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.

Assured 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 passed 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 Dickson, 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,

anchored 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 deg. 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 anchored 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

anchored there would have been buried under pieces of ice, pressed

aground, and crushed very early in the winter.

[Illustration: 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 passenger, but thick enough to prevent the passage 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 passage. 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 shore 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 circumstance 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 shore, 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, passed 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 illustrated 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 passed

near Cape Serdze September 29th, or one day after you

anchored 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 anchored in our

winter haven. The distance between the two places is only about 70

kilometres.

The winter haven was situated in 67 deg. 4' 49" north latitude,

and 173 deg. 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 hoarfrost 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 shore 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, grasses, 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 assume 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 latitude 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 poop 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 circumstance 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 destitute 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 ashore, would die of hunger,

if no provisions were saved from the vessel. This again, as the

principal 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.

[Illustration: 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.

[Illustration: 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 deg. to -46 deg. C.

In calm weather a cold of -40 deg. is scarcely very troublesome,

but with only a slight draught a degree of cold of for instance -35 deg.

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 bloody 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 _Oeresund 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 snowblindness, 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 deg. to +17 deg.,

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 deg. and +10 deg.,

and the boarding at the side of the berth became covered

with ice. In the work-room 'tweendecks the thermometer generally

stood about +10 deg., and even in the underhold, which was not

heated, but lay under the water-line, the temperature was never

under, commonly 1 deg. or 2 deg. 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 deg. to -40 deg. 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_: butter 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_: butter 6 ort, tea 1.5 ort, sugar 7.5 ort, barley-groats 10

cubic inches, cheese 12 ort.

No. 2. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, and FRIDAY.

_Breakfast_ same as No. 1.

_Dinner_: preserved meat or fish 1 portion, preserved potatoes 12

ort, preserved vegetables 5.5 ort, preserved leeks 1 portion,

extract of meat 1.5 ort, brandy or rum 2 cubic inches.

_Supper_ same as No. 1 without cheese.

No. 3. THURSDAY.

_Breakfast_ same as No. 1.

_Dinner_: salt pork 1 lb., peas 10 cubic inches, extract of meat 1.5

ort, barley-groats 2 cubic inches, brandy or rum 2 cubic inches.

_Supper_ same as No. 2.

No. 4. TUESDAY.

_Breakfast_: butter 6 ort, chocolate 10 ort, sugar 7.5 ort.

_Dinner_: salt meat 1 lb., maccaroni 15 ort (or brown beans 10 cubic

inches or green peas 1 portion), fruit soup 1 portion, brandy or rum

2 cubic inches.

_Supper_ same as No. 2.

No. 5. SATURDAY.

_Breakfast_ same as No. 4.

_Dinner_: preserved beeksteak or stewed beef 1 portion, preserved or

fresh, potatoes 12 ort, preserved leeks 1 portion, fruit soup 1

portion, brandy or rum 2 cubic inches.

_Supper_ same as No. 2.

Every man besides had served out to him daily 1-1/4 lb. dried bread

or flour (2/3 wheat and 1/3 rye), 3 ort tobacco and 2 cubic inches

vinegar; and weekly 1 lb. wheat-flour, 30 ort butter, 21 ort salt, 7

ort mustard, 3 ort pepper, and two cubic inches vinegar.

Besides what is included in the above list, "multegroet" (preserved

cloudberries), mixed with rum, was served out twice a week from the

15th February to the 1st April. I would willingly have had a larger

quantity of this, according to northern experience, excellent

antidote to scurvy, but as the cloudberry harvest completely failed

in 1877, I could not, at any price, procure for the Expedition the

quantity that was required. There was purchased in Finland instead,

a large quantity of cranberry-juice, which was regularly served out

to the crew and much liked by them. We carried with us besides a

pair of living swine, which were slaughtered for the Christmas

festivities.[254] All the men at that time had an opportunity of

eating fresh pork twice a week, an invaluable interruption to the

monotonous preserved provisions, which in its proportion conduced,

during this festival, to which we inhabitants of the North are

attached by so many memories, to enliven and cheer us.

The produce of hunting was confined during the course of the winter

to some ptarmigan and hares, and thus did not yield any contribution

worth mentioning to the provisioning of the vessel. On the other

hand, I was able by barter with the natives to procure fish in

considerable abundance, so that at certain seasons the quantity was

sufficient to allow of fresh fish being served out once a week. The

kind of fish which was principally obtained during the winter, a

sort of cod with greyish-green vertebrae, could however at first

only be served in the gun-room, because the crew, on account of the

colour of its bones, for a long time had an invincible dislike to

it.

On many of the ground-ices in the neighbourhood of the vessel there

were fresh-water collections of considerable depth, which indeed

were already hard frozen on the surface, but long yielded us

splendid water for drinking and washing. After the 14th of December,

when all the smaller fresh-water collections were almost frozen to

the bottom, and salt-water had made its way into the largest ones

and those on which we most depended, it became necessary to procure

water by melting ice.

The meteorological observations were made every fourth hour up to the

1st November; after that to the 1st April every hour; after that

again six times in the twenty-four hours. From the 27th November to

the 1st April the thermometers were set up on land at the magnetical

observatory; before and after that time in the immediate neighbourhood

of the vessel. During winter the charge of the meteorological

observations was intrusted to Dr. Stuxberg, who at that season, when all

around us was covered with ice, was compelled to let his own zoological

researches rest.

[Illustration: COD FROM PITLEKAJ. _Gadus navaga_, Kolreuter one-third

the natural size. ]

The state of the weather of course had a very sensible influence on our

daily life, and formed the touchstone by which our equipment was tested.

Space does not permit me to give in this work the detailed results of

the meteorological observations. I shall therefore only state the

following facts.

The greatest cold which was observed during the different

months was in

October the 24th--20.8 deg. March the 29th--39.8 deg.

November the 30th--27.2 deg. April the 15th--38.0 deg.

December the 23rd--37.1 deg. May the 3rd--26.8 deg.

January the 25th--45.7 deg. June the 3rd--14.3 deg.

February the 2nd--43.8 deg. July the 2nd--1.0 deg.

Twice we had the barometer uncommonly high, viz.:

On the 22nd December 6 A.M. 782.0 (0 deg.) mm.

On the 17th February 6 A.M. 788.1 (0 deg.) mm.

The lowest atmospheric pressure, 728.8 (0 deg.) mm., occurred on

the 31st December at two o'clock P.M.

The weather during the winter was very stormy, and the direction of

the wind nearest the surface of the earth almost constantly between

north-west and north-north-west. But already in atmospheric strata

of inconsiderable height there prevailed, to judge by the direction

of the clouds, a similar uninterrupted atmospheric current from the

south-east, which when it occasionally sank to the surface of the

earth brought with it air that was warmer and less saturated with

moisture. The reason of this is easy to see, if we consider that

Behring's Straits form a gate surrounded by pretty high mountains

between the warm atmospheric area of the Pacific and the cold one of

the Arctic Ocean. The winds must be arranged here approximately

after the same laws as the draught in the door-opening between a

warm and a cold room, that is to say, the cold current of air must

go below from the cold room to the warm, the warm above from the

warm room to the cold. The mountain heights which, according to the

statement of the natives, are to be found in the interior of the

Chukch peninsula besides conduce to the heat and dryness of the

southerly and south-easterly winds. For they confer on the sea winds

that pass over their summits the properties of the _foehn_ winds. Our

coldest winds have come from S.W. to W., that is to say, from the

Old World's pole of cold, situated in the region of Werchojansk. On

the existence of two currents of air, which at a certain height

above the surface of the earth contend for the mastery, depends also

the surprising rapidity with which the vault of heaven in the region

of Behring's Straits becomes suddenly clouded over and again

completely clear. Already the famous Behring's Straits' navigator,

RODGERS, now Admiral in the American Navy, had noticed this

circumstance, and likened it very strikingly to the drawing up and

dropping of the curtain of a theatre.

