Narrative of the extraordinary adventures of four Russian sailors (1)

A

NARRATIVE

OF THE

EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES

OF

FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS,

Who were, cast away on the Desert Island of East-Spitzbergen.

To which is added,

THE STORY OF THE

KING AND FAIRY RING.

GLASGOW:

Published and Sold Wholesale and Retail,

By R. Hutchison & Co. Booksellers,

No. 10, Saltmarket.

A

NARRATIVE

OF THE

EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES

OF

FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS,

Who were Cast away in the desert Island of East-Spitzbergen.

THE truth of these adventures is sufficiently authenticated. When these unfortunate sailors first arrived at Archangel, they were examined apart by Mr Klinstadt, Chief Auditor of the Admirality of that city, who minuted down all the particulars, which exactly correspond with each account. Mr Le Roy, Proffessor of History in the Imperial Academy, some time after sent for two of the men, viz. Alexis Himkof, his godson, to Petersburgh, from whose mouths he took the following narrative, which also agreed with Mr Klinstadt’s minutes. The original was published in the German language, at Petersburgh, in the year 1769, and transmitted from thence to the ingenious Mr Blanks, who, with several other Members of the royal Society, were so well pleased with the account, that they directed a translation of it to be made into English.

In the year 1743, one Jeremiah Okladmkoff, a merchant of Mesen, a town in the province of Jugovia, and in the*goverment of Archangel, fitted out a vessel, carrying 14 men: She was destined for Spitzbergen, to be imployed in the whale or seal fishery. For eight successive days after they had sailed, the wind was fair; but on the ninth it changed; so that instead of getting to the west of Spitzbergen, the usual place of rendezvous for the Dutch Ships, and those of other nations annually employed in the whale-fishery, they were driven eastward of those islands; and, after some days they found themselves at a small distance from one of them called East Spitzbergen; by the Russians, Maloy Broun; that is, Little Broun. Having approached this island within almost three wrests, or two English miles, their vessel was suddenly surrounded by ice, and they found themselves in an extremely dangerous situation. In this alarming state a council was held; when the Mate, Alexis Himkof, informed them that he recollected to have heard that some of the people of Mesen, some time before, having formed a resolution of wintering upon this island, had accordingly carried from that city timber proper for building a hut, and had actually erected one at some distance from the shore.

This information induced the whole company to resolve on wintering there, if the hut, as they hoped, still existed; for they clearly perceived the eminent danger they were in, and that they must inevitably perish, if they continued in the ship. They dispatched therefore four of the crew, in search of the hut, or any other succour they could meet with. These were Alexis Himkof the mate; Iwan Himkof, his godson; Stephen Scharapof, and Feodeor Wergin. As the shore on which they were to land was uninhabited, it was necessary that they should make some provision for their expedition. They had almost two miles to travel over loose bridges of ice, which being raised by the waves, nnd driven against each other by the wind, rendered the way equally difficult and dangerous: Prudence therefore forbade their loading themselves too much, least being overburthened, they might sink in betwixt the pieces of ice and perish.

Having thus maturely considered the nature of their undertaking, they provided themselves with a musket, a powder-horn, containing 12 charges of powder, with as many balls, an axe, a small kettle a bag with about 20 pounds of flour, a knife, a tinderbox and tinder, a bladder filled with tobacco, and every man his wooden pipe. Thus accoutered, these four sailors quickly arrived on the island, little suspecting the misfortunes that would befal them. They began with exploring the country; and soon discovered the hut they were in search of, about an English mile and a half from the shore. It was 30 feet in length, 18 feet in heighth, and as many in breadth. It contained a small anti-chamber, aqout 12 feet broad, which had two doors, the one to shut it up from the outer air, the other to form a communication with the inner room: This contributed greatly to keep the larger room warm, when once heated. In the large room was an earthen stove, constructed in the Russian manner; that is, a kind of oven, without a chimney, which served occasionally either for baking, for heating the room, or, as is customary among the the Russian peasants, in very cold weather, for a place to sleep upon.

They rejoiced greatly at having discovered the hut, which had however suffered much from the weather, it having now been built a considerable time: Our adventurers, however, conceived to pass the night in it. Early next morning they hastened to the shore, impatient to inform their comrades of their success; and also to procure from their vessel such provisions, ammunition, and other necessaries, as might better enable them to winter on the island —I leave my readers to figure to themselves the astonishment and agony of mind these poor people must have felt, when, on reaching the place of their landing, they saw nothing but an open sea, free from the ice, which, but a day before, had covered the ocean. A violent storm, which had arisen during the night, had certainly been the cause of this disastrous event.

