ght to a large ground-ice, the
_Vega_ continued her course on the 20th September almost exclusively
among low, dirty ice, which had not been much pressed together
during the preceding winter. This ice was not so deep in the water
as the blue ground-ice, and could therefore drift nearer the coast,
a great inconvenience for our vessel, which drew so much water. We
soon came to a place where the ice was packed so close to land that
an open channel only 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 metres deep remained close to
the shore. We were therefore compelled after some hours' sailing to
lie-to at a ground-ice to await more favourable circumstances. The
wind had now gone from west to north and north-west. Notwithstanding
this the temperature became milder and the weather rainy, a sign
that great open stretches of water lay to the north and north-west
of us. During the night before the 21st it rained heavily, the wind
being N.N.W. and the temperature +2 deg.. An attempt was made on
that day to find some place where the belt of drift-ice that was
pressed against the land could be broken through, but it was
unsuccessful, probably in consequence of the exceedingly dense fog
which prevailed.

[Illustration: PIECES OF ICE FROM THE COAST OF THE CHUKCH PENINSULA.
(After a drawing by O. Nordquist.) ]

Dredging gave but a scanty yield here, probably because the animal
life in water so shallow as that in which we were anchored, is
destroyed by the ground-ices, which drift about here for the greater
part of the year. Excursions to the neighbouring coast on the other
hand, notwithstanding the late season of the year, afforded to the
botanists of the _Vega_ valuable information regarding the flora of
the region.

On the 22nd I made, along with Captain Palander, an excursion in the
steam launch to take soundings farther to the east. We soon
succeeded in discovering a channel of sufficient depth and not too
much blocked with ice, and on the 23rd the _Vega_ was able to resume
her voyage among very closely packed drift-ice, often so near the
land that she had only a fourth of a metre of water under her keel.
We went forward however, if slowly.

The land here formed a grassy plain, still clear of snow, rising
inland to gently sloping hills or earthy heights. The beach was
strewn with a not inconsiderable quantity of driftwood, and here and
there were seen the remains of old dwelling-places. On the evening
of the 23rd September we lay-to at a ground-ice in a pr