Ingolfur Snorri Karlsson [Karlsson - How the Vikings conquered Galapagos

Ingolfur Snorri Karlsson

How the Vikings conquered Galapagos

All rights in this book are reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. Copyright 2013 by Ingolfur Snorri Karlsson

CONTENT

- Norwegian Castaways

- Viking Dreams of a warmer Climate

- Journalists from Norway on Floreana

- La Compania de Floreana

- A Ship called Floreana

- A new Viking Colony was established

- Back in Norway

- Norwegians on Santa Cruz

- Ulva

- Harry Randall's Galapagos Expedition

- Campo Noruego on San Christobal

- Phantom Expeditions

- Captain Bruun

- The Tragedy of Trygve Nuggerud

- Stampa, Guldberg and the End of the Vikings in Galapagos

When the bark Alexandra from Norway was missed in the Pacific Ocean near Galapagos in 1907, Norwegian newspaper articles reported more thoroughly than many others about the archipelago. They told phantastic stories about palm groves and a south-sea paradise and claimed that the country still was not lacking in good old Viking spirit. As a result, many Norwegians emigrated to Galapagos. A modern Viking adventure started. But unfortunately they all failed!

The bar k . Alexandra from Kristiania has drifted for three monthsthree endless long months of calm and inactivity. Never has Captain Emil Petersen from Mandal or the 19 other men aboard experienced anything like this. For sure, not many of them have much sailing experience. Petersen himself has plowed the same route across the Pacific for six years, but a fair number of the crew are young people. In recent years it has been considerably more difficult to enlist an experienced crew. Alexandra is made of steel, thus slightly modern but still a pure sailing ship, a three-masted barque. But with few exceptions, Norwegian sailors prefer working aboard modern steamers. The oldest name for the Norwegian capital was Oslo, but in the 1300s it was changed to Christiania. In the 1800s the spelling was changed to Kristiania and then back to Oslo in 1925. Petersen would turn bitter when he recalled how most of his best sailors left him and signed on with the noisy smoke-spewing competitors.He shields his eyes from the stinging sun, which is now right over the top of the mast. Everywhere there are blue skies with scarcely a cloud to be seen. Soon it is half-past twelve. The horizon lies hazy and fuzzy in the muggy heat. Nonetheless he takes the sun's elevation with his sextant and confirms his worst fear: they have drifted far to the northwest during the past 24 hours and are 20 nautical miles farther away from Ecuador and the South American coast. Imagine, they had this coast in sight more than three months ago! The sails and pennants hang lifeless. Only now and then do they stir when a swell causes a little movement of the ship. The rigging creaks sorrowfully, accurately reflecting Petersen's own feelings. Only God knows how often the skipper recalls the fateful delay at Newcastle, Australia. And the cause was simply that he could not round up a crew as quickly as on previous occasions when he prepared for the same sailing trip to Panam. Consequently, they remained in port nearly one month too long. Although it was over a year ago that the ship put into dock for scraping and caulking, the hull was not in too bad shape before the delay at Newcastle. But on the first day at sea Petersen realized that the ship's bottom was encrusted. Even with a good breeze it was impossible to exceed a speed of more than 7 knots. Anyway, in the roaring forties the ship progressed eastward toward South America. In a storm east of New Zealand, one of Alexandra's sails blew out because the crew was tardy in making it secure; but otherwise the sailing had gone smoothly and safely on the correct course all the time. There were some minor disciplinary problems but none so severe that the officers could not quickly restore peace and quiet. And now, after 163 days at sea, the hull is so overgrown with seaweed and goose-necked barnacles that below the waterline Alexandra resembles an intertidal rock more than a ship. The stern is especially bad. Petersen can see it when the ship rolls and a four to five inch long beard smacks the surface of the water. The vessel seems to be firmly attached to the sea! Without a favorable breeze, the Humboldt Current is the absolute ruler. Daily it pushes Alexandra 20 nautical miles or more in the wrong direction. The mood aboard ship is not good. A couple of weeks after they were driven away from the enticing coastline, there was a mutinous state among the sailors. Part of the crew demanded one of the lifeboats so they might row ashore. It did not help to discourage them by explaining that what they intended to do was suicidal; that nobody could successfully row 400-500 nautical miles against the current. In fact, Petersen had to take out his revolver in order to bring the men to their senses. But soon even Petersen's loyalty to the shipping line of Johanson & Co. at Kristiania begins to weaken. Soon life will be endangered whether or not one stays aboard. To literally sail into starvation is not a pleasant prospect. From calculations made on the 7th of May, 1907, Petersen knows that the Galpagos Islands are just beyond the horizon. He keeps a lookout to the north but the haze limits visibility to barely 15 nautical miles. In every direction he has the same disheartening, unbroken panorama of sea and sky, sky and sea. The same morning the steward, Gabriel Abrahamsenwho like the captain is from Mandaltells him privately that there remain less than 100 liters (26 gallons) of drinking water. Confound it! Petersen looks at the glittering surface of the sea. Never has he used more than 70 days on this stretch. Being a conscientious person, he had ordered double rations of water and provisions to be put aboard. But who would have thought that Alexandra would drift for months like a phantom ship? Normally, visibility at sea is best in the early morning. Captain Petersen is not surprised when at five thirty the next morning he sees the profiles of several islands to the north. He has already discussed the matter with his second mate, the Scotsman Morrison. He