In our notes on the weather a difference was always made between

_snoeyra_ (fall of snow in wind) and _yrsnoe_ (snow-storm without

snow-fall). The fall of snow was not very great, but as there was in

the course of the winter no thaw of such continuance that the snow

was at any time covered with a coherent melted crust, a considerable

portion of the snow that fell remained so loose that with the least

puff of wind it was whirled backwards and forwards. In a storm or

strong breeze the snow was carried to higher strata of the

atmosphere, which was speedily filled with so close and fine

snow-dust, that objects at the distance of a few metres could no

longer be distinguished. There was no possibility in such weather of

keeping the way open, and the man that lost his way was helplessly

lost, if he could not, like the Chukch snowed up in a drift, await

the ceasing of the storm. But even when the wind was slight and the

sky clear there ran a stream of snow some centimetres in height

along the ground in the direction of the wind, and thus principally

from N.W. to S.E. Even this shallow stream heaped snowdrifts

everywhere where there was any protection from the wind, and buried

more certainly, if less rapidly, than the drifting snow of the

storm, exposed objects and trampled footpaths. The quantity of

water, which in a frozen form is removed in this certainly not deep,

but uninterrupted and rapid current over the north coast of Siberia

to more southerly regions, must be equal to the mass of water in the

giant rivers of our globe, and play a sufficiently great _role_,

among others as a carrier of cold to the most northerly forest

regions, to receive the attention of meteorologists.

The humidity of the air was observed both by August's psychrometer

and Saussure's hygrometer. But I do not believe that these

instruments give trustworthy results at a temperature considerably

under the freezing-point. Moreover the degree of humidity at the

place where there can be a question of setting up a psychrometer and

hygrometer during a wintering in the high north, has not the

meteorological importance which has often been ascribed to it. For

the instruments are as a rule set up in an isolated louvre case,

standing at a height above the surface convenient for reading. While

the snow is drifting almost uninterruptedly it is impossible to keep

this case clear of snow. Even the air, which was originally quite

dry, must here be saturated with moisture through evaporation from

the surrounding layers of snow and from the snow dust which whirls

about next the surface of the earth. In order to determine the true

degree of humidity in the air, I would accordingly advise future

travellers to these regions to weigh directly the water which a

given measure of air contains by absorbing it in tubes with chloride

of calcium, calcined sulphate of copper, or sulphuric acid. It would

be easy to arrange an instrument for this purpose so that the whole

work could be done under deck, the air from any stratum under the

mast-top being examined at will. If I had had the means to make such

an examination at the _Vega's_ winter quarters, it would certainly

have appeared that the relative humidity of the air at a height of

some few metres above the surface of the earth was for the most part

exceedingly small.

The sandy neck of land which on the side next the vessel divided the

lagoons from the sea, was bestrewn with colossal bones of the whale,

and with the refuse of the Chukches, who had lived and wandered

about there for centuries, and besides with portions of the skeleton

of the seal and walrus, with the excreta of men, dogs, birds, &c.

The region was among the most disagreeable I have seen in any of the

parts inhabited by fishing Lapps, Samoyeds, Chukches, or Eskimo.

When the _Vega_ was beset there were two Chukch villages on the

neighbouring beach, of which the one that lay nearest our winter

haven was called Pitlekaj. It consisted at first of seven tents,

which in consequence of want of food their inhabitants removed

gradually in the course of the winter to a region near Behring's

Straits, where fish were more abundant. At the removal only the most

indispensable articles were taken along, because there was an

intention of returning at that season of the year when the chase

again became more productive. The other encampment, Yinretlen, lay

nearer the cape towards Kolyutschin Bay, and reckoned at the

beginning of our wintering likewise seven tents, whose inhabitants

appeared to be in better circumstances than those of Pitlekaj. They

had during the autumn made a better catch and collected a greater

stock. Only some of them accordingly removed during winter.

The following encampments lay at a somewhat greater distance from

our winter quarters, but so near, however, that we were often

visited by their inhabitants:

Pidlin, on the eastern shore of Kolyutschin Bay, four tents.

Kolyutschin, on the island of the same name, twenty-five tents. This

village was not visited by any of the members of the _Vega_

Expedition.

Rirajtinop, situated six kilometres east of Pitlekaj, three tents.

Irgunnuk, seven kilometres east of Pitlekaj, ten tents, of which,

however, in February only four remained. The inhabitants of the

others had for the winter sought a better fishing place farther

eastward.

The number of the persons who belonged to each tent was difficult to

make out, because the Chukches were constantly visiting each other

for the purpose of gossip and talk. On an average it may perhaps be

put at five or six persons. Including the inhabitants of Kolyutschin

Island, there thus lived about 300 natives in the neighbourhood of

our winter quarters.

When we were beset, the ice next the shore, as has been already

stated, was too weak to carry a foot passenger, and the difficulty

of reaching the vessel from the land with the means which the

Chukches 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 Chukches and ourselves,

which remained unaltered during the whole of our stay.

[Illustration: KALTIJKAI, A CHUKCH GIRL FROM IRGUNNUK. Front face

and Profile. (After photographs by L. Palander.) ]

Regard for cleanliness compelled us to allow the Chukches to come

below deck only exceptionally, which at first annoyed them much, so

that one of them even showed a disposition to retaliate by keeping

us out of the bedchamber in his tent. Our firmness on this point,

however, combined with friendliness and generosity, soon calmed

them, and it was not so easy for the men to exclude us from the

inner tent, for in such visits we always had confections and tobacco

with us, both for themselves and for the women and children. On

board the vessel's tent-covered deck soon became a veritable

reception saloon for the whole population of the neighbourhood.

Dog-team after dog-team stood all day in rows, or more correctly lay

snowed up before the ice-built flight of steps to the deck of the

_Vega_, patiently waiting for the return of the visitors, or for the

pemmican I now and then from pity ordered to be given to the

hungered animals. The report of the arrival of the remarkable

foreigners must besides have spread with great rapidity. For we soon

had visits even from distant settlements, and the _Vega_ finally

became a resting-place at which every passer-by stopped with his

dog-team for some hours in order to satisfy his curiosity, or to

obtain in exchange for good words or some more acceptable wares a

little warm food, a bit of tobacco, and sometimes when the weather

was very stormy, a little drop of spirits, by the Chukches called

_ram_, a word whose origin is not to be sought for in the

Swedish-Norwegian _dram_, but in the English word _rum_.

All who came on board were allowed to go about without let or

hindrance on our deck, which was encumbered with a great many

things. We had not however to lament the loss of the merest trifle.

Honesty was as much at home here as in the huts of the reindeer

Lapps. On the other hand, they soon became very troublesome by their

beggary, which was kept in bounds by no feeling of self-respect. Nor

did they fail to take all possible advantage of what they doubtless

considered the great inexperience of the Europeans. Small deceptions

in this way were evidently not looked upon as blameworthy, but as

meritorious. Sometimes, for instance, they sold us the same thing

twice over, they were always liberal in promises which they never

intended to keep, and often gave deceptive accounts of articles

which were exposed for sale. Thus the carcases of foxes were

offered, after having been flayed and the head and feet cut off, on

several occasions as hares, and it was laughable to see their

astonishment at our immediately discovering the fraud. The Chukches'

complete want of acquaintance with money and our small supply of

articles for barter for which they had a liking besides compelled

even me to hold at least a portion of our wares at a high price.

Skins and blubber, the common products of the Polar lands, to the

great surprise of the natives, were not purchased on the _Vega_. On

the other hand a complete collection of weapons, dresses, and

household articles was procured by barter. All such purchases were

made exclusively on account of the Expedition, and in general the

collection of natural and ethnographical objects for private account

was wholly forbidden, a regulation which ought to be in force in

every scientific expedition to remote regions.

