s are therefore
found in greatest number at those places where the sand of the dune has
been recently carried away by the spring floods or by the furious winds
which prevail here, and which easily gain the ascendency over the dry
sand, bound together only by widely scattered Elymus-stalks. The largest
crania belonged to a species nearly allied to the _Balaena mysticetus_.
Crania of a species of Rachianectes are also found along with some bones
of smaller varieties of the whale. No complete skeleton however has been
found, but we brought home with us so large a quantity of the loose
bones that the collection of whales' bones alone would have formed a
full cargo for a small vessel. These bones will be delineated and
described by Professor. A.W. MALM in _The Scientific Work of the Vega
Expedition_. Special attention was drawn to a skeleton, belonging to the
_Balaena mysticetus_, by its being still partially covered with skin, and
by deep red, almost fresh, flesh adhering to those parts of it which
were frozen fast in the ground. This skeleton lay at a place where the
dune sand had recently been washed away and the coarse underlying sand
uncovered, the whale-_mummy_ also I suppose coming to light at the same
time. That the whale in question had not stranded in the memory of man
the Chukches assured me unanimously. In such a case we have here a proof
that even portions of the flesh of gigantic sea-animals have been
protected against putrefaction in the frozen soil of Siberia--a
parallel to the mammoth-_mummies_, though from a considerably more
recent period.

[Illustration: SECTION OF THE BEACH STRATA AT PITLEKAJ.
1. Hard frozen coarse sand.
2. The sea.
3. Beach of fine dry sand with masses of bones of the whale.
4. Coast-lagoon. ]

[Illustration: CHRISTMAS EVE ON THE "VEGA." ]

Christmas Eve was celebrated in the usual northern fashion. We had
indeed neglected, as in the Expedition of 1872-73, to take with us
any Christmas tree. But instead of it Dr. Kjellman prevailed on our
Chukch friends to bring with dog-sledges willow-bushes from the
valleys lying beyond the mountains to the south. By means of these a
bare driftwood stem was converted into a luxuriant, branchy tree
which, to replace the verdure, was clothed with variegated strips of
paper, and planted in the 'tweendecks, which after our enclosure in
the ice had been arranged as a working room, and was now set in
order for the Christmas festivities, and richly and