The Voyage Of The Vega Round Asia And Europe Part 31

[Footnote 244: Wrangel's _Reise_, Th. 2, Berlin, 1839, p. 220. ]

[Footnote 245: According to a paper in _Deutsche Geografische Blatter_, B. IV. p. 54, Captain E. Dallmann, in 1866, as commander of the Havai schooner _W.C. Talbot_, not only saw but landed on Wrangel Land. As Captain Dallmann of recent years has been in pretty close contact with a large number of geographers, and communications from him have been previously inserted in geographical journals, it appears strange that he has now for the first time made public this important voyage. At all events, Dallmann's statement that the musk-ox occurs on the coast of the Polar Sea and on Wrangel Land is erroneous. He has here confused the musk-ox with the reindeer. ]

[Footnote 246: Cf. _Redogorelse for den svenska polarexpeditionen r 1872-73_ (Bihang till Vet Ak. handl. Bd. 2, No. 18, p. 91). ]

[Footnote 247: A more dangerous kind of icing down threatens the navigator in severe weather not only in the Polar Seas but also in the Baltic and the North Sea. For it happens at that season that the sea-water at the surface is over-cooled, that is, cooled below the freezing-point without being frozen. Every wave which strikes the vessel is then converted by the concussion into ice-sludge, which increases and freezes together to hard ice so speedily that all attempts to remove it from the deck are in vain. In a few hours the vessel may be changed into an unmanageable floating block of ice which the sailors, exhausted by hard labour, must in despair abandon to its fate. Such an icing down, though with a fortunate issue, befell the steamer _Sofia_ in the month of October off Bear Island, during the Swedish Polar Expedition of 1868. ]

[Footnote 248: Irkaipij lies in 180 long. from Greenwich. To bring our day-reckoning into agreement with that of the New World, we ought thus to have here lessened our date by one day, and have written the 17th for the 18th September. But as, with the exception of the short excursion to Port Clarence and St. Edward Island, we always followed the coasts of the Old World, and during our stay in the new hemisphere did not visit any place inhabited by Europeans, we retained during the whole of our voyage our European day-reckoning unaltered. If we had met with an American whaler, we would have been before him one day, our 27th September would thus have corresponded to his 26th. The same would have been the case on our coming to an American port. ]

CHAPTER X.

Wintering becomes necessary--The position of the _Vega_-- The ice round the vessel--American ship in the neighbourhood of the _Vega_ when frozen in--The nature of the neighbouring country--The _Vega_ is prepared for wintering--Provision-depot and observatories established on land--The winter dress-- Temperature on board--Health and dietary--Cold, wind, and snow --The Chukches on board--Menka's visit--Letters sent home-- Nordquist and Hovgaard's excursion to Menka's encampment-- Another visit of Menka--The fate of the letters--Nordquist's journey to Pidlin--_Find_ of a Chukch grave--Hunting-- Scientific work--Life on board--Christmas Eve.

a.s.sured that a few hours' southerly wind would be sufficient to break up the belt of ice, scarcely a Swedish mile[249] in breadth, that barred our way, and rendered confident by the above-quoted communications from experts in America concerning the state of the ice in the sea north of Behring's Straits, I was not at first very uneasy at the delay, of which we took advantage by making short excursions on land and holding converse with the inhabitants. First, when day after day pa.s.sed without any change taking place, it became clear to me that we must make preparations for wintering just on the threshold between the Arctic and the Pacific Oceans. It was an unexpected disappointment, which it was more difficult to bear with equanimity, as it was evident that we would have avoided it if we had come some hours earlier to the eastern side of Kolyutschin Bay.

There were numerous occasions during the preceding part of our voyage on which these hours might have been saved: the _Vega_ did not require to stay so long at Port d.i.c.kson, we might have saved a day at Taimur Island, have dredged somewhat less west of the New Siberian Islands, and so on; and above all, our long stay at Irkaipij waiting for an improvement in the state of the ice, was fatal, because at least three days were lost there without any change for the better taking place.