But they could not tell whether the ice which had before hemmed in the vessel, agitated by the violence of the waves, had been driven against her, and shattered her to pieces; or whether she had been carried by the current into the main, a circumstance which frequently happens in those seas. Whatever accident had befallen the ship, they saw her no more; and, as no tidings were ever afterwards received of her, it is most probable that she snnk, and that all on board of her perished.

This melancholy event depriving the unhappy wretches of all hope of ever being able to quite the island, they returned to the hut from whence they had come, full of horror and dispair. Their first intention was employed, as may eaisily be imagined, in devising means of providing subsistance, and for repairing their hut. The twelve charges of powder, which they had brought with them, soon procured them as many rein-deer; the island fortunately for them, abounding in these animals.

I have before observed, that the hut which the sailors were so fortunate as to find, had sustained some damage, and it was this: there was cracks in many places between the boards of the building, which freely admitted the air. This inconveniency was however easily remedied, as they had an axe, and the beams were still sound, (for wood in those cold climates continues through a length of years unimpared by worms or decay) so it was easy for them to make the boards join again very tolerably; besides, moss growing in great abundance all over the island, there was more than sufficient to stop up the crevices, which wooden houses must always be liable to. Repairs of this kind cost the unhappy men the less trouble, for all Russian peasants are known to be good carpenters: they build their own houses, and are very expert in handling the axe. The intense cold, which makes those climates habitable to so few species of animals, renders them equally unfit for the production of vegetables. No species of tree, or even shrub, is found on any of the islands of Spitzbergen; a circumstance of the most alarming nature to our sailors. Without fire it was impossible to resist the rigour of the climate; and, without wood, how was that fire to be produced, or supported? Providence, however, has so ordered it, that in this particular, the sea supplies the defects of the land. In wandering along the beach, they collected plenty of wood, which had been driven ashore by the waves; and which at first consisted of the wrecks of ships, and afterwards of whole trees with their roots, the produce of some more hospitable, but to them unknown climate, which the overflowing of rivers, or other accidents, had sent into the ocean.

Nothing proved of more essential service to these unfortunate men, during the first year of their exile, then some boards they found upon the beach, having a long iron hook, some nails of about five or six inches long, and proportionably thick, and other bits of old iron fixed in them; the melancholy relics of some vessels cast away in some remote parts. These were thrown ashore by the waves at a time when the want of powder gave our men reason to apprehend that they must fall a prey to hunger, as they had nearly consummed those rein-deer they had killed. This lucky circumstance was attended with another equally fortunate: they found, on the shore, the root of a fire-tree, which nearly approached the figure of a bow.

As necessity has ever been the mother of invention, so they soon fashioned this root to a good bow, by the help of a knife; but still they wanted a string and arrows. Not knowing how to procure these at present, they resolved upon making a couple of lances, to defend themselves against the white bears, by far the most ferocious of their kind, whose attacks they had great reason to dread. Finding they could neither make the heads of their lances, nor of their arrows, without the help of a hammer, they contrived to form the large iron hook mentioned above into one, by heating it, and widening a hole it happened to have about its middle, with the help of one of their largest nails. This received the handle and a round button at one end of the hook served at the face of the hammer. A large pebble supplied the place of an anvil, and a couple of rein-deer’s horns made the tongs. By the means of such tools, they made two heads of spears; and after polishing and sharpening them on stones, they tied them as fast as possible with thongs made of rein-deer skins, to sticks about the thickness of a man’s arm, which they got from some branches of trees that had been cast on shore. This equipped with spears, they resolved to attack a white bear; and, and after a most dangerous encounter, they killed the formidable creature, and thereby made a new supply of provisions. The flesh of this animal they relished exceedingly, as they thought it much resembled. beef in taste and flavour. The tendons they saw with much pleasure could, with little or no trouble, be divided into filaments, of what fineness they thought fit. This perhaps was the most fortunate discovery these men could have made; for, besides other advantages, they were hereby furnished with strings for their bow.