As the Chukches began to acquire a taste for our food, they never

neglected, especially during the time when their hunting failed, to

bring daily on board driftwood and the vertebrae and other bones of

the whale. They bartered these for bread. A load of five bits of

wood, from four to five inches in diameter and six feet long, was

commonly paid for with two or three ship biscuits, that is to say

with about 250 gram bread, the vertebra of a whale with two ship

biscuits, &c. By degrees two young natives got into the habit of

coming on board daily for the purpose of performing, quite at their

leisure, the office of servant. The cook was their patron, and they

obtained from him in compensation for their services the larger

share of the left victuals. So considerable a quantity of food was

distributed partly as payment for services rendered or for goods

purchased, partly as gifts, that we contributed in a very great

degree to mitigate the famine which during midwinter threatened to

break out among the population.

None of the natives in the neighbourhood of the _Vega's_ winter station

professed the Christian religion. None of them spoke any European

language, though one or two knew a couple of English words and a Russian

word of salutation. This was a very unfortunate circumstance, which

caused us much trouble. But it was soon remedied by Lieut. Nordquist

specially devoting himself to the study of their language, and that with

such zeal and success that in a fortnight he could make himself pretty

well understood. The natives stated to DE LONG in the autumn of 1879

that a person on the "man of war" which wintered on the north coast,

spoke Chukch exceedingly well. The difficulty of studying the language

was increased, to a not inconsiderable degree, by the Chukches in their

wish to co-operate with us in finding a common speech being so courteous

as not to correct, but to adopt the mistakes, in the pronunciation or

meaning of words that were made on the _Vega_. As a fruit of his studies

Lieut. Nordquist has drawn up an extensive vocabulary of this little

known language, and given a sketch of its grammatical structure.[255]

The knowledge of the Chukch language, which the other members of the

Expedition acquired, was confined to a larger or smaller number of

words; the natives also learned a word or two of our language, so that a

_lingua franca_ somewhat intelligible to both parties gradually arose,

in which several of the crew soon became very much at home, and with

which in case of necessity one could get along very well, although in

this newly formed dialect all grammatical inflections were totally

wanting. Besides, I set one of the crew, the walrus-hunter Johnsen, free

for a consideral time from all work on board, in order that he might

wander about the country daily, partly for hunting, partly for

conversing with the natives. He succeeded in the beginning of winter in

killing some ptarmigan and hares, got for me a great deal of important

information regarding the mode of life of the Chukches, and procured

several valuable ethnographical objects. But after a time, for what

reason I could never make out, he took an invincible dislike to visit

the Chukch tents more, without however having come to any disagreement

with their inhabitants.

[Illustration: CHUKCHES ANGLING. ]

[Illustration: ICE-SEIVE. One-eighth of the natural size. ]

On the 5th October 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 skating festival.

The Chukch 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 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. When the ice became thicker, this

fishing was entirely given up, while during the whole winter a

species of cod and another of grayling were taken in great quantity

in a lagoon situated nearer Behring's Straits. The coregonus is also

caught in the inland lakes, although, at least at this season of the

year, only in limited quantity.

[Illustration: SMELT FROM THE CHUKCH PENINSULA. _Osmerus eperlanus_,

Lin. one-third the natural size. ]

On the morning of the 6th October, we saw from the vessel an

extraordinary procession moving forward on the ice. A number of

Chukches drew a dog-sledge on which lay a man. At first we supposed

it was a man who was very ill, and who came to seek the help of the

physician, but when the procession reached the vessel's side, the

supposed invalid climbed very nimbly up the ice-covered rope-ladder

(our ice-stair was not yet in order), stepped immediately with a

confident air, giving evidence of high rank, upon the half-deck,

crossed himself, saluted graciously, and gave us to know in broken

Russian that he was a man of importance in that part of the country.

It now appeared that we were honoured with a visit from the

representative of the Russian empire, WASSILI MENKA, the starost

among the reindeer-Chukches. He was a little dark man, with a pretty

worn appearance, clad in a white variegated "pesk" of reindeer skin,

under which a blue flannel shirt was visible. In order immediately

on his arrival to inspire us with respect, and perhaps also in order

not to expose his precious life to the false Ran's treachery, he

came to the vessel over the yet not quite trustworthy ice, riding in

a sledge that was drawn not by dogs but by his men. On his arrival

he immediately showed us credentials of his rank, and various

evidences of the payment of tribute (or market tolls), consisting of

some few red and some white fox-skins, reckoning the former at 1

rouble 80 copecks, the latter at 40 copecks each.

[Illustration: WASSILI MENKA. Starost among the Reindeer Chukches.

(After a photograph by L. Palander.) ]

He was immediately invited down to the gunroom, entertained after

the best of our ability, and bothered with a number of questions

which he evidently understood with difficulty, and answered in very

unintelligible Russian. He was in any case the first with whom some

of us could communicate, at least in a way. He could neither read

nor write. On the other hand, he could quickly comprehend a map

which was shown him, and point out with great accuracy a number of

the more remarkable places in north-eastern Siberia. Of the

existence of the Russian emperor the first official of the region

had no idea; on the other hand, he knew that a very powerful person

had his home at Irkutsk. On us he conferred the rank of "Ispravnik"

in the neighbouring towns. At first he crossed himself with much

zeal before some photographs and copper-plate engravings in the

gunroom, but he soon ceased when he observed that we did not do

likewise. Menka was accompanied by two badly-clad natives with very

oblique eyes, whom we took at first for his servants or slaves.

Afterwards we found that they were owners of reindeer, who

considered themselves quite as good as Menka himself, and further on

we even heard one of them speak of Menka's claim to be a chief with

a compassionate smile. Now, however, they were exceedingly

respectful, and it was by them that Menka's gift of welcome, two

reindeer roasts, was carried forward with a certain stateliness. As

a return present we gave him a woollen shirt and some parcels of

tobacco. Menka said that he should travel in a few days to Markova,

a place inhabited by Russians on the river Anadyr, in the

neighbourhood of the old Anadyrsk. Although I had not yet given up

hope of getting free before winter, I wished to endeavour to utilize

this opportunity of sending home accounts of the _Vega's_ position,

the state of matters on board, &c. An open letter was therefore

written in Russian, and addressed to his Excellency the

Governor-General at Irkutsk, with the request that he would

communicate its contents to his Majesty, King Oscar. This was

placed, along with several private sealed letters between a couple

of pieces of board, and handed over to Menka with a request to give

them to the Russian authorities at Markova. At first it appeared as

if Menka understood the letter as some sort of farther credentials

for himself. For when he landed he assembled, in the presence of

some of us, a circle of Chukches round himself, placed himself with

dignity in their midst, opened out the paper, but so that he had it

upside down, and read from it long sentences in Chukch to an

attentive audience, astonished at his learning. Next forenoon we had

another visit of the great and learned chief. New presents were

exchanged, and he was entertained after our best ability. Finally he

danced to the chamber-organ, both alone and together with some of

his hosts, to the great entertainment of the Europeans and Asiatics

present.

As the state of the ice was still unaltered, I did not neglect the

opportunity that now offered of making acquaintance with the

interior of the country. With pleasure, accordingly, I gave

Lieutenants Nordquist and Hovgaard permission to pay a visit to

Menka's encampment. They started on the morning of the 8th October.

Lieut. Nordquist has given me the following account of their

excursion:--

"On Tuesday, the 8th October, at 10 o'clock A.M. Lieut

Hovgaard and I travelled from Pitlekaj in dog-sledges into

the interior in a S.S.E. direction. Hovgaard and I had

each a Chukch as driver. Menka had with him a servant, who

almost all the time ran before as guide. My comrade's

sledge, which was heaviest, was drawn by ten dogs, mine by

eight, and Menka's, which was the smallest and in which he

sat alone, by five. In general the Chukches appear to

reckon four or five dogs sufficient for a sledge with one

person.

