of Saint Foka crew
See also Scurvy; specific person
Hooker Island
Hvidtenland (“White Land”)
Ice currents
Jackson, Frederick G.
Jackson Island
Jackson camp, at Cape Flora
Jeannette (American ship)
Johansen (Nansen’s companion)
Kalmikov (cook/poet)
Kara Sea
Kayaks
Albanov’s request to build
at first camp
building of
carrying of
and departure of Albanov expedition
and departure from first camp
description of
discussions about abandoning
importance of
names for
and preparations for Albanov expedition
repair of
sacrificing of
ski poles as masts for
as useless for polynya crossings
Kharkov lighthouse
King Oscar Land
Kittiwakes
Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich
Konrad, Alexander
Albanov’s hallucination about
on Alexandra Land
and Bayev’s death
Bell Island trip of
on Cape Flora
and Cape Flora journey
on Cape Neale
death of
and double sleeping bag incident
falls through ice
frozen toes of
health of
leaves Franz Josef Archipelago
as member of Albanov expedition
and polar bear hunting
rescue from Cape Flora of
return of
at Rynda fishing village
searches for missing men by
Shpakovsky’s quarrels with
walrus sighting by
wants to abandon sledges and
kayaks
Krasnoyarsk, and original plans
for Saint Anna
Kushakov, P.
Letters
of Albanov to Brusilov
in Cape Flora mailbox
for Saint Anna on board Saint Foka
of Saint Anna crew members
thieves return stolen
Lice
Lomonossov (Russian steamship)
Lunayev, Ivan
Albanov’s hallucination about
on Alexandra Land
and Cape Flora journey
and death of Nilsen
death of
and early days of Albanov expedition
health of
as hunter
and loss of rifle
as member of Albanov expedition
robbery of boots belonging to
Mabel Island
Malnutrition
Maps
for Albanov expedition
of Franz Josef Archipelago
of Nansen’s expedition
on Saint Anna
Marliave, Christian de
Maximov, Piotr
Albanov’s comments about
on Alexandra Land
and hunting bear
and journey to Cape Flora
Konrad’s search for
as member of Albanov expedition
as missing
Saint Foka search for
and search for missing men on
glacier
and southward drift of Albanov
expedition
thieves take clothes of
Melbart (Saint Anna crew
member)
Mieres Channel
Mirsky, Jeannette
Missing men
and Albanov’s diary and papers
and glacier incident
and journey to Cape Flora
Konrad’s search for
Saint Foka search for
Money
Murmansk/Murmansk coast
Murres (birds)
Nansen, Fridtjof
Abruzzi’s sledge team surpasses
record of
Albanov as deserving of comparison
with
bread story of
at Cape Flora/Jackson camp
on Franz Josef Archipelago
Greenland trip of
and Hvidtenland trek
and ice currents
maps of
North Pole attempt of
as role model and guide
ship of
sledges of
strength of
tents of
“waiting camp” of
and walrus
Navigation
Albanov’s instruments for
on Alexandra Land
importance of
and location of first camp
and location of Saint Anna
as part of daily activities of expedition
and Saint Foka voyage
and sightings of land
and southward drift of Albanov
expedition
and Svalbard coordinates of Albanov
New Year’s Eve party, drawings
for
Nilsen, Olger
on Alexandra Land
and Cape Flora journey
death of
and early days of Albanov expedition
health of
as member of Albanov expedition
as translator of Jackson message
Nimrod (Norwegian ship)
Nordenskiöld, Nils Adolf Erik
Northbrook Island See also Cape Flora
Northeast Passage
Novaya Zemlya
Pavlov, M.
Peary, Robert
Petermann Land
Pinegin, N.
