The Voyage Of The Vega Round Asia And Europe Part 25

Carex rigida GOOD.

Juncus biglumis L.

Luzula hyperborea R. BR.

Luzula arctica BL. ]

[Footnote 194: _H. Mohn._ Die Insel Einsamkeit, &c., with a map (Petermann's _Mittheilungen_, 1879, p. 57). ]

[Footnote 195: This has been doubted by Russian geographers. Von Baer for instance says:--

"Daruber ist gar kein Zweifel, da.s.s dieses Vorgebirge nie umsegelt ist, und da.s.s es auf einem Irrthum beruhte, wenn Laptew auf einer Seefahrt die Bucht, in welche der Taimur sich mundet, erreicht zu haben glaubte. Seine eigenen spateren Fahrten erwiesen diesen Irrthum. Die Vergleichung der Berichte und Verhaltnisse la.s.st mich aber auch glauben, da.s.s selbst zu Lande man das Ende dieses Vorgebirges nie erreicht habe; sondern Tscheljuskin, um dieser, man kann wohl sagen, gra.s.slichen Versuche endlich uberhoben zu seyr, sich zu der ungegrundeten Behauptung entschloss, er habe das Ende gesehen, und sich uberzeugt, Sibirien sei nach Norden uberall vom Meere umgranzt," [statement by von Baer in _Neueste Nachrichten uber die nordlichste Gegend von Siberien_; von Baer and von Helmersen, _Beitrage zur Kenntniss des Russischen Reiches_. IV. St. Petersburg, 1841, p. 275]. In the following page in the same paper von Baer indeed says that he will not lay any special weight on Strahlenberg's statement that Siberia and Novaya Zemlya hang together, but he appears to believe that they are connected by a bridge of perpetual ice. ]

[Footnote 196: According to an observation with an artificial horizon on land. ]

[Footnote 197: According to an observation on board. The observations for longitude that were made some hours before or after noon, are reduced to noon. ]

[Footnote 198: The following 65 species were collected here by Dr.

Kjellman.--Saussurea alpina DC. Gymnandra Stelleri CHAM. &c.

SCHLECHT. Pedicularis hirsuta L. Eritrichium villosum BUNGE.

Myosotis silvatica HOFFM. Phaca frigida L. Dryas octopetala L.

Sieversia glacialis R. BR. Potentilla emarginata PURSH. Saxifraga oppositifolia L. Saxifraga bronchialis L. Saxifraga flagellaris WILLD. Saxifraga Hirculus L. Saxifraga serpyllifolia PURSH.

Saxifraga stellaris L.f. comosa. Saxifraga nivalis L. Saxifraga hieraciifolia WALDST. &c. KIT. Saxifraga punctata L. Saxifraga cernua L. Saxifraga rivularis L. Saxifraga caespitosa L. Chrysosplenium alternifolium L. Eutrema Edwardsii R. BR. Parrya macrocarpa R. BR.

Cardamine bellidifolia L. Cochlearia fenestrata R. BR. Draba alpina L. Papaver nudicaule L. Ranunculus pygmaeus WG. Ranunculus hyperboreus ROTTB. Ranunculus nivalis L. Ranunculus sulphurous SOL.

Caltha pal.u.s.tris L. Wahlbergella apetala (L.) FR. Stellaria humifusa ROTTB. Stellaria Edwardsii R. BR. Cerastium alpinum L. Alsine macrocarpa FENZL. Alsine rubella WG. Sagina nivalis FR. Oxyria digyna (L.) HILL. Polygonum viviparum L. Salix arctica PALL. Salix reticulata L. Salix polaris WG. Poa arctica R. BR. Poa pratensis L.

Glyceria angustata R. BR. Glyceria vilfoidea (ANDS.) TH. FR.

Arctophila pendulina (LAEST.) AND. Catabrosa algida (SOL.) FR.

Colpodium latifolium R. BR. Dupontia Fisheri R. BR. Aira caespitosa L. Hierochloa pauciflora R. BR. Alopecurus alpinus SM. Eriophorum angustifolium ROTH. Eriophorum russeolum FR. Eriophorum Scheuchzeri HOPPE. Carex ursina DESV. Carex aquatilis WG. Juncus biglumis L.

