Review of the arctic pioneering vol.2. Russia and North-East passage
England and the Netherlands were the most active in the search for North-East passage, which was the shortcut and seemingly the safest way to the Pacific ocean. In the XVI-XVIIth centuries these countries undertook several expeditions in the seas of the Polar ocean. At the same time it would be a mistake to believe that only West European countries were interested in resolving this issue and that Russia was just a transit way and had no self-directed participation in this process. Russia, as compared to other states, was no less interested in developing sea routes to the East. This was closely related to the development of huge Asian ten-it о ties, which called for setting up a reliable network of sea-shore-linked facilities. The development of maritime trade was one more reason. One should also not discard viking voyages in the IX-XIIth centuries, as a result of which a passage from Scandinavia to the White sea was discovered. The background of this study is the issues of the history of the North-East passage development, Russian seamen participation in mastering of the route, elucidation and clarification of the passage options.
Ch.l. VIKING VOYAGES TO THE WHITE SEA
The first voyages to the East along Scandinavia and Kola peninsula were performed by vikings in the end of the IXth century. In 870-890 Ohther from the province of Halagaland did the first trip to the White sea. The route of this voyage is well known and does not cause any debate except for the final stage when Ohthers ship reached Biarmia. There are several views with regard to a location of this land. Two are prevailing: the mouth of the Northen Dvina river and Kola peninsula. The latter seems to be more convincing. In Ohthers report itself there are no indications of traversing of the White sea. On the contrary he stresses that while traveling to Biarmia he had always had the sea shore on his right hand, i.e. on the West side. When it comes to the large river, where he met theinhibitants of this land, this fits neatly with Kandalaksha bay and with the inflowing into it the Kandalaksha river. It is plausible that exactly Kandalaksha bay was the very Gandwik mentioned in the chronicles, the shores of which, in view of ancient authors, were inhabited by the Biarmese. The location of Biarmia on the Kola peninsula is supported by cartography of the XVI-XVII th centuries. J.Gudmundi map (around 1600) quoted in the book of T.Torfaeo "Gronlandia antiqva" (Torfaeo T, 1706) is of particular interest. It has the basic sketch of Ohthers voyage: Halagaland-Finmark-Biarma-land. Biarmaland is situated next to Norwigian Finmark on the territory of the present Kola peninsula. Earlier maps by O.Magnus (1539), S.Munster (1544), B.Agnese (1550) and other the XVIth century maps, as well as G.Mercator globe (1541) show Biarmia occupying the whole territory of the Kola peninsula. In the process of further expansion vikings reached the mouth of the Nothern Dvina river and for them this new territory was the extention of Biarmia since the natives spoke Finnish. Most likely the term "Biarmese" has become a common ethnic denominator for the tribes which spoke the same langugc (Melnikova E.A., 1986, p.50).
Сh. 2. RUSSIAN SEAFARING IN THE XV-XVII th CENTURIES
After vikings ceased regular voyages to the Nothern seas in the Xllth century, the search for the Eastern route was not resumed until some time around the XV th century. The new stage of development of sea routes in the Polar ocean water area is linked to the activities of Russian pomors, i.e. the inhabitants of the Russian North. This was connected with the expansion of sea trade and development of new territories. As seafarers pomors dominated an enormous zone. It covered near to the shore areas of the White, Barents and Kara seas, polar areas of West Siberia, archipelagos of New Land and Spitsbergen. Despite the fact that the voyages of pomors were strictly commercial in nature, these actively helped the state development of the Asian part of the continent. In the XVIth century the Russian Arctic seafaring becomes particularly active. During this period of time five main sea routes were set up, primarily in the Barents and Kara seas, which to a very large extent coincided with the routes attempted by English and Dutch seamen. The first route was oriented towards the West oft the White sea. As it stems from S.Hcrberstcins itinerary notes (Herberstein S.,1988) as well as from other sources, the voyage would start from the mouth of the Northern Dvina river and was oriented in the North direction.
