TRAPPERS 5 



sent to transfer them to Archangel. This 

 vessel disappeared at sea, and an enormous ice- 

 berg, which had remained floating to the west- 

 ward of Spitzbergen throughout the summer, 

 prevented other vessels from bringing relief 

 to the trappers. At the same time this berg 

 drove southwards the seals and birds on which 

 the hunters might have sustained themselves 

 during the winter. In the month of August, 

 several Norwegian fishermen, who had also 

 failed to embark, came to the Russian station 

 seeking succour. They found all the trappers 

 dead. Fourteen had been buried by their 

 companions, two lay before the door of the hut, 

 inside were the remaining two, one on the floor, 

 the other on the bed. On the body of the latter, 

 who had acted as leader and who could write, 

 was discovered a note-book which contained a 

 detailed account of the awful sufferings of those 

 who had died one after the other of hunger and 

 scurvy. The leader was the last to succumb, 

 and he had died only a few days before the arrival 

 of the Norwegian sailors. The sailors took 

 advantage of the loosened ice towards the end 

 of August, met the ship sent to the relief of the 

 Russians, and returned to Hamburg with the 

 note-book referred to. When Lamont visited 

 the place eight years later, he found the hut 