Luzula hyperborea R. BR. Luzula arctica BL. Lloydia serotina (L.) REICHENB. ]

[Footnote 199: Before our departure, I had through the Swedish Foreign Office obtained from the Russian Government letters patent in which the Russian authorities with whom we might come in contact were instructed to give us all the a.s.sistance that circ.u.mstances might call for. ]

CHAPTER VIII.

The voyage of the _Fraser_ and the _Express_ up the Yenisej and their return to Norway--Contract for the piloting of the _Lena_ up the Lena river--The voyage of the _Lena_ through the delta and up the river to Yakutsk--The natural state of Siberia in general--The river territories--The fitness of the land for cultivation and the necessity for improved communications--The great rivers, the future commercial highways of Siberia--Voyage up the Yenisej in 1875--Sibiriakoff's Island--The _tundra_--The primeval Siberian forest--The inhabitants of Western Siberia: the Russians, the Exiles, the "Asiatics"--Ways of travelling on the Yenisej: dog-boats, floating trading stores propelled by steam--New prospects for Siberia.

I have mentioned in the Introduction that the _Vega_ during the first part of the voyage was accompanied by three other vessels, which together with the princ.i.p.al vessel of the Expedition stood at my disposal and under my orders, and I have stated in pa.s.sing that their voyages too deserve a place in the history of navigation. Now, when we were parted from the vessel which had accompanied the _Vega_ farthest in her route eastwards, it may be the proper place to give a brief account of the close of the voyages of the _Fraser_, the _Express_, and the _Lena_ and give reasons for what I have said of the importance of these voyages.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE STEAMER "FRASER." ]

On the 9th August at 10 a.m., after Mr. Serebrenikoff had gone on board the _Express_ to take command, as Sibiriakoff's commissioner, of the two vessels bound for the Yenisej, the _Fraser_, with the _Express_ in tow, started from Port d.i.c.kson for the river. The voyage pa.s.sed without other adventures than that in consequence of unacquaintance with the navigable waters the vessel sometimes gently grounded. On the 11th August Korepovskoj was reached, the same place where I laid up in 1876 the goods which I had brought with me in the _Ymer_. Here my old friend from my voyages of 1875 and 1876, the Cossack Feodor, was taken on board. He however proved now as unskilful a pilot as before. Notwithstanding his experience in 1876, when, he several times ran the _Ymer_ aground, he had not yet got a clear idea of the difference between the build of an ocean vessel and of the common flat-bottomed Yenisej lighters, and his conception of the responsibility of a pilot was expressed by his seeking, when he was allowed to take his own course, to forget in the arms of sleep all dangers and difficulties. Mr. Serebrenikoff and the captains of the vessels were therefore themselves compelled by means of frequent soundings, which were commonly made from a steam launch in advance, to endeavour to find out the proper course. The navigable water between the level islands covered with bushy thickets and rich gra.s.sy meadows was often very narrow, but appears to have been pretty deep, as, even when the vessels went forward without the guidance of a skilful pilot, there was a depth of from 5 to 30 metres; and after a fisher, who knew the river better than Feodor, had been taken on board, it was found possible to go at full speed between the more southerly of the Briochov Islands[200] in a depth of 30 to 50 metres. On 14th August the vessels reached Tolstojnos, where a very well preserved _simovie_ is situated about 70 10' N.L., 370 kilometres south of Port d.i.c.kson. On the 15th August they anch.o.r.ed in a good haven at Saostrovskoj, a _simovie_ lying 100 kilometres farther up the river at the limit of trees, where the goods were to be discharged and another cargo taken on board. After a jetty had been constructed on the 16th, the landing of the goods began on the 17th, and was finished on the 20th. The _Fraser_ went still farther up the river to Dudino, in order to load various goods laid up there--tallow, wheat, rye, and oats. On the 2nd September the steamer returned to Saostrovskoj, where in the meantime the _Express_ had taken on board her cargo.

