14
The next two days were spent in making observations to determine the exact position,
and in surveying the Sem’ Ostrova, the anchorage, and the mouth of the Kharlovka, and on the
12
th
the crew watered ship. On the 14
th
Litke weighed anchor, and taking advantage of the
outflowing ebb tide, started tacking out to the northwest through the pass between Ostrov
Kharlov and the mainland. But the waves were against him and he was forced to run southeast
and emerged into the open sea between the easternmost of the Sem’ Ostrova, namely Otrov
Kubshin and Ostrov Vishnyak. But then a strong northwesterly wind started blowing, raising
heavy sea and despite tacking endlessly Novaya Zemlya was driven southeast. By the morning
of the 16
th
she was still only abeam of the western tip of Ostrov Kharlov. A calm then lasted for
12 hours but then, with a strong southeasterly wind the brig made steady progress west. It soon
passed Mys Chegodayev and by 9 am was passing the small open bay of Zolotaya Guba
(Golden Bay), so named because of its red sandstone rocks. Soon afterwards it passed Guba
Shubina, its entrance screened by several small islands; this was the site of a Russian fishing
camp, where 10 boats could be seen lying on the beach. Two miles beyond Guba Rynda came
in sight; the Rynda River debouches into its head, supporting a significant salmon fishery
operated by the Russian Kochnev. A ship could be seen in the bay and a substantial building on
shore. As Novaya Zemlya passed, a boat with several fishermen came off. It too was bund
westwards, to Guba Porchnikha, just beyond Ostrov Bol’shoy Oleniy where their own ship was
lying; for a glass of wine they readily agreed to pilot the brig into that harbour.
Next day (the 17
th
) a heavy overcast prevented any chance of making astronomical
observations; instead Litke took the opportunity of measuring a baseline on Ostrov Bol’shoy
Oleniy. Also that day he and some of his men engaged in a light-hearted hunt. By chance they
raised a hare and, unarmed, they tried to catch it by hand without success. On the following day
a heavy fog prevented any survey work although Litke did manage to get a noon sun-shot in a
break in the fog. The 19
th
, however, was a superb day and Litke and his officers were able to
complete their survey of Guba Porchnikha, Litke taking bearings from a small, rocky island in
the middle of the bay. At a Sami fishing camp on the north side of the bay Litke hoped to buy
at least one reindeer to give his crew some fresh meat. They were reluctant to sell him any, but
finally let him have one for 30 rubles. They grazed their reindeer over the summer on Ostrov
Bol’shoy Oleniy, but these were driving reindeer with which they had travelled from their
winter camp inland, and their reluctance to sell any was simply because they naturally prized
them particularly highly.
Litke had hoped to get under way again on the morning of the 20
th
but a foul
northwesterly headwind started blowing and he was unable to make any real progress before
having to heave-to. Then the fog descended again and it was not until the 22
nd
that the brig got
under way. Shortly before 1 pm it passed Mys Teriberskiy and soon after high Ostrov Kil’din
hove into sight. The brig passed its eastern tip at 5 pm and soon afterwards dropped anchor in
the strait between the island and the mainland.
32
Next morning Litke measured a baseline on the island and over the next three days
completed a thorough survey of the strait, He learned from the local Sami that the Kola
merchant Popov owned several hundred reindeer on the island. He allowed the Sami to make
use of them, on condition that they deliver the hides of any animals they killed to him, along
with a pud (16.38 kg) of lake fish (caught inland in winter) for each animal they killed.
Litke weighed anchor on the morning of the 26
th
, heading west through the strait with a
very light easterly breeze; by noon he was just abeam of the spectacular, cliffed western end of
32
Litke, Chetyrekhkratnoye puteshestviye, p. 168.
15
Ostrov Bol’shoy Oleniy. By 3.30 pm the brig was off the entrance to Kol’skiy Zaliv and swung
south into it. Having obtained directions from a passing boat by 7 pm Litke was able to drop
anchor in Yekaterinskaya Gavan’. Next morning (the 27
th
) he spent a long time searching the
steep, rocky coasts for a suitable place to lay out a baseline and finally found
a suitable location
at the north end of Yekaterinskiy Ostrov. While he took bearings from the baseline throughout
the remainder of the day and throughout the 28
th
and 29
th
, Sofronov surveyed the shoreline of
the harbour. In the meantime Litke, who was hoping to renew his provisions at the city of
Kola, was hoping in vain for a local boat to visit the brig, so that he could send a list of his
needs south to Kola. He was reluctant to take the brig all the way south up the inlet to Kola,
when time was so precious and it might become windbound there. Ultimately, on the morning
of the 30
th
, leaving Novaya Zemlya in the care of Lavrov, he along with Prokof’yev and
Smirnov, set off up the inlet in one of the ship’s boats. Passing Ostrov Sal’nyy and the sites of
the present cities of Severomorsk and Murmansk, and after taking a rest of a few hours at Mys
Velikokamenniy, at midnight they stopped for the night at a fisherman’s hut 7 km north of
Kola.
They reached the city, at the confluence of the Kola and Tuloma rivers at 10.30 next
morning (31st).
33
Litke visited the mayor, Golubev and the ispravnik, Postnikov.
Unfortunately, in terms of fresh provisions the city could provide only mutton and
cloudberries. It was too early for the vegetables for which Litke had been hoping. Fish and
cloudberries were the city’s main products, the latter being picked by the women during quite
extensive trips by boat, even as far as the Aynovskiye Ostrova on the west side of Poluostrov
Rybachiy.
Litke had hoped to start back to the brig that same evening but their host insisted on
a suitable celebration, which resulted in all Litke’s crew getting drunk – to the extent that he
had to postpone their departure, probably still with sore heads, until next morning, August 1
st
.
Even then a combination of fog and hangovers led to a slow start, with even the helmsman
dozing at the tiller. The boat ran aground several times and had to be warped off. Litke
therefore decided to put ashore for a while to let his men recover somewhat and to sleep on the
grass. But when the fog cleared, the sun came out and when a boatload of Kola girls, returning
home from picking cloudberries, also put ashore, the men soon came to life, singing and
dancing with their unexpected partners. Litke and his party got under way again at 2 pm and
had reached the brig at Yekaterinskaya Gavan’ by 10 pm.
Next morning (2 August) the brig weighed anchor but had barely reached the mouth of
the harbour when it encountered a northeasterly headwind and was forced to return to its same
anchorage. A positive result of the delay was that it was visited by the ispravnik, Postnikov, on
his way west to try to settle a dispute between the local Sami and the inhabitants of Finnmark;
Norwegians had allegedly been trespassing on Sami land.
With a change of wind Novaya Zemlya was able to put to sea again at 5 pm and by 7
pm had emerged from Kol’skiy Zaliv, heading NE by E under full sail. Due to the various
delays thus far Litke felt he must abandon his original intention of continuing his survey
further west for 3 to 4 days, including an investigation of Ostrov Vitsen, as per his instructions
particularly since he personally did not believe that it existed.
33
ibid, p. 172.