In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic by Jon Krakauer, David Roberts, Alison Anderson, Valerian Albanov Page B
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useless to nurture any suppositions when they cannot be supported by solid proof. We must be patient. Let us wait and see. One thing is certain: We must move southeast, and under no circumstances may we deviate to the west.
It was with mixed feelings that I curled up into my malitsa again today. For the time being we must remain idle, wait for better weather and a better route, and consider ourselves lucky to have been well fed, with enough left over to provide considerable reserves of dried meat. Despite the impossible terrain, Lunayev went out and shot a seal that we will use only for fuel. There were high waves in the lead, and when it came time to retrieve the seal, my “seamen” lost their nerve and hid behind one another. I paddled out alone to encourage them.
For the time being the storm is shrieking its triumphant overture, crushing everything in its path. Thank God we are under cover!
JUNE 4
A strong northerly wind continues to blow, with snow flurries but warmer temperatures. The air is damp both outside and inside the tent, and the ground sheet is soaked, since there is no air blowing through. We have been forced to move the tent to drier positions lately, but that would be useless today, since outside everything is soggy as well. Even our clothes are soaking wet. So we sit together in silence; we feel as if we are clad in damp bandages all day. The weather is just as unbearable inside as out. Even if we had more heat it would not reduce the humidity in the tent, however zealously Lunayev provides us with seal blubber for heating—something which is not all that easy, for the seals are to be found only in the channels, and only very briefly lift their heads out of the water. Lunayev is the best shot among us; his shooting is simply masterly. The marksman must be skilled in order to hit his target, for the animal’s head is quite small. And one must shoot the animal squarely in the head, for otherwise it will swim away; it is very resistant to injury. If you encounter a seal on the ice, it immediately slithers into a water hole and disappears, for it is an excellent swimmer.
I left the tent to inspect the horizon and spotted a polar bear very close by. He raised his head and followed my movements with keen attention. I tried to attract him by feigning fear and hid behind a large block of ice. I thought he would follow me but he turned around and disappeared. We often played hide-and-seek in this way with the “king of the eternal ice,” the outcome always being in our favor, and fatal for the bear. If you show no sign of fear when confronting a polar bear, he will generally hesitate for a moment, the three characteristic black dots of his face swinging back and forth like a pendulum, then quite abruptly run off. Polar bears show extreme endurance when they are wounded. I have witnessed cases in which, even with their hind legs broken and their spinal cords injured, they would manage to drag themselves away on their front paws alone. We once found twelve bullets in a carcass, including explosive ones of the type seal hunters use, which shatter bones and tear the flesh as they leave the body, without killing the animal immediately. A bear that is mortally wounded is a very dangerous adversary. Sometimes one may think he is dead, but then as the silent hunter draws near, the bear will grab hold of him and tear the man apart with his last remaining strength. But as a rule the creature is relatively fearful, and a first encounter with man will cause him to retreat immediately. He runs clumsily, but even deep snow cannot stop him. When a female is passing with her cubs, she is extraordinarily cautious and almost never allows herself to wander within range of a hunter. It is strangely moving to see a female loping across thin, fresh ice with her cubs. She practically crawls on her stomach with her legs widespread, and the cubs jump along behind her like frogs. Although they are excellent swimmers and
It was with mixed feelings that I curled up into my malitsa again today. For the time being we must remain idle, wait for better weather and a better route, and consider ourselves lucky to have been well fed, with enough left over to provide considerable reserves of dried meat. Despite the impossible terrain, Lunayev went out and shot a seal that we will use only for fuel. There were high waves in the lead, and when it came time to retrieve the seal, my “seamen” lost their nerve and hid behind one another. I paddled out alone to encourage them.
For the time being the storm is shrieking its triumphant overture, crushing everything in its path. Thank God we are under cover!
JUNE 4
A strong northerly wind continues to blow, with snow flurries but warmer temperatures. The air is damp both outside and inside the tent, and the ground sheet is soaked, since there is no air blowing through. We have been forced to move the tent to drier positions lately, but that would be useless today, since outside everything is soggy as well. Even our clothes are soaking wet. So we sit together in silence; we feel as if we are clad in damp bandages all day. The weather is just as unbearable inside as out. Even if we had more heat it would not reduce the humidity in the tent, however zealously Lunayev provides us with seal blubber for heating—something which is not all that easy, for the seals are to be found only in the channels, and only very briefly lift their heads out of the water. Lunayev is the best shot among us; his shooting is simply masterly. The marksman must be skilled in order to hit his target, for the animal’s head is quite small. And one must shoot the animal squarely in the head, for otherwise it will swim away; it is very resistant to injury. If you encounter a seal on the ice, it immediately slithers into a water hole and disappears, for it is an excellent swimmer.
I left the tent to inspect the horizon and spotted a polar bear very close by. He raised his head and followed my movements with keen attention. I tried to attract him by feigning fear and hid behind a large block of ice. I thought he would follow me but he turned around and disappeared. We often played hide-and-seek in this way with the “king of the eternal ice,” the outcome always being in our favor, and fatal for the bear. If you show no sign of fear when confronting a polar bear, he will generally hesitate for a moment, the three characteristic black dots of his face swinging back and forth like a pendulum, then quite abruptly run off. Polar bears show extreme endurance when they are wounded. I have witnessed cases in which, even with their hind legs broken and their spinal cords injured, they would manage to drag themselves away on their front paws alone. We once found twelve bullets in a carcass, including explosive ones of the type seal hunters use, which shatter bones and tear the flesh as they leave the body, without killing the animal immediately. A bear that is mortally wounded is a very dangerous adversary. Sometimes one may think he is dead, but then as the silent hunter draws near, the bear will grab hold of him and tear the man apart with his last remaining strength. But as a rule the creature is relatively fearful, and a first encounter with man will cause him to retreat immediately. He runs clumsily, but even deep snow cannot stop him. When a female is passing with her cubs, she is extraordinarily cautious and almost never allows herself to wander within range of a hunter. It is strangely moving to see a female loping across thin, fresh ice with her cubs. She practically crawls on her stomach with her legs widespread, and the cubs jump along behind her like frogs. Although they are excellent swimmers and
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