Dudino is a church village, situated at the point where the river Dud.i.n.ka flows into the Yenisej. Here live two priests, a _smotritel_ (a police official), a couple of exiles, some Russian workmen, and a number of natives, as well as the owner of the place, the influential merchant SOTNIKOFF. This active and able man is in an economical point of view ruler over the whole of the surrounding region, all whose inhabitants are in one way or other dependent upon him. He exchanges grain, brandy, sugar, tea, iron goods, powder and lead, cloth and leather, for furs, fish, mammoth-ivory, &c.; and these goods are sent by steamer to Yenisejsk to be forwarded from thence to China, Moscow, St. Petersburg, &c. Among other things he is also the owner of very thick coal-seams in the Noril Mountains lying about 60 kilometres from Dudino. This simple and unostentatious man has been very obliging to all the scientific men who have visited the region. His dwelling, situated in the neighbourhood of the limit of trees, is probably the stateliest palace of the Siberian _tundra_, admired by natives from far and near. It is built of large logs, consists of two stories, has a roof painted green, many windows with decorated frames painted white and blue; the rooms are warm, provided with carpets of furs, pot-flowers in the windows, numerous sacred pictures, photographs, and copper engravings.

On the 7th September all was ready for departure. The _Fraser_ and _Express_ weighed anchor to commence the return voyage down the river. At Tolstojnos two days after they met the steamer _Moskwa_[201] of Bremen, Captain Dallmann, having on board the crew of the Norwegian steamer _Zaritza_, Captain Brun, which had stranded at the mouth of the Yenisej and been abandoned by the crew. In the case of this stranding, however, the damage done had not been greater than that, when the _Fraser_ fell in with the stranded _Zaritza_, it could be pumped dry, taken off the shoal, and, the engine having first been put in order, carried back to Norway. On the 19th September all the three vessels arrived at Matotschkin Sound, where they lay some days in Beluga Bay in order to take in water and trim the cargo and coal; after which on the 22nd of the same month they sailed through the sound to the west, and on the 26th anch.o.r.ed at Hammerfest in good condition and with full cargoes.[202] The goods, which now for the first time were carried from the Yenisej to Europe, consisted of about 600 tons--tallow, wheat, rye and oats. The goods imported into Siberia consisted mainly of 16 tons nails, 8 tons horseshoes, 4 tons horsenails, 16-1/2 tons bar iron, 33 tons tobacco, 60 tons salt, 24 casks petroleum, an iron lighter in pieces with the necessary adjuncts of anchors, &c.[203]

Before I begin to give an account of the voyage of the _Lena_ I must briefly mention the steps which Mr. Sibiriakoff took for her safety during her voyage from the mouth of the river, where she was to part from the _Vega_, to her proper destination, the town of Yakutsk. It is naturally very difficult for a vessel to seek her way without a pilot through an extensive delta completely unknown in a hydrographic respect, and crossed by a large number of deeper or shallower river arms. Mr. Sibiriakoff had therefore arranged that a river pilot should meet the _Lena_ at the north point of the delta, and had through Mr. Kolesoff negotiated with him the following contract, which I reproduce here in full, because it gives in several respects a very graphic picture of various social relations in these remote regions. The copy of the contract which has been communicated to me when translated runs thus:--

At Yakutsk, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight on the 18th February, I, the undersigned Yakut AFONASII FEODOROFF WINOKUROFF, have concluded the following contract with IVAN PLATONOWITSCH KOLESOFF, merchant of the second guild in the town of Yakutsk.

1. I, Winokuroff bind myself as pilot to carry the vessel of Professor Nordenskiold's expedition up the river Lena from the village Tas-Ary, which lies about 150 versts below the village Bulun. From Tumat Island, which is situated in the northeastern part of the Lena delta, I bind myself for the piloting of the same vessel to procure at my own cost among the inhabitants of the place a pilot who knows well the deepest channel of the Lena river as far as the village Tas-Ary. This pilot the chief of the expedition shall discharge at the village Tas-Ary.

2. As I am not master of the Russian language I bind myself to bring along with me a Yakut interpreter, who knows the Russian language and is able to write. In May of this year, I, Winokuroff, with the interpreter shall travel from the town of Yakutsk down the Lena river to Tumat Island and there along with the interpreter wait for the expedition.