Poem, of Kalmikov
Polar bears
on Cape Flora
and Cape Flora journey
on Cape Grant
as fuel
guns used against
hide-and-seek with
hunting and killing of
lack of sightings of
liver of
and location of Saint Anna
meat of
and rationale for Saint Anna voyage
reactions to humans of
Saint Anna hunts for
and Saint Foka voyage
and sightings of land
and southward drift of Albanov
expedition
as swimmers and divers
tame
tracks of
walrus compared to
wounding of
Polynyas
Albanov expedition’s crossings of
and Saint Foka voyage
Prince George Land
See also Cape Neale
Prince Rudolf Island
Quinine
Regald, Yan
and Albanov’s saint’s day dinner
and Bayev’s death
and Cape Flora journey
falls into sea
joins Albanov expedition
Konrad’s search for
and location of Saint Anna letter
as member of Albanov expedition
as missing
and Saint Anna farewell dinner
Saint Foka search for
and southward drift of Albanov
expedition
Reindeer lichen
Religion
Rifles/guns
on Cape Flora
from Saint Anna for Albanov expedition
and Konrad’s search for missing
men
loss of
robbery of
Rynda (fishing village)
Saint Anna
Albanov expedition members return
to
Albanov’s last day on board
Albanov’s reasons for leaving
Albanov’s thoughts and dreams
about
background of crew members of
crew remaining w
ith
departure of Albanov expedition
from
description of
farewell dinner on
goal of expedition of
heat and light on
historical obscurity of voyage of
last known location of
letters from crew members of
life on board
mutiny feelings of crew on
original plans of voyage for
ownership of
provisions on board
reasons for Brusilov and companions
staying on board
Russian searches for
Saint Foka compared with
scurvy on board
thieves return documents and mail
from
wages owed to crew of
See also Brusilov, Georgiy
Saint Foka
Albanov and Konrad on board
arrival in open sea of
distress signals of
fuel shortage on
leaves Franz Josef Archipelago
off Murmansk coast
physical condition of crew on
polar bears on
rescue of Albanov and Konrad by
rescue of the
and Rynda fishermen
Saint Anna as superior to
as trapped in ice
See also Sedov expedition
Saint Nicholas the Miracle-worker
St. Petersburg
Sakharov, Captain
Samoyeds
Scott, Robert Falcon
Scurvy
Seals
on Alexandra Land
bearded
and Cape Flora journey
for food
for fuel
hunting and killing of
lack of sightings of
meat of
and Nansen-Johansen expedition
and polynya crossing
and rationale for Saint Anna voyage
and Saint Foka voyage
and sightings of land
and southward drift of Albanov
expedition
Sedov expedition
Albanov’s knowledge about
on Cape Flora
departure of
Kushakov summary about
and rescue of Albanov and Konrad
searches for
See also Saint Foka
Shackleton, Sir Ernest
Shlensky (harpooner)
Shpakovsky, Yevgeni
Albanov’s hallucination about
on Alexandra Land
and Bayev’s death
and Cape Flora journey
death of
health of
Konrad’s quarrels with
as member of Albanov expedition
as scout
Skobelev, Mr.
Sledges
Albanov’s concerns about
building of
and departure of Albanov expedition
discussions about abandoning
disintegration of
horse-drawn
of Nansen
and preparations for Albanov expedition
pulling of
repair of
sacrificing of
weight of loads for
Smirennikov, Pavel
and Arhireyev’s death
and Cape Flora journey
Konrad’s search for
and loss of rifle
as member of Albanov expedition
as missing
Saint Foka search for
and sightings of land
Smith, Leigh
Smoking
Snow blindness
of Albanov
on Alexandra Land
and early days of Albanov expedition
onset of
and sightings of land
and southward drift of Albanov
expedition
Stella Polare
Svalbard
Sverdrup, Otto
Telegrams, sending of
Thieves
Tin box, discovery of
Tobacco
Tropical fruit hallucination
Vardo, Norway
Vitamin A overdose
Vitamin B
Vize, V.
Vladivostok
“Waiting camp”
Walrus
on Alexandra Land
attacks by
on Cape Flora
and Cape Flora journey
as dangerous
description of.
as fuel for Saint Foka
as hazard of Albanov expedition
hunting of
and Nansen’s expedition
on Northbrook Island
and original plans for Saint Anna
polar bears compared to
and rationale for Saint Anna voyage
and rescue of Albanov and Konrad
and sightings of land
as tame and lazy
Weyprecht Bay
Whales
“White death”
White Island
White Sea
Whitsunday
Windward, Jackson expedition on
Women, on Arctic expeditions
Worcester Glacier
World War I
Yamal Peninsula
Yenisei River
Zhdanko, Yerminiya
Ziegler (William) Expedition
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
VALERIAN IVANOVICH ALBANOV was born in 1881 in the city of Voronezh, near the Don River in central Russia, some three hundred miles south of Moscow. His father, a veterinarian, died when Albanov was a young child, so he was raised by an uncle who lived in Ufa, a port on the Belaya River in the southwestern Urals. Mesmerized by seafaring tales from an early age, Albanov embarked on his first maritime adventure while still a schoolboy, but was forced to return home when his small craft sank. Though his uncle wanted him to become an engineer, Albanov was determined to study navigation, and at the age of seventeen he entered the Naval College at St. Petersburg. During the four years he spent as a student there, he supported himself by building scale models of ships. Upon graduation in 1904, Albanov trained on various vessels in the Baltic Sea before traveling to Krasnoyarsk in central Siberia, where he sailed down the Yenisei River to the Kara Sea as a first officer on the steamer Ob. From 1909 through 1911 he made numerous voyages between Arkhangel’sk and British ports aboard the steamship Kildin.