also informs the cook Abrahamsen that he is thinking of abandoning the ship. Together they bring all the remaining water and provisions on deck in the shade of an awning. There is a short meeting with the crew. The officers explain the situation, point to the outlines of land, explaining that these are the Galpagos Islands, and read aloud what is written about the islands in the manual South America Pilot. The crew is informed that from earlier times the islands were well known to pirates and whalers. The old Spaniards gave the islands the nickname Las Islas Encantadas the enchanted islandsbecause of the currents which gave the impression that the islands kept moving. The manual also states that there are fish and tortoises in abundance. Some islands have fruit trees remaining on abandoned plantations, and in the highlands of these islands may be found sources of fresh water. Such an island is the one that is nearest, Floreana, 35 nautical miles east-northeast. The only island with permanent inhabitants is San Cristbal, still farther to the northeast. In actual fact, there was at this time a settlement on Isabela too. Now that the captain has resigned, the crew hesitates no longer. All of them decide to row to Floreana, obtain provisions and then continue to San Cristbal. The pile of provisions on deck is pitifully small. It is divided into two portions, one portion stowed aboard each of the two lifeboats together with 20 liters of water. Nine men follow the first mate in one boat, the remaining nine follow the captain into the other. All the Norwegians are in the latter boat. In addition to Petersen they are Abrahamsen the steward, both from Mandel, another steward and the ship's carpenter Herman Karlsen, both from Botne in Vestfold. Before they abandon Alexandra, they write a message in several languages, explaining the circumstances, and nail it to the deck. Then they hoist the Norwegian flag on the mizzen mast and light the lanterns. After this they leave Alexandra to herself. The vessel is in good shape and with a full cargo of 2300 tons of coal aboard. The rowboat with the first mate manages to reach Floreana in three days. The seamen procure food and water and continue on to the inhabited island of San Cristbal where they arrive in good shape on May 19th. From San Cristbal they obtain passage to Guayaquil on the Ecuadorian mainland with the schooner Manuel J. Cobos. At the Norwegian consulate they file an official report. The first mate explains that the two boats kept together for two days and nights before they lost sight of each other. His guess is that the captain's boat drifted off and landed on Isabela or Santa Cruz. An Ecuadorian naval ship is sent to the Galpagos to look for the missing sailors. Near Iguana Cove at the southwest point of Isabela, they find the Alexandra wrecked and broken in two. But the afterdeck of the ship is still dry and standing upright on its keel, the Norwegian flag waving defiantly in the breeze. They find no other sign of humans, and when the naval vessel returns to the continent, the ten missing sailors are declared perished. But at home in Mandal, Petersen's relatives fear that the search was not thorough enough. Another person from Mandal, Hans Erichsen in Chile, becomes involved in the matter. He has prospered so handsomely through the country's saltpeter mines that he can afford to charter the small schooner Isadora Jacinta to undertake a more thorough search. The skipper is a German named Bohnhoff. He knows the island localities, and his schooner is easy to maneuver in shallow waters. Bohnhoff and his Isadora Jacinta do a thorough job. After searching three other islands, the schooner arrives at Santa Cruz where eight of the ten shipwrecked sailors are found alive. By now, the men from Alexandra have suffered half a year of the most uncomfortable Robinson Crusoe existence. The two who died are young Fred Jeff from the USA and a German, Martin Schaeffer. The eight survivors are in wretched condition and cannot get away from the island fast enough. While they eat and drink to regain strength, they describe their sufferings under the equatorial sun. On the third night, when they lost contact with the other boat, they drifted off course, going too far north. At dawn, when they realized their situation, they first tried to row against the current in an effort to reach Floreana as planned. For several days they persisted before giving up and then headed for Santa Cruz instead. On the twelfth day they reached shore. They managed to land their boat on a small beach between black fissured lava rocks, but were so weak that they could barely crawl around in a desperate search for something to drink. No one had strength enough to drag the boat higher up the beach. When they returned after drinking dirty rainwater found amidst the thorn scrub, it was too late. The high tide had moved the boat. It was already wrecked, and practically all their fishing gear, guns, and other equipment was destroyed or lost. Six months of indescribable misery will follow. They make the mistake of remaining in the cactus-studded coastal region of the island. Here they will never find fresh water or the fruits that grow in the interior of the island. For the most part they live on marine turtles, which they kill when the animals crawl up on the beach after sunset. During the first days ashore, the Captain carries Alexandra's gold in a money belt around his waist; but this proves too heavy and uncomfortable. Some days later he decides to bury the goldvalued at 600 pounds Sterlingon one of the beaches. Several of the crew are present as witnesses so as to be sure they can locate the hiding place at a later time. When Isadora Jacinta picked up the bearded and emaciated crew, nobody remembered to retrieve the money belt. It was only in Guayaquil ten days later that one of the crew suddenly jumped up from his chair screaming, The Gold! The Gold! As far as is known, the gold still rests in peace out of reach of Norwegians and countless others who have later tried to locate Petersen's money belt. Thus Norwegians made their first sacrifice to the ancient Galpagos dieties. It would not be their last.