ed
from some of the expeditions which visited the region in the
beginning of the century. Wild reindeer were seen in large numbers.
As according to the contract which has been quoted the landmark was
to be visible from Cape Olonek, Johannesen steamed once more to the
west, running as close to the land as possible. But as the water
here became shallower and shallower without any signal-tower being
visible, Johannesen had to find his way himself through the delta;
and for this purpose he determined to search for the easternmost arm
of the river, which, on the maps, is drawn as being very broad,
and also appears to have been made use of by the vessels of
"the great northern expeditions."[205]

[Illustration: HANS CHRISTIAN JOHANNESEN.
Captain of the "Lena." Born in 1846. ]

Forty kilometres east of the northern extremity of the Lena delta
Johannesen encountered three sandbanks, which he sailed round. After
passing these the water became deeper, so that he could advance at a
distance of five kilometres from land. On the 1st September Johannesen
anchored in a bay on the mainland in the neighbourhood of the Bychov
mouth, whence on the 3rd September, at 2.30 a.m., he continued his
course up the river, but by 10 o'clock the _Lena_ was aground. The water
was falling, and did not begin to rise until an hour after midnight. It
was not, therefore, until 8 a.m. the following day that the _Lena_ was
got off, and that with great difficulty. The sailing through the delta
was rendered difficult by the maps, which were made 140 years ago, being
now useless. For the delta has undergone great alterations since then.
Where at that time there were sandbanks, there are now large islands,
overgrown with wood and grass. At other places again whole islands have
been washed away by the river.

While the vessel was aground nine Tunguses came on board. They rowed in
small boats, which were made of a single tree stem, hollowed out, and
could just carry a man each. Johannesen endeavoured in vain to induce
some of the Tunguses to pilot the steamer; he did not succeed in
explaining his wish to them, notwithstanding all the attempts of the
Russian interpreter, a proof of the slight contact these Tunguses had
had with the rulers of Siberia, and also of the difficulty and
unwillingness with which the savage learns the language of the civilised
nations.

It was not until the 7th September that the delta was finally
passed, and the _Lena_ steamed in t