"The _tundra_, with marshes and streams scattered over it,

was during the first part of our way only gently

undulating, but the farther we went into the interior of

the country the more uneven it became, and when, at 8

o'clock next morning, we reached the goal of our

journey--Menka's brother's camp--we found ourselves in a

valley, surrounded by hills, some of which rose about 300

metres above their bases. A portion of the vegetable

covering the _tundra_ could still be distinguished through

the thin layer of snow. The most common plants on the

drier places were _Aira alpina_ and _Poa alpina_; on the

more low-lying places there grew Glyceria, Pedicularis,

and _Ledum palustre_; everywhere we found _Petasites

frigida_ and a species of Salix. The latter grew

especially on the slopes in great masses, which covered

spots having an area of twenty to thirty square metres. At

some places this bush rose to a height of about a metre

above the ground. The prevailing rock appeared to be

granite. The bottoms of the valleys were formed of

post-Tertiary formations, which most frequently consisted

of sand and rolled stones, as, for instance, was the case

in the great valley in which ilenka's brother's camp was

pitched.

[Illustration: CHUKCH DOG-SLEDGE. ]

"When, on the morning of the 9th, we came to the camp

there met us some of the principal Chukches. They saluted

Menka in the Russian way, by kissing him first on both

cheeks and then on the mouth. The Chukches however, appear

to be very averse to this ceremony, and scarcely ever

touched each other with the mouth. Us they saluted in the

common way, by stretching out the hand and bowing

themselves. We then went into Menka's brother's tent, in

front of which the whole inhabitants of the encampment

were speedily assembled to look at us. The camp consisted

of eighteen tents, pitched on both sides of a river which

ran through the valley. The tents were inhabited by

reindeer-Chukches, who carry on traffic between the

Russians and a tribe living on the other side of Behring's

Straits, whom they call _Yekargaules_. Between the tents

we saw a great number of sledges, both empty and loaded.

Some of these were light and low sledges for driving in,

with runners bent upwards and backwards, others were

heavier pack-sledges, made of stronger wood, with the

runners not bent back. Some of the light sledges were

provided with tilts of splints covered with reindeer

skins; others were completely covered, having an entrance

only in front.

"The knives, axes, boring tools, &c., which I saw were of

iron and steel, and had evidently been obtained from

Americans or Russians. The household articles in Menka's

brother's tent consisted of some copper coffee-pots, which

were used for boiling water, a german-silver beaker with

an English inscription, two teacups with saucers, flat

wooden trays, and barrels. The dress of the

reindeer-Chukches is similar to that of the

coast-Chukches, only with this difference, that the former

use reindeer-skins exclusively, while the latter employ

seal-skin in addition. Some, on our arrival, put on

blouses of variegated cloth, probably of Russian

manufacture. Among ornaments may be mentioned glass-beads,

strung on sinews, which were worn in the ears or on the

neck, chiefly by the women. These were tattooed in the

same way as those of the coast-Chukches. I saw here,

however, an old woman, who, besides the common tattooing

of the face, was tattooed on the shoulders, and another,

who, on the outside of the hands, had two parallel lines

running along the hand and an oblique line connecting

them. The men were not tattooed. Two of them carried

crosses, with Slavonic inscriptions, at the neck, others

carried in the same way forked pieces of wood. Whether

these latter are to be considered as their gods or as

amulets I know not.

"As we could not obtain here the reindeer that we wished

to purchase on account of the expedition, we betook

ourselves with our dogs on the afternoon of the same day

along with Menka to his son-in-law's encampment, which we

reached at 8 o'clock in the evening. We were received in a

very friendly way, and remained here over night. All the

inhabitants of the tent sleep together in the bedchamber

of it, which is not more than 2 to 2.4 metres long, 1.8 to

2 metres broad, and 1.2 to 1.5 metres high. Before they

lie down they take supper. Men and women wear during the

night only a _cingulum pudicitiae_, about fifteen

centimetres broad, and are otherwise completely naked. In

the morning the housewife rose first and boiled a little

flesh, which was then served in the bedchamber, before its

inmates had put on their clothes. She cut the meat in

slices in a tray, and distributed them afterwards. In the

morning we saw the Chukches catch and slaughter their

reindeer. Two men go into the herd, and when they have got

sight of a reindeer which they wish to have, they cast, at

a distance of nine or ten metres, a running noose over the

animal's horns. It now throws itself backwards and

forwards in its attempts to escape, and drags after it for

some moments the man who holds the noose. The other man in

the meantime endeavours to approach the reindeer, catches

the animal by the horns and throws it to the ground,

killing it afterwards by a knife-stab behind the shoulder.

The reindeer is then handed over to the women, who, by an

incision in the side of the belly, take out the entrails.

The stomach is emptied of its contents, and is then used

to hold the blood. Finally th skin is taken off.

"About 10 o'clock A.M. we commenced our homeward journey.

At nightfall we sought to have a roof over our head in a

wretched Chukch tent on the shore of Lake Utschunutsch. It

was partly sunk in one of the small mounds which are found

here along the shore, and which are probably the remains

of old Onkilon dwellings. The present inhabitants, two old

men and an old woman, had their habitation arranged in the

following way:--In the bottom of a cylindrical pit, one

metre deep and three and a half to four and a half metres

in diameter, a vertical pole was erected, against the

upper end of which rested a number of obliquely placed

bars, rising from the edge of the pit, which were covered

with skins. The enclosure or bedchamber, peculiar to the

Chukch tent, was not wanting here. Otherwise the whole

dwelling bore the stamp of poverty and dirt. The food of

the inmates appeared to be fish. Of this, besides the fish

we obtained here, the nets hanging in front of the tent

afforded evidence. Some clothes, an iron pot, two wooden

vessels, and a Shaman drum were the only things I could

discover in the tent.

"Next morning we continued our journey. On the other side

of Lake Utschunutsch we saw two dwellings, which only

consisted of boats turned upside down with some hides

drawn over them. The rest of the way we came past Najtskaj

and through Irgunnuk, where we were received in an

exceedingly friendly fashion. By 7 o'clock in the evening

of the 11th October we were again on board the _Vega_."

From Lieutenant Hovgaard's report, which principally relates to the

topography of the region passed through, we make the following

extract relating to the endurance which the Chukches and their dogs

showed:--

"During our outward journey, which lasted twenty-one and a

half hours, Menka's attendant, the before-mentioned

reindeer owner, whom we at first took to be Menka's slave

or servant, ran without interruption before the sledges,

and even when we rested he was actively searching for the

track, looking after the dogs, &c. When we came to the

camp he did not sleep, and, notwithstanding, was as fresh

during the following day's journey. During the time he got

no spirituous liquor, by express order of Menka, who said

that if he did he would not be able to continue to run.

Instead he chewed a surprising quantity of tobacco. The

dogs, during the whole time, were not an instant unyoked;

in the mornings they lay half snowed up, and slept in

front of the sledges. We never saw the Chukches give them

any food: the only food they got was the frozen excrements

of the fox and other animals, which they themselves

snapped up in passing. Yet even on the last day no

diminution in their power of draught was observable."

Nordquist brought with him, among other things, two reindeer, bought

for a rouble and a half each. They were still very serviceable,

though badly slaughtered. But the reindeer we purchased farther on

in the winter were so poor that no one on board could persuade

himself to eat them.

On the 18th October, by which time we believed that Menka would be

already at Markova, we were again visited by him and his son-in-law.

