Arctic Obsession by Alexis S. Troubetzkoy

Author:Alexis S. Troubetzkoy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2011-03-30T16:00:00+00:00

[T]he eyes gave them indeed no little trouble; but this they also performed with the assistance of their knife; for having ground it to a very sharp point, and heated red hot a kind of wire forged for that purpose, they pierced a hole through one end, and by whetting and smoothing it on stones, brought the other to a point, and this gave the whole needle a tolerable form.

Other than moss, lichen, and certain grasses, virtually no vegetation is had on Edgeøya, and so for the six years of their forced captivity, the men became involuntary carnivores, with reindeer, fox, and bear forming the diet. Apart from their first bear kill the others, ten in all, were taken in self-defence in warding off attacks on their hut. “Some of these creatures even ventured to enter the outer room of the hut, in order to devour them.” Since their kettle served as a repository for fresh water drawn either from nearby springs or made by melting snow or ice, meat had to be cooked over the open fire. Morning, noon, and night: the same diet — “reindeer, and blue and white foxes, and the white bears were their only food these wretched mariners tasted during their continuance in this dreary abode.” To break the dietary monotony, they suspended certain cuts from the high ceiling for exposure to the ever-present smoke within the hut. The smoked pieces were then taken outdoors and placed on the roof to allow them to dry hard, and then slices of the stuff were chewed as “bread,” no doubt a welcomed garnish to roasted meat.

Krisanf was well aware of the dangers of scurvy and he urged his companions to drink warm reindeer blood “as it flowed from the veins immediately after [the kill].” In addition he instructed them to consume raw scurvy-grass, which grew in parts of the island, and lastly he recommended “to use as much exercise as possible,” whatever the weather. Three of the four lived by these recommendations and survived to tell their tale. Peter Verigin, however, “who was naturally indolent and averse to drinking reindeer blood,” stubbornly avoided leaving the hut unnecessarily and wanted nothing to do with blood. Within weeks of arrival on the island, he took sick and became bedridden. “He passed almost six years under greatest sufferings,” and finally he died. Le Roy tells of the effect this death had on the others:

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