The position of the vessel was by no means very secure. For the _Vega_, when frozen in, as appears from the sketch map to be found further on, did not lie at anchor in any haven, but was only, in the expectation of finding a favourable opportunity to steam on, anch.o.r.ed behind a ground-ice, which had stranded in a depth of 9-1/2 metres, 1,400 metres from land, in a road which was quite open from true N. 74 W. by north to east. The vessel had here no other protection against the violent ice-pressure which winter storms are wont to cause in the Polar seas, than a rock of ice stranded at high water, and therefore also at high water not very securely fixed.

Fortunately the tide just on the occasion of our being frozen in, appears to have been higher than at any other time during the course of the winter. The ice-rocks, therefore, first floated again far into the summer of 1879, when their parts that projected above the water had diminished by melting. Little was wanting besides to make our winter haven still worse than it was in reality. For the _Vega_ was anch.o.r.ed the first time on the 28th September at some small ice-blocks which had stranded 200 metres nearer the land, but was removed the following day from that place, because there were only a few inches of water under her keel. Had the vessel remained at her first anchorage, it had gone ill with us. For the newly formed ice, during the furious autumn storms, especially during the night between the 14th and 15th December, was pressed over these ice-blocks. The sheet of ice, about half a metre thick, was thereby broken up with loud noise into thousands of pieces, which were thrown up on the underlying ground-ices so as to form an enormous _toross_, or rampart of loose, angular blocks of ice. A vessel anch.o.r.ed there would have been buried under pieces of ice, pressed aground, and crushed very early in the winter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOROSS. From the neighbourhood of the _Vega's_ winter quarters. ]

When the _Vega_ was beset, the sea near the coast, as has been already stated, was covered with newly formed ice, too thin to carry a foot pa.s.senger, but thick enough to prevent the pa.s.sage of a boat.

In the offing lay, as far as the eye could see, closely packed drift-ice, which was bound together so firmly by the newly formed ice, that it was vain to endeavour to force a pa.s.sage. Already, by the 2nd October, it was possible, by observing the necessary precautions, to walk upon the newly formed ice nearest the vessel, and on the 3rd October, the Chukches came on board on foot. On the 10th there were still weak places here and there between the vessel and the land, and a blue sky to the eastward indicated that there was still open water in that direction. That this "clearing" was at a considerable distance from the vessel was seen from an excursion which Dr. Almquist undertook in a north-easterly direction on the 13th October, when, after walking about twenty kilometres over closely packed drift-ice, he was compelled to turn without having reached the open water. It was clear that the _Vega_ was surrounded by a band, at least thirty kilometres broad, of drift-ice fields, united by newly formed ice, which in the course of the winter reached a considerable thickness.[250]

In this immense ice-sheet there often arose in the course of the winter cracks of great length. They ran uninterruptedly across newly formed ice-fields, and old, high ground-ices. One of the largest of these cracks was formed on the night before the 15th December right under the bow of the vessel. It was nearly a metre broad, and very long. Commonly the cracks were only some centimetres broad, but, notwithstanding this, they were troublesome enough, because the sea-water forced itself up through them to the surface of the ice and drenched the snow lying next to it.

The causes of the formation of the cracks were twofold. Either they arose from a violent wind disturbing somewhat the position of the newly formed ice, or through the contraction of the ice in severe cold. The formation of the cracks took place with a more or less loud report, and, to judge from the number of these reports, more frequently than could be observed from the appearance of the snow-covered ice. Thus even during severe cold the apparently continuous ice-sheet was divided into innumerable pieces lying in the close proximity of each other, which either were completely loose or bound together only by the weak ice-band which was gradually formed under the snow on the surface of the water which had forced its way into the crack. Up to a distance of about six kilometres from the sh.o.r.e the ice in any case lay during the course of the whole winter nearly undisturbed, with the exception of the small cracks just mentioned. Farther out to sea, on the other hand, it was in constant motion. So-called _polynias_ or open places probably occur here all the year round, and when the weather was favourable we could therefore nearly always see a blue water sky at the horizon from true N.W. to E. A southerly wind after some days brought the open water channel so near the vessel that it was possible to walk to it in a few hours. It then swarmed with seals--an indication that it was in connection with a sea that was constantly open. The neighbourhood of such a sea perhaps also accounts for the circ.u.mstance that we did not see a single seal-hole in the ice-fields that surrounded the vessel.