He said he had no _akmimil_ (fire-water) to keep holiday with, and

now came to us to exchange three slaughtered reindeer for it. Our

miscalculation with respect to the letters, which we hoped were long

ago on their way to their destination, and my dislike to the mode of

payment in question--I offered him, without success, half-imperials

and metal rouble pieces instead of brandy--made his reception on

this occasion less hearty, and he therefore left us soon. It was not

until the 9th. February, 1879, that we again got news from Menka by

one of the Chukches, who had attended him the time before. The

Chukch said that in ten days he had traversed the way between the

_Vega's_ winter haven and Markova, which would run to about ninety

kilometres a day. According to his statement Menka had travelled

with the letters to Yakutsk. The statement seemed very suspicious,

and appeared afterwards to have been partly fabricated, or perhaps

to have been misunderstood by us. But after our return to the world

of newspapers we found that Menka had actually executed his

commission. He, however, did not reach Anadyrsk until the 7th

March/23rd February. Thence the packet was sent to Irkutsk, arriving

there on the 10th May/28th April. The news reached Sweden by

telegraph six days after, on the 16th May, just at a time when

concern for the fate of the _Vega_, was beginning to be very great,

and the question of relief expeditions was seriously entertained.[256]

In order to relieve the apprehensions of our friends at home, it

was, however, exceedingly important to give them some accounts of

the position of the _Vega_ during winter, and I therefore offered

all the purchasing power which the treasures of guns, powder, ball,

food, fine shirts, and even spirits, collected on board, could

exert, in order to induce some natives to convey Lieutenants

Nordquist and Bove to Markova or Nischni Kolymsk. The negotiations

seemed at first to go on very well, an advance was demanded and

given, but when the journey should have commenced the Chukches

always refused to start on some pretext or other--now it was too

cold, now too dark, now there was no food for the dogs. The

negotiations had thus no other result than to make us acquainted

with one of the few less agreeable sides of the Chukches'

disposition, namely the complete untrustworthiness of these

otherwise excellent savages, and their peculiar idea of the binding

force of an agreement.

The plans of travel just mentioned, however, led to Lieutenant

Nordquist making an excursion with dog-sledges in order to be even

with one of the natives, who had received an advance for driving him

to Markova, but had not kept his promise. Of this journey Lieutenant

Nordquist gives the following account:--

"On the 5th December, at 7.50 A.M., I started with a

dog-sledge for the village Pidlin, lying on Kolyutschin

Bay. I was driven by the Chukch Auango from Irgunnuk. He

had a small, light sledge, provided with runners of

whalebone, drawn by six dogs, of which the leader was

harnessed before the other five, which were fastened

abreast in front of the sledge, each with its draught

belt. The dogs were weak and ill managed, and therefore

went so slowly that I cannot estimate their speed at more

than two or three English miles an hour. As the journey

both thither and back lasted eight to nine hours, the

distance between Pitlekaj and Pidlin may be about

twenty-five English miles.

"Pidlin and Kolyutschin Island are the only inhabited

places on Kolyutschin Bay. At the former place there are

four tents, pitched on the eastern shore of the bay, the

number of the inhabitants being a little over twenty

persons. I was received in front of the tents by the

population of the village and carried to the tent, which

was inhabited by Chepcho, who now promised to go with me

in February to Anadyrsk. My host had a wife and three

children. At night the children were completely undressed;

the adults had short trousers on, the man of tanned skin,

the woman of cloth. In the oppressive heat, which was kept

up by two train-oil lamps burning the whole night, it was

difficult to sleep even in the heavy reindeer-skin

dresses. Yet they covered themselves with reindeer skins.

Besides the heat there was a fearful stench--the Chukches

obeyed the calls of nature within the bedchamber--which I

could not stand without going out twice to get fresh air.

When we got up next morning our hostess served breakfast

in a flat tray, containing first seals' flesh and fat,

with a sort of sourkrout of fermented willow-leaves, then

seals' liver, and finally seals' blood--all frozen.

"Among objects of ethnographical interest I saw, besides

the Shaman drum which was found in every tent, and was not

regarded with the superstitious dread which I have often

observed elsewhere, a bundle of amulets fastened with a

small thong, a wolf's skull, which was also hung up by a

thong, the skin together with the whole cartilaginous

portion of a wolf's nose and a flat stone. The amulets

consisted of wooden forks, four to five centimetres long,

of the sort which we often see the Chukches wear on the

breast. My host said that such an amulet worn round the

neck was a powerful means of preventing disease. The

wolf's skull which I had already got, he took back,

because his four- or five-year-old son would need it in

making choice of a wife. What part it played in this I did

not however ascertain.

"While my driver harnessed the dogs for the journey home,

I had an opportunity of seeing some little girls dance,

which they did in the same way as that in which I had seen

girls dance at Pitlekaj and Yinretlen. Two girls then

place themselves either right opposite to or alongside of

each other. In the former case they often lay their hands

on each other's shoulders, bend by turns to either side,

sometimes leap with the feet held together and wheel

round, while they sing or rather grunt the measure.

"The journey home was commenced at eight o'clock in the

morning. In the course of it my driver sang Chukch songs.

These are often only imitations of the cries of animals or

improvisations without any distinct metre or rhythm, and

very little variation in the notes; only twice I thought I

could distinguish a distinct melody. In the afternoon my

driver told me the Chukch names of several stars. At five

o'clock in the afternoon I reached the _Vega_."

On the 10th October, the new ice at many places in the neighbourhood

of the vessel was still so weak that it was impossible to walk upon

it, and blue water-skies at the horizon indicated, that there were

still considerable stretches of open water in the neighbourhood. But

the drift-ice round about us lay so rock-fast, that I could already

take solar altitudes from the deck of the vessel with a mercurial

horizon. In order to ascertain the actual state of the case with

reference to the open water, excursions were undertaken on the 13th

October, in different directions. Dr. Kjellman could then, from the

rocky promontory at Yinretlen, forty-two metres high, see large open

spaces in the sea to the northward. Dr. Almquist went right out over

the ice, following the track of Chukches, who had gone to catch

seals. He travelled about twenty kilometres over closely packed

drift-ice fields, without reaching open water, and found the newly

frozen ice, with which the pieces of drift-ice were bound together,

still everywhere unbroken. The Chukches, who visited the vessel in

dog-sledges on the 28th October, informed us, however, that the sea

a little to the east of us was still completely open.

On the 15th October the hunter Johnsen returned from a hunting

expedition quite terrified. He informed us that during his

wanderings on the _tundra_, he had found a murdered man and brought

with him, with the idea that, away here in the land of the Chukches,

similar steps ought to be taken as in those lands which are blessed

by a well-ordered judiciary, as _species facti_, some implements

lying beside the dead man, among which was a very beautiful lance,

on whose blade traces of having been inlaid in gold could still be

discovered. Fortunately he had come with these things through the

Chukch camp unobserved. From the description which was given me,

however, I was able immediately to come to the conclusion that the

question here was not of any murder, but of a dead man laid out on

the _tundra_. I requested Dr. Almquist to visit the place, in order

that he might make a more detailed examination. He confirmed my

conjecture. As wolves, foxes, and ravens had already torn the corpse

to pieces, the doctor considered that he, too, might take his share,

and therefore brought home with him from his excursion, an object

carefully wrapped up and concealed among the hunting equipment,

namely, the Chukch's head. It was immediately sunk to the

sea-bottom, where it remained for a couple of weeks to be

skeletonised by the crustacea swarming there, and it now has its

number in the collections brought home by the _Vega_. This sacrilege

was never detected by the Chukches, and probably the wolves got the

blame of it, as nearly every spring it was seen that the corpse,

which had been laid out during autumn, lost its head during winter.

It was, perhaps, more difficult to explain the disappearance of the

lance, but of this, too, the maws of the wolves might well bear the

blame.

