This is a story about some Pomors who had to spend six years on Svalbard, without planning to, which I read in a newspaper:
In the summer of 1743 fourteen Pomors sailed from Arkhangelsk to Svalbard to hunt. The boat got stuck in ice, so four men where sent to land to reconnoitre on Edge-øya, where they knew there was a hut.
The next morning the ship was gone, it's not known what happened to it.
They had one gun with twelve rounds, one axe, one knife, a tea kettle and a box of tobacco. There was a stove in the 39m2 hut, but you couldn't cook on it.
In short order twelve reindeer were shot: Meat, fat and clothes. Bows, arrows and spears were made, for hunting and polar bear defence.
In spite of what you may think, as there grow no trees on Svalbard, they had fuel as trees who fall into Siberian rivers end up on Svalbard, so there's a lot of driftwood there, they also had someplace to live, they could make clothes, but they didn't have anyplace to cook food. Out of reindeer fat they made lamp fuel.
There was no sign of any ships next summer, nor the one after that, nor the next...
They ate raw meat, drank reindeer blood and ate a plant I don't know what it's called in English to keep from getting scurvy. One man didn't want to drink reindeer blood and died of scurvy in early 1749.
In August 1749 a Russian ship passed by and they were brought home the three survivors to Arkhangelsk. They had with them ten polar bear skins, hundreds of arctic fox and reindeer skins and one ton of reindeer fat.
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Urban Fredriksson
www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/
Latest update: A Russian hand made hunting knife
"I've always been fascinated by Scandinavian knives [...] they're simple, in an advanced way".
- Bob Loveless
In the summer of 1743 fourteen Pomors sailed from Arkhangelsk to Svalbard to hunt. The boat got stuck in ice, so four men where sent to land to reconnoitre on Edge-øya, where they knew there was a hut.
The next morning the ship was gone, it's not known what happened to it.
They had one gun with twelve rounds, one axe, one knife, a tea kettle and a box of tobacco. There was a stove in the 39m2 hut, but you couldn't cook on it.
In short order twelve reindeer were shot: Meat, fat and clothes. Bows, arrows and spears were made, for hunting and polar bear defence.
In spite of what you may think, as there grow no trees on Svalbard, they had fuel as trees who fall into Siberian rivers end up on Svalbard, so there's a lot of driftwood there, they also had someplace to live, they could make clothes, but they didn't have anyplace to cook food. Out of reindeer fat they made lamp fuel.
There was no sign of any ships next summer, nor the one after that, nor the next...
They ate raw meat, drank reindeer blood and ate a plant I don't know what it's called in English to keep from getting scurvy. One man didn't want to drink reindeer blood and died of scurvy in early 1749.
In August 1749 a Russian ship passed by and they were brought home the three survivors to Arkhangelsk. They had with them ten polar bear skins, hundreds of arctic fox and reindeer skins and one ton of reindeer fat.
------------------
Urban Fredriksson
www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/
Latest update: A Russian hand made hunting knife
"I've always been fascinated by Scandinavian knives [...] they're simple, in an advanced way".
- Bob Loveless
