Polar travelers of the 19th - 20th centuries.

В.М. Михайлов

Химико – биологический факультет

ФГБОУ ВО «СГУ им. Питирима Сорокина» V.M. Mikhailov

Faculty of Chemistry and Biology

Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University
vasilij_michajlow@mail.ru

г. Сыктывкар

Научный руководитель:

М.М.Пашкова

к.ф.н., доцент, зав. кафедрой иностранных языков

ФГБОУ ВО «СГУ им. Питирима Сорокина» Президент KOMELTA

Scientific supervisor:

M.M. Pashkova

PhD in Philology, Associate Professor

Head of Foreign Languages Department

Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University

President of KOMELTA sefl1968@yandex.ru

г. Сыктывкар

At the end of the 19th century, the great polar explorer F. Nansen made a glorious drift in the Arctic ice: specially freezing his ship on the ice off the coast of Eastern Siberia, he drifted along with the ice across the entire Arctic ocean. Nansen believed that drifting ice would carry him “Fram” in the immediate vicinity of the pole, but this did not work, and the ship reached only 860 north latitude. A quarter of a century later, another famous Norwegian, R. Amundsen, decided to repeat his attempt to reach the North Pole in this way. In 1918 he went to the Arctic on the Mod motorcycle racing boat. Like Nansen, he wintered off the coast of Taimyr. At the beginning of September 1919, the schooner Amundsen freed herself from ice captivity and went east, but two participants, sailors Peter Tessem and Paul Knudsen, left on October 15 in the opposite direction: they went with ski expedition mail to Dixon, to which, in a straight line from Chelyuskin more than 800 km. However, given the inevitable deviations, the real path could not have been less than a thousand kilometers. The goods were carried on dogs sledges. Young strong men with experience in northern travel had reason to hope for success. However, the transition time was unsuccessful: the beginning of winter is the time of the most severe snowstorm. Moreover, in October, in these latitudes, the dark time of the day is much longer than the light. When Amundsen returned to Norway after 2 years, it turned out that his “postmen” had not reached Dixon.

At the request of the Norwegian government, the Russian Komseverput organized a search for the missing, entrusting this to Nikifor Begichev. In July 1921, he found a well-preserved letter of the following content left in a tin can in a conspicuous place near Cape Vilda (a few kilometers from the repeatedly mentioned by me, but then, alas, not yet existing settlement Eclipse):

Expedition.

Two expedition members arrived here with dogs and sleighs on November 10, 1919 ... Everything is fine, we are going to leave today in Dixon, November 15, 1919.

Tessem, Knudsen.

Thus, in a month they have passed just half the way. Dixon had just as much left. Following further along the alleged route of the Norwegians, Begichev discovered abandoned sledges near Cape Sterligov (another 100 km closer to Dikson), moreover, obviously European in design, and not North Siberian. Apparently, Tessem and Knudsen had to go further without dogs, who died, apparently, from overwork and lack of food, since neither fishing nor hunting in winter in those places is possible.

Further traces of the Norwegians were discovered by N.N. Urvantsev, who found a warehouse with the Amundsen post and part of the Norwegian equipment with a total weight of about 30 kg near the mouth of the Zeledeeva River (kilometers 120-140 from Dikson). For one, too much. Probably here they passed together. Even west, just 70 km from Dikson, Nikolai Nikolayevich discovered two pairs of Norwegian skis. Apparently, the travelers went on foot along the ice, cleared of snow from the wind.

Further west, very close to Dixon (only 10-12 km away) is the insidious bay of Polynia, named so because it hardly freezes: only in the midst of winter, covered with thin unreliable ice. Most likely, swirls of warm Yenisei water get there. Dixon's winterers are well aware of the insidiousness of this bay, but he was unknown to the Norwegians. Apparently, Knudsen fell through the ice and drowned. In any case, Tessem went further alone.

On August 15, 1921, Nikifor Begichev, who went hunting from Dickson, returned very soon, saying that he had found a corpse nearby. N. N. Urvantsev and the head of the polar station N. V. Lomakin went with him to this mournful find. Here is what Urvantsev writes in his memoirs:

 A man was lying on a high shore of a bay four meters from the water. The remains were already a skeleton without hands and feet gnawed by Arctic foxes ... The skeleton was dressed in two jaeger sweatshirts and a flannel shirt. There are no hats on the head. On the right foot are leftovers from seals. To the right was a broken ski stick tied with twine. There were no documents, but near the belt lay a metal watch engraved on the cover of “Peter Tessem,” on the strap - an engagement ring with an engraving inside: Paulina (that was the name of Tessem’s wife). There were no skis or rifles. The deceased lay back, immediately under his feet was a smooth stone slope. "

The picture is quite eloquent. From this place you can see the island of Dixon, the radio mast of the Polar Station. The station building and the lights in the windows should have been visible. Most likely, the exhausted traveler rushed to a close target, slipped on a stone slope, fell back, hit the back of his head, lost consciousness and froze. Frozen almost at the goal, breaking a thousand kilometers. It is hard to deliberately come up with something more tragic.

Tessem was buried where he was found. At the grave they dug a pillar from larch fin, cutting out an inscription in Russian and Norwegian with a knife: "P. Tessem, m / schooner Mod, Norway, December 1919." This pillar stands in that place now. But now this is no longer a desert tundra - the Tessem’s grave was within the boundaries of the mainland village of Dikson, on the territory of the Sea Port.

Nikifor Begichev received a nominal gold watch from the King of Norway as a reward, and N. N. Urvantsev was awarded a gold medal of the Norwegian Polar Society for finding Amundsen's mail. In 1961, 20 years after the mournful find, the remains of Tessem were reburied, moving them away from the water, from the surf. On the grave put a basalt obelisk with the inscription:

 Peter Tessem m / s Mod, Norge 1921.

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