[Illustration: CHUKCH BONE-CARVINGS. (The two largest figures represent

bears.) ]

Our hunters now made hunting excursions in different directions, but

the supply of game was scanty. The openings in the ice probably

swarmed with seals, but they were too distant, and without a boat it

was impossible to carry on any hunting there. Not a single Polar

bear now appeared to be visible in the neighbourhood, although

bears' skulls are found at several places on the beach, and this

animal appears to play a great part in the imagination of the

natives, to judge of the many figures of bears among the bone

carvings I purchased from the Chukches. The natives often have a

small strip of bear's skin on the seat of their sledges, but I have

not seen any whole bear's skin here; perhaps the animal is being

exterminated on the north coast of Siberia. Our wintering,

therefore, will not enrich Arctic literature with any new bear

stories--a very sensible difficulty for the writer himself. Wolves,

on the other hand, occur on the _tundra_ in sufficient abundance,

even if one or other of the wolves found in mist and drifting snow,

and saluted with shot, turned out, on a critical determination of

species, to be our own dogs. At least, this was the case with the

"wolf," that inveigled one of the crew into shooting a ball one dark

night right through the thermometer case, fortunately without

injuring the instruments, and with no other result than that he had

afterwards to bear an endless number of jokes from his comrades on

account of his wolf-hunt. Foxes, white, red and black, also occurred

here in great numbers, but they were at that season difficult to get

at, and besides they had perhaps withdrawn from the coast. Hares, on

the other hand, maintained themselves during the whole winter at

Yinretlen, by day partly out on the ice partly on the cape, by night

in the neighbourhood of the tents. Sweepings and offal from the

proceeds of the chase had there produced a vegetation, which, though

concealed by snow, yielded to the hares in winter a more abundant

supply of food than the barren _tundra_. It was remarkable that the

hares were allowed to live between the tents and in their

neighbourhood without being disturbed by the score of lean and

hungry dogs belonging to the village. When farther into the winter

for the sake of facilitating the hare-hunting I had a hut erected

for Johnsen the hunter, he chose as the place for it the immediate

neighbourhood of the village, declaring that the richest

hunting-ground in the whole neighbourhood was just there. The

shooters stated that part of the hares became snow-blind in spring.

The hares here are larger than with us, and have exceedingly

delicious flesh.

[Illustration: HARES FROM CHUKCH LAND. ]

On our arrival most of the birds had already left these regions, so

inhospitable in winter, or were seen high up in the air in collected

flocks, flying towards the south entrance of Behring's Straits.

Still on the 19th October an endless procession of birds was seen

drawing towards this region, but by the 3rd November it was noted,

as something uncommon, that a gull settled on the refuse heaps in

the neighbourhood of the vessel. It resembled the ivory gull, but

had a black head. Perhaps it was the rare _Larus Sabinii_, of which

a drawing has been given above.[257] All the birds which passed us

came from the north-west, that is, from the north coast of Siberia,

the New Siberian Islands or Wrangel Land. Only the mountain owl, a

species of raven and the ptarmigan wintered in the region, the last

named being occasionally snowed up.

The ptarmigan here is not indeed so plump and good as the

Spitzbergen ptarmigan during winter, but in any case provided us

with an always welcome, if scanty change from the tiresome preserved

meat. When some ptarmigan were shot, they were therefore willingly

saved up by the cook, along with the hares, for festivals. For in

order to break the monotony on board an opportunity was seldom

neglected that offered itself for holding festivities. Away there on

the coast of the Chukch peninsula there were thus celebrated with

great conscientiousness during the winter of 1878-9, not only our

own birthdays but also those of King Oscar, King Christian and King

Humbert, and of the Emperor Alexander. Every day a newspaper was

distributed, for the day indeed, but for a past year. In addition we

numbered among our diversions constant intercourse with the natives,

and frequent visits to the neighbouring villages, driving in

dog-sledges, a sport which would have been very enjoyable if the

dogs of the natives had not been so exceedingly poor and bad, and

finally industrious reading and zealous studies, for which I had

provided the expedition with an extensive library, intended both for

the scientific men and officers, and for the crew, numbering with

the private stock of books nearly a thousand volumes.

All this time of course the purely scientific work was not

neglected. In the first rank among these stood the meteorological

and magnetical observations, which from the 1st November were made

on land every hour. However fast the ice lay around the vessel it

was impossible to get on it a sufficiently stable base for the

magnetical variation instrument. The magnetical observatory was

therefore erected on land of the finest building material any

architect has had at his disposal, namely, large parallelopipeds of

beautiful blue-coloured ice-blocks. The building was therefore

called by the Chukches _Tintinyaranga_ (the ice-house), a name which

was soon adopted by the _Vega_ men too. As mortar the builder,

Palander, used snow mixed with water, and the whole was covered with

a roof of boards. But as after a time it appeared that the storm

made its way through the joints and that these were gradually

growing larger in consequence of the evaporation of the ice so that

the drifting snow could find an entrance, the whole house had a sail

drawn over it. As supports of the three variation instruments large

blocks of wood were used, whose lower ends were sunk in pits, which,

with great trouble, were excavated in the frozen ground, and then,

when the block supports were placed, were filled with sand mixed

with water.

The ice-house was a spacious observatory, well-fitted for its

purpose in every respect. It had but one defect, the temperature was

always at an uncomfortably low point. As no iron could be used in

the building, and we had no copper-stove with us, we could not have

any fireplace there. We endeavoured, indeed, to use a copper

fireplace, that had been intended for sledge journeys, for heating,

but only with the result that the observatory was like to have gone

to pieces. We succeeded little better when we discovered farther on

in the winter, while trimming the hold, a forgotten cask of bear's

oil. We considered this _find_ a clear indication that instead of a

stove fired with wood we should, according to the custom of the

Polar races, use oil-lamps to mitigate the severe cold which

deprived our stay in Tintinyaranga of part of its pleasure. But this

mode of firing proved altogether impracticable. The fumes of the oil

smelled worse than those of the charcoal, and the result of this

experiment was none other than that the splendid crystals of ice,

with which the roof and walls of the ice-house were gradually

clothed, were covered with black soot. Firing with oil was

abandoned, and the oil presented to our friends at Yinretlen, who

just then were complaining loudly that they had no other fuel than

wood.

Besides the nine scientific men and officers of the _Vega_, the

engineer Nordstroem and the seaman Lundgren took part in the

magnetical and meteorological observations. Every one had his watch

of six hours, five of which were commonly passed in the ice-house.

To walk from the vessel to the observatory, distant a kilometre and

a half, with the temperature under the freezing point of mercury,

or, what was much worse, during storm, with the temperature at -36 deg.,

remain in the observatory for five hours in a temperature of

-17 deg., and then return to the vessel, commonly against the

wind--for it came nearly always from the north or north-west--was

dismal enough. None of us, however, suffered any harm from it. On

the contrary, it struck me as if this compulsory interruption to our

monotonous life on board and the long-continued stay in the open air

had a refreshing influence both on body and soul.

[Illustration: THE OBSERVATORY AT PITLEKAJ. (After a drawing by

O. Nordquist.) ]

In the neighbourhood of the ice-house the thermometer case was

erected, and farther on in the winter there were built in the

surrounding snowdrifts, two other observatories, not however of ice,

but of snow, in the Greenland snow-building style. Our depot of

provisions was also placed in the neighbourhood, and at a sufficient

distance from the magnetical observatory there was a large wooden

chest, in which the Remington guns, which were carried for safety in

excursions from the vessel, and other iron articles which the

observer had with him, were placed before he entered the

observatory.

The building of Tintinyaranga was followed by the Chukches with

great interest. When they saw that we did not intend to live there,

but that rare, glancing metal instruments were set up in it, and

that a wonderfully abundant flood of light in comparison with their

tent illumination was constantly maintained inside with a kind of

light quite unknown to them (stearine candles and photogen lamps) a

curious uneasiness began to prevail among them, which we could not

quiet with the language of signs mixed with a Chukch word or two, to

which our communications with the natives were at that time

confined. Even farther on in the year, when an efficient though

word-poor international language had gradually been formed between

us, they made inquiries on this point, yet with considerable

indifference. All sensible people among them had evidently already

come to the conclusion that it was profitless trouble to seek a

reasonable explanation of all the follies which the strange

foreigners, richly provided with many earthly gifts but by no means

with practical sense, perpetrated. In any case it was with a certain

amazement and awe that they, when they exceptionally obtained

permission, entered one by one through the doors in order to see the

lamps burn and to peep into the tubes. Many times even a dog-team

that had come a long way stopped for a few moments at the ice-house

to satisfy the owner's curiosity, and on two occasions in very bad

drifting weather we were compelled to give shelter to a wanderer who

had gone astray.