Then, in 1912, Albanov signed on as navigator of the schooner Saint Anna, under the command of Captain Georgiy Brusilov, bound for Vladivostok across the Northeast Passage—the ill-starred voyage that is recounted so vividly in these pages. Even before Albanov and Alexander Konrad fought their way back to civilization and told of the plight of their icebound shipmates, a number of search parties (including one headed by the seasoned Arctic explorer Otto Sverdrup) set out to find the Saint Anna but failed to turn up any trace of the ship. In October 1914 Albanov met the hydrographer Leonid Breitfuss, who persuaded him to write an account of the astounding ordeal he had just endured. Albanov’s memoir, originally titled Naiug, k Zemle Frantsa Iosifa (Southbound to Franz Josef Land), was published in St. Petersburg in 1917, on the eve of the October Revolution, as an appendix to the journal Zapisok po gidrografii (Notes on Hydrography). Various editions of the work subsequently appeared in Russian as Mezhdu zhizniu i smertiu (Between Life and Death, 1925), Zateriannye vo ldakh (Lost in the Ice, 1934 and 1978), and Podvigi shturmana V. I. Albanova (The Exploits of the Navigator V. I. Albanov, 1953). It was also translated into German as Irrfahrten im Lande des weissen Todes (Travels in the Land of White Death, 1925) and later into French as Au pays de la mort blanche (In the Land of White Death, 1928 and 1998). More recently, Albanov’s post-expedition letters were published in the journal Letopis severa (Northern Memoirs; Moscow, 1985, 11:174–81).
Despite his harrowing escape from the Saint Anna, Albanov continued going to sea. For a ti
me he served with his fellow survivor Konrad aboard the Canada, an ice-breaker that serviced the port of Arkhangel’sk. Following a brief stay in a military hospital in St. Petersburg, he also sailed on ships from the Baltic ports of Tallinn and Haapsalu, and from Krasnoyarsk on the Yenisei River. Valerian Albanov died in the fall of 1919. By some accounts he succumbed to typhoid; other sources report that he was killed when a munitions wagon exploded as he was passing through a railway station in the Siberian town of Achinsk.
On the thirtieth anniversary of Albanov’s death, the noted Russian geographer and Arctic explorer Vladimir Vize (who was aboard the Saint Foka when that ship rescued Albanov) paid him this tribute in the journal Letopis severa (Northern Memoirs; Moscow, 1949, 1:279–81): “Albanov owed his survival to his personal qualities: bravery, energy, and strong will. . . . His book, with its intriguing drama and fascinating simplicity and sincerity, is among the most prominent writings about the Arctic in Russian literature.”
In 1975, Arctic expert William Barr wrote, “The name of Valerian Ivanovich Albanov must be ranked among those of the immortals of polar exploration.”
THE MODERN LIBRARY EDITORIAL BOARD
Maya Angelou
•
Daniel J. Boorstin
•
A. S. Byatt
•
Caleb Carr
•
Christopher Cerf
•
Ron Chernow
•
Shelby Foote
•
Stephen Jay Gould
•
Vartan Gregorian
•
Charles Johnson
•
Jon Krakauer
•
Edmund Morris
•
Joyce Carol Oates
•
Elaine Pagels
•
John Richardson
•
Salman Rushdie
•
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
•
Carolyn See
•
William Styron
•
Gore Vidal
2000 Modern Library Edition
English translation and About the Author
copyright © 2000 by Random House, Inc.
Preface copyright © 2000 by Jon Krakauer
Introduction copyright © 2000 by David Roberts
Maps copyright © 2000 by David Lindroth, Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to William Barr for permission to incorporate some material from his largely unpublished English translation of In the Land of White Death by Valerian Albanov.
Copyright © 2000 by William Barr. Used by permission.
Modern Library is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.
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