The ground-ice, to which the _Vega_ was moored on the 29th September, and under which she lay during the course of the winter, was about forty metres long and twenty-five metres broad; its highest point lay six metres above the surface of the water. It was thus not very large, but gave the vessel good shelter. This ground-ice, along with the vessel and the newly formed ice-field lying between it and the sh.o.r.e, was indeed moved considerably nearer land during the violent autumn storms. A groan or two and a knocking sound in the hull of the vessel indicated that it did not escape very severe pressure; but the _Vega_ did not during the course of the winter suffer any damage, either from this or from the severe cold, during which sharp reports often indicated that some crack in the woodwork had widened through the freezing of the water that had made its way into the vessel. "Cold so that the walls crack" is a well-known expression, with which we inhabitants of the North often connect memories from some stormy winter evening, pa.s.sed by the home hearth; but here these reports heard in our cabins, especially at night, were unpleasant enough, giving rise to fears that the newly formed or widened cracks would cause dangerous leaks in the vessel's hull. In consequence of iron contracting more than wood under the influence of cold, the heads of the iron bolts, with which the ship's timbers were fastened together, in the course of the winter sank deep into the outside planking. But no serious leak arose in this way, perhaps because the cold only acted on that part of the vessel which lay above the surface of the water.

Already during the first days of our wintering we interpreted various lively accounts of the natives, which they ill.u.s.trated by signs, to mean that a whaler would be found at Serdze Kamen, in the neighbourhood of the _Vega's_ winter haven. On this account Lieutenant Brusewitz was sent out on the 4th October with two men and the little boat, _Louise_, built in Copenhagen for the expedition of 1872-73, and intended for sledge-journeys, with instructions to ascertain, if possible, if such was the case. He returned late at night the same day without having got sight of any vessel. We now supposed that the whole depended on our having misunderstood the accounts of the Chukches. But a letter which I received after our return, from Mr. W. BARTLETT, dated New Bedford, 6th January, 1880, shows that this had not been the case. For he writes, among other things:--

"The writer's son, GIDEON W. BAKTLETT, left San Francisco 1st June, 1878, in our freighter ship _Syren_, of 875 tons, for St. Lawrence Bay, arriving there July 8th, and, after loading 6,100 barrels of oil and 37,000 lbs. of bone from our whalers, she sailed for New Bedford direct, touching at Honolulu to land her bone, to come here _via_ San Francisco, and he joined our whaler bark, _Rainbow_, at St. Lawrence Bay, and went on a tour of observation and pleasure, visiting Point Barrow and going as far east as Lion Reefs, near Camden Bay, and then returning to Point Barrow, and going over to Herald Island, and while there visiting our different whalers, seeing one "bow-head"

caught and cut in, and September 25th he came down in the schooner _W.M. Meyer_ to San Francisco, arriving there October 22nd. By a comparison of dates we find he pa.s.sed near Cape Serdze September 29th, or one day after you anch.o.r.ed near Kolyutschin Bay."

The 29th September according to the American day-reckoning corresponds to the 30th according to that of the old world, which was still followed on board the _Vega_. The schooner _W.M.

Meyer_ thus lay at Serdze Kamen two days after we anch.o.r.ed in our winter haven. The distance between the two places is only about 70 kilometres.

The winter haven was situated in 67 4' 49" north lat.i.tude, and 173 23' 2" longitude west from Greenwich, 1.4 kilometres from land. The distance from East Cape was 120', and from Point Hope near Cape Lisburn on the American side, 180'.