When this ice-house was ready and hourly observations began in it,

life on board took the stamp which it afterwards retained in the

course of the winter. In order to give the reader an idea of our

every-day life, I shall reproduce here the spirited sketch of a day

on the _Vega_, which Dr. Kjellman gave in one of his home letters:--

"It is about half-past eight in the morning. He whose

watch has expired has returned after five hours' stay in

the ice-house, where the temperature during the night has

been about -16 deg.. His account of the weather is good

enough. There are only thirty-two degrees of cold, it is

half-clear, and, to be out of the ordinary, there is no

wind. Breakfast is over. Cigars, cigarettes, and pipes are

lighted, and the gunroom _personnel_ go up on deck for a

little exercise and fresh air, for below it is confined

and close. The eye rests on the desolate, still

faintly-lighted landscape, which is exactly the same as it

was yesterday; a white plain in all directions, across

which a low, likewise white, chain of hillocks or

_torosses_ here and there raises itself, and over which

some ravens, with feeble wing-strokes, fly forward,

searching for something to support life with. 'Metschinko

Orpist,' 'metschinko Okerpist,' 'metschinko Kellman,' &c.,

now sounds everywhere on the vessel and from the ice in

its neighbourhood. 'Orpist' represents Nordquist,

'Okerpist' again Stuxberg. It is the Chukches' morning

salutation to us. To-day the comparatively fine weather

has drawn out a larger crowd than usual, thirty to forty

human beings, from tender sucking babes to grey old folks,

men as well as women; the latter in the word of salutation

replacing the _tsch_-sound with an exceedingly soft

caressing _ts_-sound. That most of them have come driving

is shown by the equipages standing in the neighbourhood of

the vessel. They consist of small, low, narrow, light

sledges, drawn by four to ten or twelve dogs. The sledges

are made of small pieces of wood and bits of

reindeer-horn, held together by sealskin straps. As

runner-shoes thin plates of the ribs of the whale are

used. The dogs, sharp-nosed, long-backed, and excessively

dirty, have laid themselves to rest, curled together in

the snow.

"The salutation is followed almost immediately to-day as

on preceding days by some other words: 'Ouinga mouri

kauka,' which may be translated thus: 'I am so hungry; I

have no food; give me a little bread!' They suffer hunger

now, the poor beings. Seal flesh, their main food, they

cannot with the best will procure for the time. The only

food they can get consists of fish (two kinds of cod), but

this is quite too poor diet for them, they have fallen off

since we first met with them.

"Soon we are all surrounded by our Chukch acquaintances.

The daily market begins. They have various things to

offer, which they know to be of value to us, as weapons,

furs, ornaments, playthings, fish, bones of the whale,

algae, vegetables, &c. For all this only 'kauka' is now

asked. To-day the supply of whales' bones is large, in

consequence of our desire, expressed on previous days, to

obtain them. One has come with two vertebrae, one with a

rib or some fragments of it, one with a shoulder-blade.

They are not shy in laying heavy loads on their dogs.

"After the close of the promenade and the traffic with the

natives, the gunroom _personnel_ have begun their labours.

Some keep in their cabins, others in the gunroom itself.

The magnetical and meteorological observations made the

day before are transcribed and subjected to a preliminary

working-out, the natural history collections are examined

and looked over, studies and authorship are prosecuted.

The work is now and then interrupted by conversation

partly serious, partly jocular. From the engine-room in

the neighbourhood we hear the blows of hammers and the

rasping of files. In the 'tweendecks, pretty well heated,

but not very well lighted, some of the crew are employed

at ordinary ship's work; and in the region of the kitchen

the cook is just in the midst of his preparations for

dinner. He is in good humour as usual, but perhaps

grumbles a little at the 'mosucks' (a common name on board

for the Chukches), who will not give him any peace by

their continual cries for 'mimil' (water.)

"The forenoon passes in all quietness and stillness.

Immediately after noon nearly all the gunroom people are

again on deck, promenading backwards and forwards. It is

now very lively. It is the crew's meal-time. The whole

crowd of Chukches are collected at the descent to their

apartment, the lower deck. One soup basin after the other

comes up; they are immediately emptied of their contents

by those who in the crowd and confusion are fortunate

enough to get at them. Bread and pieces of meat and bits

of sugar are distributed assiduously, and disappear with

equal speed. Finally, the cook himself appears with a

large kettle, containing a very large quantity of meat

soup, which the Chukches like starving animals throw

themselves upon, baling into them with spoons, empty

preserve tins, and above all with the hands.

Notwithstanding the exceedingly severe cold a woman here

and there has uncovered one arm and half her breast in

order not to be embarrassed by the wide reindeer-skin

sleeve in her attempts to get at the contents of the

kettle. The spectacle is by no means a pleasant one.

[Illustration: AN EVENING IN THE GUNROOM OF THE "VEGA" DURING

THE WINTERING. ]

"By three o'clock it begins to grow dark, and one after

the other of our guests depart, to return, the most of

them, in the morning. Now it is quiet and still. About six

the crew have finished their labours and dispose of the

rest of the day as they please. Most of them are occupied

with reading during the evening hours. When supper has

been served at half-past seven in the gunroom, he who has

the watch in the ice-house from nine to two next morning

prepares for the performance of his disagreeable duty; the

rest of the gunroom _personnel_ are assembled there, and

pass the evening in conversation, play, light reading, &c.

At ten every one retires, and the lamps are extinguished.

In many cabins, however, lights burn till after midnight.

"Such was in general our life on the _Vega_. One day was

very like another. When the storm howled, the snow

drifted, and the cold became too severe, we kept more

below deck; when the weather was finer we lived more in

the open air, often paying visits to the observatory in

the ice-house, and among the Chukches living in the

neighbourhood, or wandering about to come upon, if

possible, some game."

The snow which fell during winter consisted more generally of small

simple snow-crystals or ice-needles, than of the beautiful

snow-flakes whose grand kaleidoscopic forms the inhabitants of the

north so often have an opportunity of admiring. Already with a

gentle wind and with a pretty clear atmosphere the lower strata of

the atmosphere were full of these regular ice-needles, which

refracted the rays of the sun, so as to produce parhelia and halos.

Unfortunately however these were never so completely developed as

the halos which I saw in 1873 during the sledge-journey round

North-east Land on Spitzbergen; but I believed that even now I could

confirm the correctness of the observation I then made, that the

representation which is generally given of this beautiful

phenomenon, in which the halo is delineated as a collection of

regular circles, is not correct, but that it forms a very involved

system of lines, extended over the whole vault of heaven, for the

most part coloured on the sun-side and uncoloured on the opposite

side, of the sort shown in the accompanying drawings taken from the

account of the Spitzbergen Expedition of 1872-73.

[Illustration: REFRACTION-HALO. Seen on Spitzbergen in May 1873,

simultaneously with the Reflection-halo delineated on the

following page. ]

Another very beautiful phenomenon, produced by the refraction of the

solar rays by the ice-needles, which during winter were constantly

mixed with the atmospheric strata lying nearest the surface of the

earth, was that the mountain heights to the south of the _Vega_ in a

certain light appeared as if feathered with fire-clouds. In clear

sunshine and a high wind we frequently saw, as it were, a glowing

pillar of vapour arise obliquely from the summits of the mountains,

giving them the appearance of volcanos, which throw out enormous

columns of smoke, flame-coloured by the reflection from the glowing

lava streams in the depths of the crater.

A blue water-sky was still visible out to sea, indicating that open

water was to be found there. I therefore sent Johnsen the hunter

over the ice on the 18th December to see how it was. In

three-quarters of an hour's walking from the vessel he found an

extensive opening, recently covered with thin, blue, newly frozen

ice. A fresh northerly breeze blew at the time, and by it the

drift-ice fields were forced together with such speed, that Johnsen

supposed that in a couple of hours the whole lead would be

completely closed.

[Illustration: REFLECTION-HALO. Seen simultaneously with the

Retraction-halo delineated on the preceding page, in the part of

the sky opposite the sun. ]

In such openings in Greenland white whales and other small whales are

often enclosed by hundreds, the natives thus having an opportunity of

making in a few hours a catch which would be sufficient for their

support during the whole winter, indeed for years, if the idea of

_saving_ ever entered into the imagination of the savage. But here in a

region where the pursuit of the whale is more productive than in any

other sea, no such occurrence has happened. During the whole of our stay

on the coast of the Chukch country we did not see a single whale. On the

other hand, masses of whales' bones were found thrown up on the beach.

