s is rendered rather
difficult. This is avoided by touching Novaya Zemlya first at
Gooseland, and thence following the western shore of this island and
Vaygats to Yugor Schar. Now this precaution was unnecessary; for the
state of the ice was singularly favourable, and Yugor Schar was
readied without seeing a trace of it.

During our passage from Norway to Gooseland we were, favoured at
first with a fresh breeze, which, however, fell as we approached
Novaya Zemlya; this notwithstanding, we made rapid progress under
steam, and without incident, except that the excessive rolling of
the vessel caused the overturn of some boxes containing instruments
and books, fortunately without any serious damage ensuing.

Land was sighted on the 28th July at 10.30 P.M. It was the headland
which juts out from the south of Gooseland in 70 deg. 33' N.L. and 51 deg. 54'
E.L. (Greenwich). Gooseland is a low stretch of coast, occupied by
grassy flats and innumerable small lakes, which projects from the
mainland of Novaya Zemlya between 72 deg. 10' and 71 deg. 30' N.L. The name is a
translation of the Russian Gusinnaja Semlja, and arises from the large
number of geese and swans (_Cygnus Bewickii_, Yarr.) which breed in that
region. The geese commonly place their exceedingly inconsiderable nests
on little hillocks near the small lakes which are scattered over the
whole of Gooseland; the powerful swans, which are very difficult of
approach by the hunter, on the other hand breed on the open plain. The
swans' nests are so large that they may be seen at a great distance. The
building material is moss, which is plucked from the ground within a
distance of two metres from the nest, which by the excavation which is
thus produced, is surrounded by a sort of moat. The nest itself forms a
truncated cone, 0.6 metre high and 2.4 metres in diameter at the bottom.
In its upper part there is a cavity, 0.2 metre deep and 0.6 metre broad,
in which the four large grayish-white eggs of the bird are laid. The
female hatches the eggs, but the male also remains in the neighbourhood
of the nest. Along with the swans and geese, a large number of waders,
a couple of species of Lestris, an owl and other birds breed on the
plains of Gooseland, and a few guillemots or gulls upon the summits of
the strand cliffs. The avifauna along the coast here is besides rather
poor. At least there are none of the rich fowl-fells, which, with their
millions of inhabitants and the confli