Then ships would traverse the neckline of the White sea and sail along the Northern coastline of the Kola peninsula with an onshore portage over the Rybachii peninsula. Further on the route went along the shores of Norway. The second route led to Northern island of New Land archipelago. Voyages were initially conducted under conditions of open seas within the boundaries of the White sea (up to Kanin Nos peninsula) and then in the North-East direction towards New Land. The final destination of pomors voyages to this archipelago in the XVIth century was the group of Krestov isles situated on 76° N. The most complex and time-consuming route was the so called Mangazcya sea path, which led to the rich in sables Mangazeya land in the Northern part of West Siberia, where on the banks of the Taz river the city of Mangazeya was established. This route went along the Barents sea coastline with an onshore portage over Kanin Nos peninsula. After entering the Kara sea the Yamal peninsula would be also crossed over onshore. The Mangazeya sea path included the whole system of navigation support: a rational shortcut route, optimal start time of a voyage, onshore support signs, use of special type of ships, usage of sailing directions, availability of transitional sea ports in case of forced wintering. All in all the ultimate objective was to shorten the travel time in order to avoid unfavourable ice conditions.
Mangazeya sea path had an extension towards the mouth of the Yenisei river. This route went along Kara sea coastline or through the system of Siberian rivers. In the XVIIth century the state run expeditions drove out impromptu pomors voyages to the Northern parts of Siberia. This allowed to build the basis for systemic colonization of the remote areas of the Asian continent. Endeavors towards this goal were so active that already in 1648 the ships of S.Dezhncvs expedition managed to get to the Pacific ocean through the straits separating Asia from North America. One of the routes of the Russian travelers in the Arctic led to Spitsbergen, which began being developed not later than the second half of the XVIth century. These voyages followed the following route: the White sea - North coast of Kola peninsula - Varanger Qord - Medvezhii island - Spitsbergen.
Ch.3. SHIP AND NAVIGATION SUPPORT OF RUSSIAN VOYAGES IN THE POLAR OCEAN
One of the major factors, which allowed pomors to overcome difficult and challenging Arctic routes, was the availability of specialized ships, establishment of coastline signals, use of sailing directions and of navigation instruments. The primary ship which was designated for long sea voyages was a koch. Until recently researchers did not have sufficient data to be able to characterize and define typology of these ships. Extensive archeological studies conducted in Mangazeya, on the coast of the White sea, on the isles of Spitsbergen, New Land, Vaygach as well as in other areas of the Arctic enabled to obtain considerable number of ship elements as well as pictures of koches itself. This made it possible to define the typology of the Northern Russian fleet. In general terms it is straightforward: koches of pomors were of two basic types - large and small. Small koches were used for Mangazcya sea voyages, Yenisei voyages (river option) and voyages to the shores of Scandinavia, i.e. for mixed type of routes-sea, river and portage overland. One can have an idea of an exterior of these ships due to drawings placed in the books of G. de Fer (1936) and J.H. van Linschoten (1611) as well as due to woodcut engravings, which were found in Mangazcya and on Vaygach island. These were small ships (not longer than 8 meters) with oval bottom and high freeboards.
The ships had one mast with straight and fore-and-aft sails. There was no bowsprit. Aside from central keel koches had two side keel shoes, which was of great importance during portage. Ships displacement was about 7 tonnes. Large koches were designated for navigation in open seas and partly in the rivers, provided there were no need for portage and there were no shallow waters. There were several versions of large koches. New Land koch. It was used for trips to New Land and to the mouth of the Yenisei river. While excavation works in Mangazeya along with many pieces, a drawing of such a ship was found (Belov M.I., Ovsyannikov O.V., Starkov V.F., 1980). One more analogous drawing was found on Vaygach island. Large New Land koch had typical sea hull with high freeboards and transom stern on which a massive steering wheel was hung. This koch was also equipped with complex masts and spars, which included two masts and a bowsprit. This koch was about 20 meters long; at stern and bow part of koch freeboards were as high as 5 meters; its displacement was up to 40 tonnes. Upperkhoturski koch was a modification of a New Land koch type and was smaller in size and was designated for navigation along Siberian rivers. Grumant koch. The name of the ship is linked to Spitsbergen, which was called in Russia Grumant. This was a ship fine-tuned for long voyages in ice conditions. Many pieces of a ships wood found on Shpitsbergen as well as the known drawings of this koch make it possible to have an idea of the outlook of this largest Northern Russia ship. Its size is comparable with that of a New Land koch, but the design differences are considerable.