At first I did not bestow much attention upon them, thinking they were

the bones of whales that had been killed during the recent whale-fishing

period. I soon found however that this could not have been the case. For

the bones had evidently been washed out of the sandy dune running along

the beach, which had been deposited at a time when the present coast lay

ten to twenty metres below the surface of the sea, thus hundreds or

thousands of years ago, undoubtedly before the time when the north coast

of Asia was first inhabited by man. The dune sand is, as recently

exposed profiles show, quite free from other kitchen-midden remains than

those which occur upon its surface. The whales' bones in question were

thus _subfossil_. Their number was so great, that in the systematic

examination of the beach in the immediate neighbourhood of the vessel,

which I undertook during spring with the assistance of Dr. Kjellman and

half a dozen of the sailors, thirty neck-bones and innumerable other

bones of the whale were found in a stretch of from four to five

kilometres. Of course masses of bones are still concealed in the sand;

and a large number of lower jaw-bones, ribs, shoulder-blades, and

vertebrae had been used for runner-shoes, tent-frames, spades, picks and

other implements. A portion, after being exposed for several years to

the action of the air, had undergone decay. The bones 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 tastefully

ornamented with flags. A large number of small wax-lights, which we

had brought with us for the special purpose, were fixed in the

Christmas tree, together with about two hundred Christmas boxes

purchased or presented to us before our departure. At six o'clock in

the afternoon all the officers and crew assembled in the

'tweendecks, and the drawing of lots began, now and then interrupted

by a thundering polka round the peculiar Christmas tree. At supper

neither Christmas ale nor ham was wanting. And later in the evening

there made their appearance in the 'tweendecks five punchbowls,

which were emptied with songs and toasts for King and Fatherland,

for the objects of the Expedition, for its officers and men, for the

families at home, for relatives and friends, and finally for those

who decked and arranged the Christmas tree, who were the sailors C.

Lundgren and O. Hansson, and the firemen O. Ingelsson and C.

Carlstroem.

The other festivals were also celebrated in the best way, and at

midnight before New Year's Day the new year was shot in with sharp

explosive-shell firing from the rifled cannon of the _Vega_, and a

number of rockets thrown up from the deck.

[Footnote 249: Equal to 6.64 English miles. ]

[Footnote 250: When it had become evident that we could make no

further advance before next year, Lieut Brusewitz occasionally

measured the thickness of the newly formed ice, with the following

results:--

THICKNESS OF THE ICE.

1 December, 56 centimetres. 1 May. 154 centimetres

1 January, 92 ,, 15 ,, 162 ,,

1 February, 108 ,, 1 June, 154 ,,

15 ,, 120 ,, 15 ,, 151 ,,

1 March, 123 ,, 1 July, 104 ,,

1 April, 128 ,, 15 67 ,, (full of holes).

15 ,, 139 ,, 18 ,, The ice broke up. ]

[Footnote 251: Low brush is probably to be met with in the interior

of the Chukch peninsula at places which are protected from the cold

north winds. ]

[Footnote 252: According to H. Wild's newly-published large work,

"_Die Temperatur Verhaeltnisse des Russischen Reiches_, 2e Halfte,

St. Petersburg, 1881," the Old World's cold-pole lies in the

neighbourhood of the town Werchojansk (67 deg. 34' N.L. 133 deg.

51' E.L. from Greenwich). The mean temperature of the different

months and of the whole year is given in the note at page 411. If

the data on which these figures rest are correct, the winter at

Werchojansk is immensely colder than at the _Vega's_ winter station. ]

[Footnote 253: 1 lb.=100 ort=425.05 gram. 1 kanna=100 cubic

inches=2.617 litres. ]

[Footnote 254: To carry animals for slaughter on vessels during

Polar expeditions cannot be sufficiently recommended. Their flesh

acts beneficially by forming a change from the preserved provisions,

which in course of time become exceedingly disagreeable, and their

care a not less important interruption to the monotony of the winter

life. ]

[Footnote 255: I give here an extract from the Vocabulary, that the

reader may form some idea of the language of the north-east point of

Asia:--

_Tnaergin_, heaven.

_Tirkir_, the sun.

_Yedlin_, the moon.

_Angatlingan_, a star.

_Nutatschka_, land.

_Angka_, sea.

_Ljedljenki_, winter.

_Edljek_, summer.

_Edljongat_, day.

_Nekita_, night.

_Ayguon_, yesterday.

_Ietkin_, to-day.

_Ergatti_, to-morrow.

_Gnunian_, north.

_Emnungku_, south.

_Nikayan_, east.

_Kayradljgin_, west.

_Tintin_, ice.

_Atljatlj_, snow.

_Yeetedli_, the aurora.

_Yengeen_, mist.

_Tedljgio_, storm.

_Eek_, fire.

_Kljautlj_, a man, a human being.

_Oraedlja_, men.

_Neairen_, a woman.

_Nenena_, a child.

_Empenatschyo_, father.

_Empengau_, mother.

_Ljeut_, head.

_Ljeutljka_, face.

_Dljedljadlin_, eye.

_Liljaptkourgin_, to see.

_Huedljodlin_, ear.

_Huedljokodljaurgin_, to hear.

_Huadljomerkin_, to understand.

_Huedljountakurgin_, not to understand.

_Yeka_, nose.

_Yekergin_, mouth.

_Kametkuaurgin_, to eat.

_Yedlinedljourgin_, to speak.

_Mammah_, a woman's breast.

_Mammatkourgin_, to give suck.

_Yeet_, foot.

_Retschaurgin_, to stand.

_Yetkatjergin_, to lie.

_Tschipiska_, to sleep.

_Kadljetschetuetjakurgin_, to learn.

_Pintekatkourgin_, to be born.

_Kaertraljirgin_, to die.

_Kamakatan_, to be sick.

_Kamak_, the Deity, a guardian Spirit.

_Yaranga_, tent.

_Etschengeratlin_, lamp.

_Orguor_, sledge.

_Atkuat_, boat.

_Anetljkatlj_, fishing-hook.

_Anedljourgin_, to angle.

_Uadlin_, knife.

_Tschupak_, _Kameak_, dog.

_Umku_, Polar bear.

_Rerka_, walrus.

_Memetlj_, seal.

_Korang_, reindeer.

_Gatlje_, bird.

_Enne_, fish.

_Gurgur_, dwarf-birch.

_Kukatkokongadlin_, willow-bush.

_Gem_, I.

_Gemnin_, mine.

_Get_, you.

_Genin_, yours.

_Enkan_, he.

_Muri_, we.

_Turi_, you.

_Mayngin_, much.

_Pljukin_, little.

_Konjpong_, all.

_I_, yes.

_Etlje_, no.

_Metschinka_, thanks.

_Ennen_, one.

_Nirak_, two.

_Nrok_, three.

_Nrak_, four.

_Metljingan_, five. ]

[Footnote 256: The King of Sweden has since ordered a gold medal to

be given to Wassili Menka in recognition of the fidelity with which

he executed the commission of carrying our letters to a Russian post

station. ]

[Footnote 257: See page 119. ]

END OF VOL. I.

THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA ROUND ASIA AND EUROPE. VOL II

[Illustration: Adolf Erik Nordenskioeld ]

[Illustration: His signature ]

THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA ROUND ASIA AND EUROPE

WITH A HISTORICAL REVIEW

OF PREVIOUS JOURNEYS ALONG THE NORTH COAST OF THE OLD WORLD

BY A.E. NORDENSKIOeLD

TRANSLATED BY ALEXANDER LESLIE

_WITH FIVE STEEL PORTRAITS, NUMEROUS MAPS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS_

IN TWO VOLUMES--VOL II

London

MACMILLAN AND CO.

1881

CONTENTS OF VOL II