The success of our unfortunate islanders in making the spears, and the use these proved of, encouraged them them to proceed, and to forge some pieces of iron into heads of arrows of the same shape, though somewhat smaller in size than the spears above mentioned. Having ground and sharpened these like the former, they tied them, with the sinews of the white bears, to pieces of fir; to which, by the help of fine threads of the same, they fastened feathers of sea fowl; and thus became possessed of a compleat bow and arrows. Their ingenuity in this respect, was crowned with-success far beyond their expectaion; for, during the time of their continuance upon the island, they, with these arrows, killed no lese than two hundred and fifty rein-deer, besides a great number of blue and white foxes. The flesh of these animals served them also for food and their skins for clothing, and other necessary preservatives against the intense coldness of a climate so near the pole.

They killed, however, only ten white bears in all, and that not without the utmost danger; for these animals, being prodigiously strong, defending; themselves with astonishing vigour and fury. The first our men attacked designedly; the other nine they slew in defending themselves from their assaults; for some of these creatures even ventured to enter the outer room of the hut, in order to devour them. It is true, that all the bears did not shew (if it may be allowed the expression) equal intrepidity; either owing to some being less pressed by hunger, or to their being by nature less carnivorons than the others; for some of them, which entered the hut, immediately betook themselves to flight on the first attempt of the sailors to drive them away. A repetition, however of these ferocious attacks, threw the poor men into great terror and anxiety, as they were in almost a perpetual danger of being devoured. The three different kinds of animals above-mentioned, viz. the rein deer, the blue and white foxes, and the white bears, were the only food these wretched mariners tasted during their continuance in this dreary abode.

In their excursions through the island, they had met with slimy loam or a kind of clay, nearly in the middle of it. Out of this they found means to form an utensil which might serve for a lamp; and they proposed to keep it constantly burning, with the fat of the animals they should kill. This was certainly the most rational scheme they could have thought of, for to be without a light, in a climate where, during winter, darkness reigns for several months together, would have added much to their other calamities. Having therefore fashioned a kind of lamp, they filled it with rein-deer's fat, and stuck in it some twisted linen, shaped into a wick. But they, had the mortification to find, that, as soon as the fat melted, it not only soaked into the clay, but fairly ran through it on all sides. The thing therefore was to devise some means for preventing this inconveniency, not arising from cracks, but from the substance of which the lamp was made being too porous. They made therefore a new one, dried it thoroughly in the air, then heated it red-hot, and afterwards quenched it in there kittle, wherein they had boiled a quantity of flour down to the consistence of thin starch. The lamp being thus dried and filled with melted fat, they now found, to their great joy, it did not leak. But for greater security, they dipped linen rags in their paste, and with them covered all its outside. Succeeding in this attempt, they immediately made another lamp, for fear of an accident, that in all events they might not be destitute of light; and when they had done so much, they thought proper to save the remainder of their flour for similar purposes. As they had carefully collected whatever happened to be cast on shore to supply them with fuel, they had found amongst the wrecks of vessels some cordage, and a small quantity of oakum, (a kind of hemp used for calking ships) which served them to make wicks for their lamp. When these stores began to fail, their shirts and their drawers (which are worn by almost all Russian peasants) were empoyed to make good the deficiency. By these means they kept their lamp burniug without intermission, from the day they first made it (a work they set about soon after their arrival on the island) until that of their embarkation for their native couutry.

The necessity of converting the most essential parts of their clothing, snch as their shirts and drawers, to the use above specified, exposed them the more to the rigour of the climate. They also found themselves in want of shoes, boots and other articles of dress; and, as winter was approaching, they were again obliged to have recourse to that ingenuity which necessity suggests, and which seldom, fails in the trying hour of distress.

They had skins of rein-deer and foxes in plenty, that had hitherto served them for bedding, and which they now thought of employing in some more essential service; but the question was, how to tan them. After deliberating on this subject, they took to the following method; they soaked the skins for several days in fresh water, till they could pull off the hair pretty easily; they then rubbed the wet leather with their hands till it was nearly dry, when they spread some melted rein-deer fat over it, and again rubbed it well. By this process the leather became soft, pliant and suple, proper for answering every purpose they wanted it for. Those skins which they designed for furs they only soaked for one day, to prepare them for being wrought, and then proceeded in the manner before mentioned except only that they did not remove the hair. Thus they soon provided themselves with the necessary materials for all the part of dress they wanted.

They made a curious needle out of a piece of wire; and the sinews of the bear and reindeer, which they split into several threads, served them to sew with.

