19
make progress southwards. Initially, however, it forced it to proceed further offshore, and it
had to tack repeatedly in order to stay relatively close to the coast. On the following night
(24
th
/25
th
) the sky was completely clear and for the first time, as daylight faded the moon and
stars were visible. Venus too was visible as soon as it rose and was initially mistaken for a
light. Remarkably, too, quite a vivid display of the aurora was visible.
By that night the brig was abeam of Severnyy Gusiniy Mys. Litke named the wide bay
north of it, as far as Mys Britvin, Zaliv Mollera, after the Naval Minister. Progress south along
the coast of Gusinaya Zemlya was slowed by a strong north-flowing current. Litke’s noon
observation on the 26
th
placed him at 71°47′N, 24 km north of his dead-reckoning position. It
was not until 6 pm on 27 August that the brig reached Yuzhniy Gusiniy Mys at 71°25′N. But
then Litke’s hopes of surveying the south coast of Novaya Zemlya were dashed; a strong gale
from the southeast (the direction in which he had hoped to proceed) began blowing and he was
forced to lie hove-to, close-reefed, for three days. Reluctantly he was obliged to start for home.
Even then, however, progress across the Barents Sea was slow. It was not until 3
September that Kanin Nos hove into sight. The sky was solidly overcast and hence Litke was
unable to check the longitude of the headland by observation. As the brig passed Mys
Orlovskiy on the Kola coast on the morning of the 4
th
a severe northeasterly gale sprang up;
taking advantage of it, especially when it swung to the north and northwest,
Novaya Zemlya
made excellent time southwards and by 5 pm, by dead-reckoning it had almost reached the bar
of the Severnaya Dvina. Afraid of tackling the bar under the stormy conditions prevailing
(under which he could not expect any pilots to come off) Litke prudently decided to anchor to
wait for calmer conditions. Having weighed anchor at daybreak on the 6
th
he ran up the river
and reached Arkhangel’sk at noon.
38
The brig was later moved to Lapominskaya Gavan’ for the
winter again, while Litke travelled south to St Petersburg.
His superiors at the Admiralty were greatly impressed by what he had achieved. He was
promoted to Kapitan-leytenant, while Leytenant Lavrov was accorded the Order of Sv.
Vladmir, 4
th
degree and Mishman Litke the Order of Sv. Anna, 3
rd
degree.
Third expedition, 1823
There were still a number of unanswered questions, however, and Litke was again dispatched
north in the spring of 1823, to attempt to answer them. The orders he received on 2 April
directed him to check the following points.
1. To again check the difference in longitude between Mys Svyatoy Nos and Mys
Kandenois [Kanin Nos], and also to establish the latitude and longitude of Ostrov
Kolguyev.
2. To complete the survey of the Lapland coast as far as the Russian-Norwegian border,
not completed last year, according to the plan you have presented.
3. To certify in the most precise fashion whether Mys Zhelaniya, as seen by you, and
identified as such on the map of Novaya Zemlya compiled by you, is indeed Mys
Zhelaniya, or whether it is one and the same as Mys Oranskiy; and whether Mys
Zhelaniya does not lie further northeast, as indicated on the old Dutch maps.
4. To learn whether Shturman Rozmyslov determined the length of Matochkin Shar
correctly, as shown on his map, of which you have a copy.
38
ibid, p. 191.
20
5. To examine Yugorskiy Shar and Vaygachskiy Proliv [Karskiye Vorota] and to
survey Ostrov Vaygach; if time and circumstances permit, having rounded Mys
Zhelaniya or having passed through Matochkin Shar or Yugorskiy Shar into the Kara
Sea, to survey the east coast of Novaya Zemlya.
39
Even without the second part of item 5, this represented an extremely ambitious programme!
If he had encountered problems on the trip from St Petersburg to Arkhangel’sk in 1822
Litke’s patience was tried even more in 1823. Despite his best efforts he was unable to start
north before 11 March, travelling by sleigh on the ice of the Neva River. But on finding shortly
after starting that the river ice had already broken up, he was forced to return to St Petersburg
that same day. Starting off again by carriage on the 13
th
, he soon found the post-road
impassable due to mud. Transferring to a small cavalcade of horse-drawn sleighs he and his
companions, travelling on the ice of the Mariinskiy Canal system and that of Ladozhskoye
Ozero, the River Svir’ and Onezhskoye Ozero, finally reached Vytegra where the winter
sledging road was still in good condition. Throughout the trip he did his best to protect his
chronometers and navigation instruments against shocks or impacts. He and his companions
finally reached Arkhangel’sk on 23 March.
40
While waiting for the ice on the Severnaya Dvina to break up, Litke busied himself
with preparations for his impending voyage. Among other tasks he hired two men with prior
knowledge of the Murman coast and/or Novaya Zemlya. These were Pavel Otkupshchikov
from Mezen’ and Matvey Gerasimov from Kola.
The river ice started to go out on 27 April, but did not clear completely for another
week. On 6 May Litke sent Lavrov and a crew to Lapominskaya Gavan’ where Novaya Zemlya
had spent the winter. They brought the brig to Arkhangel’sk two days later and by 31 May the
vessel was ready for sea. The officers were the same as in 1822, apart from Leytenant
Zavalishin and Shturman Yefremov, who took the places of Sofronov and Prokof’yev who
were ill. A slight change in the expedition’s equipment was the replacement of the relatively
heavy boats of the previous year with lighter boats built of larch which would be more
convenient for the extensive inshore surveys which were planned both for the Murman coast
and for Matochkin Shar.
Novaya Zemlya was completely ready for sea by 5 June but was delayed by strong
northerly and northwesterly winds for about a week. It finally started to get under way on the
11
th
. But even as the anchor was being weighed the brig was caught by a violent squall and was
driven ashore stern-first. Recovering from this
Novaya Zemlya headed down the Dvina, but as
she was passing Ostrov Brevennik, caught by a sudden change of wind it ran aground again,
but since the shore was steep-to, although the bowsprit was touching the shore, the bulk of the
hull was still afloat and the brig was easily refloated – but this was not a good omen for the
start of the voyage. Getting under way again the brig crossed the bar in the early hours of the
12
th
and headed northwest-by-north.
Light winds and calms slowed the brig’s progress north but by the morning of the 13th
it was passing Ostrov Sosnovets and soon after 9 pm Mys Orlovskiy was in sight. By 6 pm on
the 14
th
it was rounding Svyatoy Nos and soon thereafter dropped anchor in last year’s
anchorage at the Iokangskiye Ostrova. Litke’s objective here was twofold: to determine the
longitude from Arkhangel’sk to form the basis of the remainder of his survey of the Murmam
39
ibid, p. 196.
40
ibid, p. 199.