Fedor petrovich litke and his expeditions to novaya zemlya
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7 Novaya Zemlya was towed from Lapominskaya to Arkhangel’sk on 13 May and final fitting-out proceeded there. The brig finally got away from Arkhangel’sk on 14 July bound downriver to the sea. Passing the Novodvinskaya Fortress Litke saluted it with seven guns, receiving the same number in reply. The vessel crossed the bar at the river-mouth on the 15 th ,
northwesterly course across the White Sea. Although slowed by calms by the morning of the 17 th Novaya Zemlya was passing the cape of Zimniye Gory (near the present village of Zimnegorskiy), which marks the northern cape of Dvinskaya Guba and the southern entrance to the gorlo (literally ‘the throat’), i.e. the narrow entrance to the White Sea. From here, however, Litke had to contend with a northeasterly wind which meant tacking to and fro across the gorlo, at first in fog and then in clear conditions, resulting in interesting mirages such as vessels appearing upside-down. By 5 pm on the 17 th the brig was off Ostrov Sosnovets, just off the western shore and by 8 pm on the 18 th , just off Ostrov Morzhovets, just northeast of the north end of the gorlo. The northern end of the gorlo is strewn with shoals, many unmarked at that time. The maps which Litke possessed showed one shoal with a depth of (2 fathoms – 3.66 m), 19 miles east of Mys Orlovskiy on the west shore and another (1½ fathoms – 2.7 m) 20 miles west of Konushin Nos on the east shore. He was confident of being able to thread between them, but in the early hours of the 19 th it fell calm and the brig drifted gently aground, in a depth of only 3.05 m forward. A kedge anchor was led out aft, in hopes of warping off but unfortunately the tide was dropping fast. A fresh northeasterly wind had now risen and the brig started to roll over on its port side. Litke tried to prop it up using spare yards and masts but they all snapped in succession and the vessel heeled over quite alarmingly. But then, quite incomprehensibly the brig suddenly swung upright again. Low water came at about 8 am – presenting quite a remarkable scene. Novaya Zemlya was sitting high and dry on a sand-bar measuring about 1 km by 500 m, with no land in sight in any direction. With nothing that could be done for the moment Litke gave the crew permission to enjoy this unique situation, ‘Around the brig men strolled in various attitudes, some examining the exposed hull; others (officers) were making astronomical observations or were strolling unconcernedly around the sandy expanse, collecting souvenirs of shells or pebbles – altogether it comprised an unusual picture’. 21 This situation must have been extremely embarrassing and worrying for Litke – at the start of his first voyage with his first independent command. But worse was to come. The northeast wind was strengthening again, raising large waves; meanwhile the tide was rising steadily and soon the waves were breaking against the ship. In the meantime Litke had led out a second kedge anchor astern. With the impact of the waves the brig started pounding. At 11.45 by which time the depth aft was 3.73 m although the bows were still aground, by hauling in on both kedge anchors the crew managed to refloat their vessel. 22 Since the sea was by now too rough to send a boat to recover the kedge anchors, and since he was reluctant to take his vessel back close to the shoal, Litke decided to abandon the kedge anchors, although this meant that he was left with only one, and a small one at that. By 2 am on the 20 th the brig was under way, heading west. It was approaching the coast by 8.30, but in thick fog; the fog had lifted by 10 o’clock, however, and Litke was able to take bearings on the coast near the mouth of the Ponoy River. By evening he had beat north to Mys Orlovskiy, on which a lighthouse was under construction. Continuing north, by 9 pm on the 21 ibid, p. 118. 22 ibid, p. 119. 8 21st the brig was off Mys Gorodetskiy, from which Litke took his departure, heading north across the Barents Sea. In fog, rain, drizzle and headwinds, progress across the Barents Sea was slow and far from comfortable. Moreover on the 26 th it was discovered that out of four barrels of potatoes the contents of three were rotten and had to be discarded. When the fog cleared on the 30 th Litke was able to shoot the sun at noon; the brig’s position was 70°52′N; 46°43′E. At 4 am on the 31 st the air temperature suddenly dropped to +1.5°C and a whole fleet of ice floes was sighted; shortly afterwards a continuous belt of ice was visible extending from NW to NE. Then the fog closed in again. Litke swung south, aiming to try to reach the coast of Novaya Zemlya as far south as possible. He continued to work his way south, skirting the ice edge and probing it repeatedly to try to reach land. His noon latitude on 5 August was 70°56′N but, frustratingly, on the 10 th it was 71°8′N, i.e. a current had carried the brig back north by 12 minutes, i.e. 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) despite sailing steadily south. Finally, at 7 pm on the 10 th land was sighted from the crosstrees and then from the deck, bearing NEbN. From his map Litke guessed that it was the coast of Ostrov Mezhdusharskiy, but he was unable to spot the entrance to Kostin Shar. Repeated attempts to close with the land were blocked by ice, however. By noon on the 14 th land was still in sight to the NE and ENE, but Litke was unable to identify it, and unable to get closer because of ice. Concluding that the coast of Novaya Zemlya from about 70° to 72°N was completely inaccessible due to offlying ice: For these reasons I decided not to linger any longer off the south coast but to hasten to the coasts lying further north, although it seemed contrary to probability and the natural order of things, that they would be freer of ice than the former. 23
During the 14 th several herds of walrus were seen resting on floes, with 10-15 animals in each herd. Several shots were fired at one herd, but after two shots they paid no further attention, although presumably at least one animal had been hit. On the 15 th a bear was seen swimming among the ice near the ship, over 32 km from land. Litke remarked ‘Having fallen asleep on the ice these animals are sometimes carried out a great distance from shore’. 24 He was evidently unaware that the sea ice is the natural habitat of this species, as is indicated by its Latin name, Ursus maritimus. Litke’s observed latitude at noon on the 18 th was 71°53′N, and on the 22 nd 72°24′N, i.e. off the prominent cape of Mys Britvin, according to Rozmyslov’s map. 25 Soon after noon on the 22 nd land was sighted, running SSW to NNE, and at its northern tip a conspicuous mountain with a domed, snow-covered summit, later name Gora Pervousmotrennaya (First-observed). In fact this mountain lies some 40 km almost due northeast of Mys Britvin, which would suggest that Rozmyslov’s reported latitude was significantly too far south. Remarkably, the sea at this point appeared to be completely free of ice. Baffled as to his exact location Litke consulted one of his men, Smirennikov, who had twice been to Matochkin Shar previously, by karbas. He, however, could not recognize the coast in sight, but felt that they had overshot the entrance to Matochkin Shar; in fact it still lay about 50 km to the northeast. 23 ibid, p. 129. 24 ibid.
25 ibid, p. 131. Yüklə 1,69 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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