est mountains on earth has since been
ascribed by the dwellers on the plains of Northern Russia to the
neighbourhood of Matotschkin Schar, "where the mountains are even
much higher than Bolschoj Kamen," a rocky eminence some hundreds of
feet high at the mouth of the Petchora--an orographic idea which
forms a new proof of the correctness of the old saying:--"In the
kingdom of the blind the one-eyed is king." Matotschkin Schar indeed
is surrounded by a wild Alpine tract with peaks that rise to a
height of 1,000 to 1,200 metres. On the other hand there are to be
seen around Yugor Straits only low level plains, terminating towards
the sea with a steep escarpment. These plains are early free of
snow, and are covered with a rich turf, which yields good pasture to
the Samoyed reindeer herds.

Most of the vessels that wish to sail into the Kara Sea through
Yugor Schar require to anchor here some days to wait for favourable
winds and state of the ice. There are no good harbours in the
neighbourhood of the sound, but available anchorages occur, some in
the bay at Chabarova, at the western entrance of the sound; some,
according to the old Dutch maps, on the eastern side of the sound,
between Mestni Island (Staten Eiland) and the mainland. I have,
however, no experience of my own of the latter anchorages, nor have
I heard that the Norwegian walrus-hunters have anchored there.
Perhaps by this time they are become too shallow.

When we sailed through Yugor Schar in 1878, the sound was completely
free of ice. The weather was glorious, but the wind was so light
that the sails did little service. In consequence of this we did not
go very rapidly forward, especially as I wished to keep the three
vessels together, and the sailing ship _Express_, not to be left
behind, had to be towed by the _Fraser_. Time was lost besides in
dredging and taking specimens of water. The dredgings gave at some
places, for instance off Chabarova, a rich yield, especially of
isopods and sponges. The samples of water showed that already at a
limited depth from the surface it had a considerable salinity, and
that therefore no notable portion of the mass of fresh water, which
the rivers Kara, Obi, Tas, and Yenisej and others pour into the Kara
Sea, flows through this sound into the Atlantic Ocean.

In the afternoon of the 1st August we passed through the sound and
steamed into the sea lying to the east of it, which had been the
object of so many speculations,