The neighbouring land formed a plain rising gradually from the sea, slightly undulating and crossed by river valleys, which indeed when the _Vega_ was frozen in was covered with h.o.a.rfrost and frozen, but still clear of snow, so that our botanists could form an idea of the flora of the region, previously quite unknown. Next the sh.o.r.e were found close beds of Elymus, alternating with carpets of _Halianthus peploides_, and further up a poor, even, gravelly soil, covered with water in spring, on which grew only a slate-like lichen, _Gyrophora proboscidea_, and a few flowering plants, of which _Armeria sibirica_ was the most common. Within the beach were extensive salt and fresh-water lagoons, separated by low land, whose banks were covered with a pretty luxuriant carpet, formed of mosses, gra.s.ses, and Carices. But first on the neighbouring high land, where the weathered gneiss strata yielded a more fertile soil than the sterile sand thrown up out of the sea, did the vegetation a.s.sume a more variegated stamp. No trace of trees[251] was indeed found there, but low willow bushes, entensive carpets of _Empetrum nigrum_ and _Andromeda tetragona_ were seen, along with large tufts of a species of Artemisia. Between these shoot forth in summer, to judge partly from the dried and frozen remains of plants which Dr. Kjellman collected in autumn, partly from collections made in spring, a limited number of flowering plants, some of which are well known at home, as the red whortleberry, the cloudberry, and the dandelion.

Although experience from preceding Polar journeys and specially from the Swedish expedition of 1872-73, showed that even at the 80th degree of lat.i.tude the sea may suddenly break up in the middle of winter, we however soon found, as has been already stated, that we must make preparations for wintering. The necessary arrangements were accordingly made. The snow which collected on deck, and which at first was daily swept away, was allowed to remain, so that it finally formed a layer 30 centimetres thick, of hard tramped snow or ice, which in no inconsiderable degree contributed to increase the resistance of the deck to cold, and for the same purpose snowdrifts were thrown up along the vessel's sides. A stately ice stair was carried up from the ice to the starboard gunwale. A large tent made for the purpose at Karlskrona was pitched from the bridge to the fore, so that only the p.o.o.p was open. Aft the tent was quite open, the blast and drifting snow having also free entrance from the sides and from an incompletely closed opening in the fore. The protection it yielded against the cold was indeed greatly diminished in this way, but instead it did not have the least injurious action on the air on the vessel, a circ.u.mstance specially deserving of attention for its influence on the state of health on board. Often under this tent in the dark days of winter there blazed a brisk smithy fire, round which the Chukches crowded in curious wonder at the skill with which the smith fashioned the glowing iron. Here the cook dealt out to the Chukches the soup and meat that were left over, and the loaves of bread which at every baking were baked for them. Here was our reception saloon, where tobacco and sugar were distributed to the women and children, and where sometimes, if seldom, a frozen hunter or fisherman was treated to a little spirits. Here pieces of wood and vertebrae of the whale were valued and purchased, and here tedious negotiations were carried on regarding journeys in dog-sledges in different directions.

The violent motion which took place in the ice during the night before the 15th December, gave us a sharp warning that our position in the open road was by no means so secure as was desirable, but that there was a possibility that the vessel might be nipped suddenly and without any previous warning. If such a misfortune had happened, the crew of the _Vega_ would certainly have had no difficulty in getting to land over the ice. But the yield of hunting appeared to be so scanty, and the Chukches were, as almost always, so dest.i.tute of all stock of provisions--for they literally obey the command to take no thought for to-morrow--that there was every probability that we, having come safe ash.o.r.e, would die of hunger, if no provisions were saved from the vessel. This again, as the princ.i.p.al part of the provisions was of course down in the hold, would have been attended with great difficulty, if the _Vega_ had been suddenly in the night cut into by the ice at the water-line. In order as far as possible to secure ourselves against the consequences of such a misfortune, a depot of provisions, guns, ammunition, &c., reckoned for 30 men and 100 days, was formed on land. Fortunately we did not require to depend upon it. The stores were laid up on the beach without the protection of lock or bolt, covered only with sails and oars, and no watch was kept at the place. Notwithstanding this, and the want of food which occasionally prevailed among the natives, it remained untouched both by the Chukches who lived in the neighbourhood, and by those who daily drove past the place from distant regions. All however knew very well the contents of the sail-covered heap, and they undoubtedly supposed that there were to be found there treasures of immense value, and provisions enough for the whole population of the Chukch peninsula for a whole year.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE "VEGA" IN WINTER QUARTERS. (After a photograph, taken in the spring of 1879 by L. Palander.) ]