This was a flat bottom ship, which was equipped along with a central keel with two side keel shoes, which was important for dragging it onshore during wintering. This koch had a reinforced anti-ice gadget, especially powerful at a bowpart of a ship. Its bow was smoothly bent and the ship had a transom stern. The ships of this kind had two masts with a complex sail equipment as well as a bowsprit with a blind of a rectangular form. Archeological studies in the North of Siberia as well as on Spitsbergen archipelago enabled to establish that in the XVII-XVIIIth centuries Russian sea voyagers were fairly well equipped with navigation instruments. Witness to this is many finds of magnetic compasses, solar clock-compasses, navigators pairs of compasses, gradestocks, lead-and-lines. Sea maps and sailing directions also existed. Sign crosses played a big role in pomors navigation practices. These crosses were widely used already in the XVIth century. At present time we have knowledge of about 30 such crosses, which were situated on Kola peninsula, on New Land, on Kanin Nos and Yamal peninsulas, on the isles in Barents sea. Especially many crosses at that time were set up on Vaygach island - about 20 all in all. This is not surprising. Vaygach used to be, as it were, a trans-shipping point from a relatively calm Barents sea to a more difficult Kara sea, which was already stretching itself on the Asian part of the ocean. There were a lot of crosses on the shores of Spitsbergen archipelago - no less than 46. The basic function of the crosses was linked to sea navigation. The crosses were route signs marking visible spots as well as a start and a finish of portages. The crosses were used as shore signs indicating a harbor entrance and played a role of navigation instruments indicating orientation with regard to parts of the world (crosses pillars were always set up along North-South line).
Ch.4. THE NORTH-EAST PASSAGE
The voyages by English seafarers in the middle of the XVIth ccntury commenced the focused search for the North-East passage. By the end of the ccntury Dutch expeditions picked up the baton in the relayrace. The Western scientific literature covers the voyages of West European travelers in a fairly detailed manner. But it is much more rarely linked to the activities of the Russian seafarers. At same time, while considering the issue of the search for the North-East passage, one should not take a lopsided attitude that only West European countries were interested in resolving the issue whereas Russia was in a way just a transit point and did not take any part in finding the sea routes to the East. Russia was, as compared to other nations, no less interested in development of maritime navigation towards the Pacific Ocean trying to achieve its own objectives. These efforts were targeted at obtaining new territories in Siberia and the Far East. Russian Arctic voyages are not just a pre-history of the search for the North-East passage. Russian seafarers themselves were in an intensive hunt for new routes. This hunt became a success in 1648 when Bering strait was discovered. The experience gained by the Russian Polar travelers laid the foundation for the first project to look for the North-East passage. Diplomat and geographer D.Gcrasimov authored it. In 1525 he let his idea known to Italian historian Paulus Jovius.