Excepting the uneasiness which generally accompanies an involuntary solitude, these people, having this by their ingenuity so far overcome their wants, might have had reason to be contented with what Providence had done for them in their distressful situation. But that melancholy reflection, to which each of these forlorn persons could not help giving way, that perhaps he might survive his companions, and then perish for want of subsistence, or become a prey to the wild beasts, incessantly disturbed their minds. The mate, Alexis Himkof, more particularly suffered; who, having left a wife and three children behind, sorely repined at his being separated from them: they were as he told me constantly in his mind, and the thought of never more seeing them made him very unhappy.

When our four mariners had passed nearly six years in this dismal place, Feoder Weregin, who all along had been in a languid condition, died, after having, in the latter part of his life, suffered most excruciating pains. Tho’ they were thus freed from the trouble of attending him, and the grief of being witnesses to his misery, without being able to afford him any relief, yet his death affected them not a little; they saw their number lessened, and every one wished to be the first that should follow him. As he died in winter, they dug a grave in the snow as deep as they could, in which they laid the corpse, and then covered it to the best of their power, that the white bears might not get at it.

Now, at the time when the melancholy reflections occasioned by the death of their comrade were fresh in their minds, and each expected to pay this last duty to the remaining companions of his misfortunes, or to receive it from them, they unexpectedly got sight of a Russian ship. This happened on the 15th of August, 1749.

The vessel belonging to a trader, of the sect called by its adherents Stara Vieva, that is, the Old Faith, who had come with it to Archangel, proposing it shonld winter in Nova Zembla: but, fortunately for our poor exiles, Mr. Vernezobre, Director of the whale-fishery, proposed to the merchant to let his vessel winter at West-Spitzbergen; which he at last, after many objections; agreed to.

The contrary winds they met with, on their passage, made it impossible for them to reach the place of their destination. The vessel was driven towards East-Spitbergen, directly opposite to the residence of our mariners; who, as soon as they perceived her, hastened to light fires upon the hills nearest their habitations, and then ran to the beach, waving a flag, made of a rein-deer’s hide, fastened to a pole. The people on board, seeing these signals, concluded that their were men on the island who implored their assistance, and therefore came to an anchor near the shore. It would be in vain to attempt describing the joy of these people, at seeing the moment of their deliverence so near. They soon agreed with the master of the ship to work for him on the voyage, and to pay him eighty rubels on their arrival, for taking them on board, with all their riches; which consisted in fifty pud, or two thousand pound weight of rein-deer fat, in many hides of these animals; and skins of the blue and white foxes; together with those of the ten white bears they had killed, They took care not to forget their bow and arrows, their spears, their knife and axe, which were almost worn out, their awls, and their needles, which they kept carefully in a bone-box, very ingeniously made with their knife only; and in short, every thing they were possesed of.

Our adventurers arrived safe at Archangel on the 28th of September, 1749, having spent six years and three months in their rueful solitude.

The moment of their landing was nearly proving fatal to the loving and beloved wife of Alexis Himkof, who being present when the vessel came in to port, immediately knew her husband, and ran with so much eagerness to his embraces, that she slipped into the water, and very narrowly escaped being drowned.

All three on their arrival, were strong and healthy; but, having lived so long without bread, they could not reconcile themselves to the use of it, and complained that it filled them with wind. Nor could they bear any spirituous liquors, and therefore drank nothing but water.

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THE STORY

OF THE

KING AND FAIRY RING.

THERE was a king, whose name was Alferute; feared by all his neighbours, and loved by all his subjects. He was wise, good, just, and valiant, and deficient in no quality requisite in a great prince. A fairy came to him one day, and told him that he would soon find himself plunged into great difficulties, if he did not make use of the ring which she then put on his finger. When he turned the stone of the ring to the inside of his hand, he became invisible; and when he turned the diamond outward, he became visible again.

He was mightily pleased with the present, and soon grew sensible of the inestimable value of it, When he suspected any one of his subjects, he went into that man’s house and closet, with his diamond turned inward, and heard and saw all the secrets of the family, without being perceived. When he mistrusted the designs of any neighbouring potentate, he would take a long journey unaccompanied, to be present in his most private counsels, and learn every thing, without the fear of being discovered. By this means, he easily prevented every intention to his prejudice; he frustrated several conspiracies formed against his person, and disconcerted all the measures of his enemies for his overthrow.

