“When we were beset,” writes Nordenskjöld, “the ice next the shore was too weak to carry a foot passenger, and the difficulty of reaching the vessel from the land with the means which the Chuckches had at their disposal was thus very great. When the natives observed us, there was in any case immediately a great commotion among them. Men, women, children, and dogs were seen running up and down the beach in eager confusion; some were seen driving in dog-sledges on the ice street next the sea. They evidently feared that the splendid opportunity which here lay before them of purchasing brandy and tobacco would be lost. From the vessel we could see with glasses how several attempts were made to put out boats, but they were again given up, until at last a boat was got to a lane, clear of ice or only covered with a thin sheet, that ran from the shore to the neighbourhood of the vessel. In this a large skin boat was put out, which was filled brimful of men and women, regardless of the evident danger of navigating such a boat, heavily laden, through sharp, newly formed ice. They rowed immediately to the vessel, and on reaching it most of them climbed without the least hesitation over the gunwale with jests and laughter, and the cry ‘_anoaj, anoaj_’ (good day, good day). “Our first meeting with the inhabitants of this region, where we afterwards passed ten long months, was on both sides very hearty, and formed the starting-point of a very friendly relation between the Chuckches and ourselves, which remained unaltered during the whole of our stay.” “On the 5th of October,” continues Nordenskjöld, “the openings between the drift-ice fields next the vessel were covered with splendid skating ice, of which we availed ourselves by celebrating a gay and joyous festival. The Chuckche women and children were now seen fishing for winter roach along the shore. In this sort of fishing a man, who always accompanies the fishing women, with an iron-shod lance cuts a hole in the ice so near the shore that the distance between the under corner of the hole and the bottom is only half a metre. Each hole is used only by one woman, and that only for a short time. Stooping down at the hole, in which the surface of the water is kept quite clear of pieces of ice by means of an ice-sieve, she endeavours to attract the fish by means of a peculiar, wonderfully clattering cry. First, when a fish is seen in the water, an angling line, provided with a hook of bone, iron, or copper, is thrown down, strips of the entrails of fish being employed as bait. A small metre-long staff with a single or double crook in the end was also used as a fishing implement. With this little leister the men cast up fish on the ice with incredible dexterity.” [Illustration: THE “VEGA” IN KONYAM BAY _From “The Voyage of the Vega,” Macmillan & Co., Ltd., London_]