establish on Kotelnoj Island _a hunting
and trading station_. (?)[334] This induced ROMANZOV, then Chancellor
of Russia, to order once more these distant territories to be
explored by HEDENSTROeM,[335] a Siberian exile, who had formerly been
secretary to some eminent man in St. Petersburg. He started in
dog-sledges on the 19th/7th March, 1809, from Ustjansk going over
the ice to Ljachoff's Island, and thence to Faddejev Island, where
the expedition was divided into two parts. Hedenstroem continued his
course to Novaya Sibir, the south coast of which he surveyed. Here
he discovered among other things the remarkable "tree mountain,"
which I have before mentioned. His companions KOSCHEVIN and SANNIKOV
explored Faddejev, Maloj and Ljachoff's Islands. On Faddejev,
Sannikov found a Yukagir sledge, stone skin-scrapers, and an axe
made of mammoth ivory, whence he drew the conclusion that the island
was inhabited before the Russians introduced iron among the savage
tribes of Siberia.

The explorations thus commenced were continued in 1810. The
explorers started on the 14th/2nd March from the mouth of the
Indigirka, and after eleven days' journey came to Novaya Sibir. It
had been Hedenstroem's original intention to employ reindeer and
horses in exploring the islands, but he afterwards abandoned this
plan, fearing that he would not find pasture for his draught
animals. Both Hedenstroem and Sannikov believed that they saw from
the north coast of the island bluish mountains on the