Nevertheless, he was not thoroughly satisfied with his ring; and he requested of the fairy the power of conveying himself, in an instant, from one country to another, that he might make a more convenient and ready use of the enchanted ring. The fairy replied, “You ask too much; let me conjure you not to covet a power, which I foresee will one day be the cause of your misery, though the particular manner thereof be concealed from me.” The king would not listen to her intreaties, but still urged his request- “Since then, you will have it so,” says she, “I must necessarily grant you a favour of which you will dearly repent.” Hereupon she chafed his shoulders with a fragrant liquor, when immediately he perceived little wings shooting at his back. These little wings were not discernable under his habit; and when he had a mind to fly, he needed only to touch them with his hand, and they would spread so as to bear him through the air swifter than an eagle. When he had no farther occasion for his wings, with a touch they shrunk again to a small size, as to lie so concealed under his garment.

By this magic, Alferute was able to translate himself, in a few moments, wherever he pleased. He knew every thing, and no man could conceive how he came by his intelligence; for he would often, retire into his closet, and pretend to be shut up there the whole day, with strict orders not to be disturbed; then making himself invisible with his ring, he would enlarge his wings with a touch, and traverse vast countries. By this power he entered into very extraordinary wars, and never failed to triumph. But, as he continually saw into the secrets of men, he discovered so much wickedness and dissimulation, that he could no longer place confidence in any man, The more redoubted and powerful he grew, the less he was beloved; and he found, that even they to whom he had been most bountiful, had no gratitude nor affection toward him.

In this disconsolate condition, he resolved to search through the wide world, till he found a woman complete in beauty snd all good qualities, willing to be his wife; one who would love him, and study to make him happy. Long did he search in vain; and as he saw all without being seen, he discovered the hidden wiles and failings of the sex. He visited all the courts, where he found the ladies insincere, fond of admirers, and so enamoured with their own persons, that their hearts were not capable of entertaining any true love for a husband. He went likewise into all the private families; he found one was of an inconstant, volatile disposition; another was cunning and artful; a third haughty; a fourth capricious; almost all faithless, vain, and full of idolatry to their own charms.

Under these disappointments, he resolved to carry his inquiry through the lowest conditions of life. Whereupon, at last he found the daughter of a poor labourer, fair as the brightest morning, but simple and ingenuous in all her beauty, which she disregarded, and which, in reality, was the least of her perfections; for she had an understanding and a virtue, which outshone all the graces of her person. All the youth of her neighbourhood were impatient to see her, and more impatient, after they had seen her, to obtain her in marriage; none doubting of being completely happy with such a wife.

King Alferute beheld her, and he loved her. He demanded her of the father, who was transported with the thoughts of his daughter becoming a great queen. Clarinda (so she was called) when from her father's hut into a magnificent palace, where she was received by a numerous court. She was not dazzled, nor disconcerted, at the sudden change; she preceived her simplicity, her modesty, her virtue, and forgot not the place of her birth, when she was in the height of her glory. The king’s affection for her increased daily, and he believed he should at last arrive at perfect happiness; neither was he already far from it, so much did he begin to confide in the goodness of his queen. He often rendered himself invisible to observe her, and to surprise her; but he never discovered any thing in her that was not worthy of his admiration. So that now there was but a very small remainder of jealousy and distrust blended with his love.

The fairy who had foretold the fatal consequences of his last request, came so often to warn him, that he thought her importunity troublesome. Therefore he gave orders, That she should no longer be admitted into the palace, and enjoined the queen not to receive her visits for the future. The queen promised to obey his commands, but not without much unwillingness, because she loved this good fairy.

It happened one day, when the king was upon a progress, that the fairy, desirous to instruct the queen in futurity, entered her apartment in the appearance of a young officer, and immediately declared, in a whisper, who she was; whereupon the queen embraced her with tenderness. The king, who was then invisible, perceivd it, and was instantly fired with jealousy. He drew his sword, and pierced the queen, who fell expiring into his arms. In that moment the fairy resumed her true shape, whereupon the king knew her, and was convinced of the queen’s innocence. Then would he have killed himself, but the fairy with-held his hand, and strove to comfort him; when the queen, breathing but her last words, said, “Though I die by your hands, I die wholly yours.”

Too late, now Alferute cursed his folly, that put him upon wresting a boon from the fairy, which proved his misery. He returned the ring, and desired his wings might be taken from him. The remaining days of his life he passed in bitterness and grief, knowing no other consolation but to weep perpetually over Clarinda’s tomb.

This tale evinces the folly of taking any matter in too jealous a view; and that, by too easy viewing the wrong road, we involve ourselves in dangers and misfortune.

FINIS.