3. During the pa.s.sage down the river I am bound to hire among the inhabitants of the regions a competent guide, who shall accompany us in my own boats to the island by the deepest channel in the Lena delta. During the pa.s.sage from the village Tas-Ary I shall take soundings and record the depth of the fairway.

4. Between the village Bulun and Tumat Island, I bind myself to seek for two places for the wintering of the vessel, which are quite suitable for the purpose, and protected from ice. I shall further lay before the commander of the expedition a journal containing everything which I can find that it would be advantageous to know for the safety of navigation and for the wintering of the vessels, also accounts of the places which are dangerous or unsuitable for navigation.

5. On my arrival at Tumat Island I shall make it my first duty to find a deep and convenient haven for the seagoing vessels on the western side of the island. For this purpose I bind myself to have with me two boats, which, if necessary, shall be given over to the expedition. At the haven when found I bind myself to erect on some eminence near the sh.o.r.e of the island, which can be seen from Cape Olonek, a signal tower of driftwood or earth, like a Cossack mound, not lower than seven feet. On this foundation I shall raise a pyramidal frame of three or more thick logs, on the top of which I shall fix a flagstaff with a pulley block for the flag. The flag is to be flown at least 42 feet from the ground. I shall guard the landmark thus erected until the river freezes. For this purpose Herr Kolesoff has provided me with a ready-made flag, a pulley block and a line. And when the nights become dark I shall light two or three large fires or hang up lanterns on the landmark itself, so that these fires or lanterns may be seen from the sea.

6. From the village Tas-Ary I shall carry the vessel of the expedition to the town of Yakutsk, inasmuch as I shall show the proper fairway on the Lena river. The interpreter shall be at my side during the whole journey.

7. During the whole time from the day when I start from Yakutsk, up to the close of my time of service in Nordenskiold's expedition we, I, Winokuroff, and my interpreter, must be always sober (never intoxicated), behave faithfully and courteously, and punctually comply with the captain's orders.

8. For all these obligations Herr Kolesoff has to pay me 900 roubles.

9. After the arrival of the expedition at Yakutsk I will not be allowed to leave the s.h.i.+p without the permission of the chief, but shall still remain on board. If the captain finds it necessary that I accompany him back to the mouth of the Lena, I shall conform to his wish in consideration of an extra fee of 300 roubles. During this latter pa.s.sage I am not bound to have with me any interpreter.

10. If the arrival of the expedition at Tumat Island is delayed by any circ.u.mstance to the month of November, I have the right to betake myself along with my interpreter to Yakutsk and here to produce to Herr Kolesoff an official certificate given by Commandant Baschleff or any other local official that I had erected a landmark on Tumat Island and remained there until the river was frozen over, and that I did not leave until the expedition was no longer to be expected. Then Herr Kolesoff on the ground of this contract must settle with me by paying me the whole sum of 900 roubles, together with 200 roubles for my return journey.

11. If the vessel of the expedition arrive at Tumat Island so late that the voyage becomes impossible, we, I and my interpreter, shall winter with the expedition until the river becomes open in 1879. And in this case we, I and my interpreter, shall live at our own expense, and serve the expedition as belonging to its crew. After the commencement of navigation in 1879 I shall conduct the vessel from the wintering station to the town of Yakutsk.

On this account I have to receive, besides the 900 roubles coming to me, 800 roubles more. If during this voyage too it should be necessary to accompany the vessels from Yakutsk back to the mouth of the Lena, I shall do that, and receive on that account 300 roubles. But if the vessels winter at Yakutsk, I shall be free during winter, and only during next year's voyage, if so required, accompany them to the mouth of the Lena. In that case I have to receive 300 roubles.

12. Of this sum agreed upon Herr Kolesoff shall pay me in advance on the conclusion of this contract 300 roubles, in the month of May at my departure 150 roubles, and at the village Bulun 250 roubles, for my payment to my companions and pilot and other expenses. The balance shall be paid to me after my return to Yakutsk.

13. In the month of May, at the time for starting, if I be prevented by illness from betaking myself to Tumat Island, I shall repay to Herr Kolesoff the sum paid to me at the conclusion of this contract, with the exception of the money I have paid to the interpreter as pocket-money and for the boats. Should I not be able to repay the sum, I, Winokuroff, shall work out the amount not repaid at Herr Sibiriakoff's gold mines.