This was a project of a voyage along the coastline, which should "enable ships to reach the country called China" (Jovius P, 1987, p.491). In the same year Italian cartographer Battista Agnesc published a map of Moscovia drawn by D.Gcrasimov. This map showed open seas along Siberian coastline. This was the Eastern or a alongcoast-line option of the North-East passage. The XVIth century cartography, primarily the Sea map drawn by Olaus Magnus and maps drawn by Jacopo Castaldi, argued for the possibility to carry out such a trip. In 1553 in England the first expedition was organized under S.Cabots project. Its specific objective was to find the shortest route to China via the seas of Polar ocean. At that time this unworkable objective was not achieved by this expedition, nor was it achieved by subsequent English, Dutch and Danish expeditions. As a consequence doubts arose as to the possibility to use this route. This caused new projects. One of these belonged to Dutch geographer Peter Plancius, who suggested an idea of the North-East option of the North-East passage. According P.Planciuss views the plausible way to the East was North of mainland coastline, North of New Land. Willem Barents actively supported this option (he called it his "North-East" one: North-East of Medvezhi island). In 1594 and 1596 he made two attempts to bypass New Land and reach the Kara sea. The last voyage resulted in the death of the leader of the expedition. Similarly unsuccessful were voyages made by other English and Dutch seafarers in the XVIIth century. In 1527, soon after the publication of D.Gcrasimovs project, English merchant and seafarer R.Thorn produced yet another variant of the search for the North-East passage: the Northern, i.e. oriented towards the North pole.
The Netherlands has the priority in implementation of this idea. Old literature even refers to it as "Dutch option" (Taagen woordigevon Russland..., 1735).The first voyage to the North of Nordkap cape was made by Dutch expedition in 1596. This expedition after the discovery of Spitsbergen went along its Western shores. In 1607 expedition led by H.Hudson took the same route and so did expedition led by J.Jmay and J. de Gouwenaerin 1614. Later, when the search for the North-East passage was resumed, the ships of the Russian expedition led by V. Y.Chichagov (1764-1766) and of the English one led by D.Phillips (1773) were sailing towards North pole along the shores of Spitsbergen. In the XVIIIth an attempt was made in Russia to resolve the issue of a strait between Asia and America. This mission was performed by the First and the Second Kamchatka expeditions led by V.Bcring. In 1743 the ships of the expedition went through the strait from the South from Okhotsk sea. For the first time ever the idea of the North-East passage was realized in 1879 by an expedition led by N.A.E.Nordensskiold on the board the "Vega" ship. This expedition managed to sail from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean during two navigation seasons with an intermediate wintering near the shores of Chukotka peninsula. All the way through voyage on this route (from the White sea) was firstly conducted only in 1932 by an expedition led by O.Y.Shmidt on the icebreaking steamer "Sibiryakov". This was the final point in a century-old qopce of the search for the Northern route from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. Many countries of Europe contributed efforts to this process, which constituted an important input to the great geographical discoveries.
CONCLUSION
The start of the systemic search for the North-East passage in the middle of the XVIth century led to a sharp increase of maritime activities in the seas of the Polar occan. Consequent English and Dutch expeditions coincided with the utmost rise of the Russian Arctic seafaring. From the point of mastering the North-East passage this activity turned out to be fruitless. This could not be otherwise because of the use of wooden sail ships, which were not capable of overcoming heavy ice fields. This proved to be impossible not just in the XVIth century, but in the end of the XVIIIth one either. Despite the above the search for the North-East passage in the XVI-XVIIth centuries had a great scientific and practical importance. This led to discoveries of new island territories. Many areas of the Barents, Nonvcgian and Greenland seas got described. For the first time ever large portions of New Land and Spitsbergen archipelagos got described. The first succcssful wintering of West Europeans was conducted in high latitudes, far away from inhabited territories. The results of the voyages were depicted in a large number of maps. Maps done by J.H. van Linschoten, W.Barents, W.Burrough laid the background of future cartography of the Arctic.
These voyages put an end to an old Ptolemeus tradition of portraying this part of the world. These voyages made it possible to show the geographic reality. The voyage of R.Chancellor in 1553 and his visit to Moscow made a crucial impact upon establishing of close trade and diplomatic relations between Russia and England, and later on with other West European countries. The voyages by W.Barents inl596 and by H.Hudson in 1607 to Spitsbergen archipelago were of great importance with regard to the development of business and scientific activities in this portion of the Arctic. Many European countries took part in this development. The activities of seafarers in the XVIth century were the basis for future attempts to find the North-East passage. This "idea fixe" of mankind was realized only in the end of the XlXth century.
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