The Magnetical Observatory was erected, as will be told in greater detail further on, upon the beach a kilometre and a half from the vessel. To this house the observers had to walk to and fro at least four times in the twenty-four hours over an ice-field, covered with loose snow, as fine as dust, that was set in motion by the least puff of wind, and then in a few moments completely obliterated every footprint. When the moon did not shine, the winter nights were so dark, that it was impossible to distinguish the very nearest objects, and day after day during the course of the winter we had, besides, drifting snow so thick that the high dark hull of the vessel itself could be distinguished only when one was in its immediate neighbourhood! In walking from land during the darkness of the night and in drifting snow it would have been very difficult to find one's way to the vessel without guidance, and he would have been helplessly lost who went astray. To prevent such an accident, the precaution was taken of running a line over high ice-pillars between the Observatory and the vessel. Even with the help of the guideline it was often difficult enough to find our way.

The attempt to keep open a channel in the ice round the vessel during the whole winter had soon to be given up, but two holes were kept constantly open, one by the side of the vessel in case of fire, and the other for the tidal observations which Captain Palander set on foot during the winter. The latter hole was chosen by a little seal as its haunt for a long time, until one day we entertained ourselves by catching him with the necessary care, and making him pay an involuntary visit on board, where he was offered various delicacies, which however were disregarded. The seal was let loose again in his hole, but notwithstanding the friendliness we showed him, he never more returned.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE WINTER DRESS OF THE "VEGA" MEN. ]

From the meteorological observations it appears that the winter was not so cold as the winters in the Franklin archipelago or in the coldest parts of the mainland of Siberia.[252] On the other hand, it was exceedingly stormy at the _Vega's_ winter station, and day after day, night after night, we have gone to and from the Observatory in a high wind and a cold of -30 to -46 C.

In calm weather a cold of -40 is scarcely very troublesome, but with only a slight draught a degree of cold of for instance -35 is actually dangerous for one who goes against the wind, and without the necessary precautions exposes uncovered parts of the face, the hands, or the wrists, to the cold current of air. Without one's being warned by any severe pain frostbite arises, which, if it be not in time thawed by rubbing the injured part with the hand, or with melting snow, may readily become very serious. Most of those who for the first time took part in a wintering in the high north, were, when the first cold occurred, more or less frostbitten, on several occasions so that there arose high frost-blisters filled with b.l.o.o.d.y water, several square centimetres in extent, but fortunately never to such a degree that any serious bad results followed. After we, newcomers to the Polar regions, warned by experience, became more careful, such frostbites occurred but seldom. Nor did there occur a single case of frostbite in the feet.

To this conduced our clothing, which was adapted to the climate, and, besides good winter clothes of the sort commonly used in Sweden, consisted of the following articles of dress brought with us specially for use in the high north:--

1. An abundant stock of good _woollen under-clothing_.

2. A carefully made _blouse of sailcloth_, provided with many pockets, intended to be drawn over the ordinary seaman's dress as a protection against wind and drifting snow. This proved to be very suitable for the purpose for which it was intended, and was much liked by the crew.

3. A Lapp _"pesk" with leggings_ was not so often used, because it was so warm that it was only with difficulty one could walk with it any considerable distance. On the other hand, in the case of winter journeys with dogs or reindeer it was indispensable.

4. A pair of very large _canvas boots_ with leather soles. Inside these was put hay of _Carex vesicaria_ L. The foot itself was covered with one or two pairs of stockings, above which there was a foot-strip of felt. Our boots were thus intermediate between the foot-covering introduced by Parry for Arctic journeys, and the hay-filled _komager_ of the Lapps. All who used these canvas boots are unanimous in thinking that they left nothing to desire. Even in the case of extended excursions in wet snow they are to be preferred to leather shoes; for the latter become heavy and drenched with water, and can with difficulty be dried in the open air in the course of a night's rest. Canvas boots and the long hay in them on the other hand are easily dried in a single night. They are also light when wet, and in that state little prejudicial to health on account of the change of air which the hay under the foot renders possible. I therefore am of opinion that we are warranted in giving such boots the highest recommendation for winter journeys and winter hunting excursions, even in our own land.