14. All this are we, the two contracting parties, bound to observe in full and without infringement.

A note to the copy further informs us that to this contract the Yakut Afonasii Feodoroff Winokuroff had, in place of his signature, attached his own seal, which the Yakut Alexii Za.s.simoff Mironoff had engraved, and that the conditions had been approved by the merchant Ivan Kolesoff, and the whole registered at the police-office of the Yakutsk circle.

The contract had been entered into with the friendly co-operation of the Governor and Bishop of Yakutsk, who were much interested in the proposed voyage. The latter knew the coast of the Polar Sea from his own experience. But notwithstanding all this, the affair was attended with no better success than that the pilot celebrated the receipt of the large sum of money by getting thoroughly intoxicated, and while in that state he broke one of the bones of the fore-arm. He was thus unable ever to reach the appointed rendezvous, and Johannesen was allowed to manage by his own hand, as best he could, his little steamer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE STEAMER "LENA." ]

After the _Lena_ had parted with the _Vega_ during the night between the 27th and 28th August, she steamed towards land, and came the same day to the northernmost cape of the Lena delta, situated in 73 47' N.L.[204] It was here that the pilot's landmark was to have been erected, but there was no pilot here, and no flagstaff was visible. In order to fall in with this landmark Johannesen sailed forty kilometres westward along the sh.o.r.e, but as his search in this direction was not attended with success, he turned back to the first-mentioned place and landed there. On the sh.o.r.e stood a very old hut, already completely filled with earth. It probably dated from some of the expeditions which visited the region in the beginning of the century. Wild reindeer were seen in large numbers.

As according to the contract which has been quoted the landmark was to be visible from Cape Olonek, Johannesen steamed once more to the west, running as close to the land as possible. But as the water here became shallower and shallower without any signal-tower being visible, Johannesen had to find his way himself through the delta; and for this purpose he determined to search for the easternmost arm of the river, which, on the maps, is drawn as being very broad, and also appears to have been made use of by the vessels of "the great northern expeditions."[205]

[Ill.u.s.tration: HANS CHRISTIAN JOHANNESEN.

Captain of the "Lena." Born in 1846. ]

Forty kilometres east of the northern extremity of the Lena delta Johannesen encountered three sandbanks, which he sailed round. After pa.s.sing these the water became deeper, so that he could advance at a distance of five kilometres from land. On the 1st September Johannesen anch.o.r.ed in a bay on the mainland in the neighbourhood of the Bychov mouth, whence on the 3rd September, at 2.30 a.m., he continued his course up the river, but by 10 o'clock the _Lena_ was aground. The water was falling, and did not begin to rise until an hour after midnight. It was not, therefore, until 8 a.m. the following day that the _Lena_ was got off, and that with great difficulty. The sailing through the delta was rendered difficult by the maps, which were made 140 years ago, being now useless. For the delta has undergone great alterations since then.

Where at that time there were sandbanks, there are now large islands, overgrown with wood and gra.s.s. At other places again whole islands have been washed away by the river.

While the vessel was aground nine Tunguses came on board. They rowed in small boats, which were made of a single tree stem, hollowed out, and could just carry a man each. Johannesen endeavoured in vain to induce some of the Tunguses to pilot the steamer; he did not succeed in explaining his wish to them, notwithstanding all the attempts of the Russian interpreter, a proof of the slight contact these Tunguses had had with the rulers of Siberia, and also of the difficulty and unwillingness with which the savage learns the language of the civilised nations.

It was not until the 7th September that the delta was finally pa.s.sed, and the _Lena_ steamed in the river proper, where the fairway became considerably better. Johannesen says in his account of the voyage that it is improbable that any of the western arms of the Lena are of importance, partly because the ma.s.s of water which flows in an easterly direction is very considerable in comparison with the whole quant.i.ty of water in the river, partly because the western and northern arms which Johannesen visited contained only salt water, while the water in the eastern arm was completely free from any salt taste. On the 8th, early in the morning, the first fixed dwelling-place on the Lena, Tas-Ary, was reached. Here the voyagers landed to get information about the fairway, but could not enter into communication with the natives, because they were Tunguses.