5. An _oresund cap_ and a loose _felt hood_ (baschlik) of the same sort as those which are used in the Russian army. I had bought the baschliks in St. Petersburg on account of the Expedition.

6. _Fingerless gloves_ of sealskin and chamois, with an inside lining of sheepskin and at the wrists bordered with long-haired fur.

They were commonly carried with a band from the neck, as children are wont to carry their gloves. For outside work these thick gloves were too inconvenient; then fingerless woollen mittens were used.

7. _Coloured spectacles_, which were distributed to all the men in the beginning of February. One must himself have lived in the Polar regions during winter and spring, "after the return of the sun," to understand how indispensable is such a protection from the monotonous white light which then surrounds the eye in every direction. The inexperienced, though warned, seldom observe the necessary precautions, and commonly pay the penalty by a more or less complete s...o...b..indness, which indeed is not very dangerous, but is always exceedingly painful, and which lasts several days.

On board the vessel in our cabins and collection-rooms it was besides by no means so cold as many would suppose. The sides of the vessel in several places indeed, especially in the cabins, were covered with a thick sheet of ice, and so was the skylight in the gun-room. But in the inhabited parts of the vessel we had, a little from the sides, commonly a temperature of +12 to +17, that is to say about the same as we in the north are wont to have indoors in winter, and certainly higher than the temperature of rooms during the coldest days of the year in many cities in the south, as for instance in Paris and Vienna. By night however the temperature in the cabins sank sometimes to +5 and +10, and the boarding at the side of the berth became covered with ice. In the work-room 'tweendecks the thermometer generally stood about +10, and even in the underhold, which was not heated, but lay under the water-line, the temperature was never under, commonly 1 or 2 above, the freezing-point.

Much greater inconvenience than from cold did we in the cabins suffer from the excessive heat and the fumes, which firing in large cast-iron stoves is wont to cause in small close rooms. When in the morning after a cold night the watch all too willingly obeyed the direction, which sounded from different quarters, to fire well, one had often his wish so thoroughly satisfied, that, in half an hour after, every man lay bathed in perspiration. There was no other help for it than to leave the cabin, take a cold bath and a good rub down, dress rapidly, rush on deck for fresh air, and cool in the temperature of -30 to -40 prevailing there.

Other opportunities for bathing were also given both to the officers and crew, and the necessary care was taken to secure cleanliness, a sanitary measure which ought never to be neglected in Arctic winterings.

The state of health on board during the course of the winter was exceedingly good. Dr. Almquist's report enumerates only a few serious maladies, all successfully cured, among which may be mentioned stomach colds and slight cases of inflammation of the lungs, but not a single case of that insidious disease, scurvy, which formerly raged in such a frightful way among the crews in all long voyages, and which is still wont to gather so many victims from among Polar travellers.

This good state of health depended in the first place on the excellent spirit which inspired the scientific men, the officers and the crew of the Expedition, but it ought also to be ascribed to the suitable equipment of the _Vega_, arranged by Captain Palander at Karlskrona, and above all to adjustment to the climate of our dietary, which was settled on the ground of the experience gained in the expedition of 1872-73, and after taking the advice of its distinguished physician Dr. Envall. The dietary is shown in the following table:--

No. 1. SUNDAY.

_Breakfast_: b.u.t.ter 6 ort, coffee 10 ort, sugar 7.5 ort.[253]

_Dinner_: salt pork or dried fish 75 ort, sourkrout 75 ort, preserved or fresh potatoes 12 ort, preserved vegetables 5.5 ort, extract of meat 1.5 ort, raisins 5 ort, rice 50 ort, brandy or rum 2 cubic inches.

_Supper_: b.u.t.ter 6 ort, tea 1.5 ort, sugar 7.5 ort, barley-groats 10 cubic inches, cheese 12 ort.

No. 2. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, and FRIDAY.