KABLOONAS

KABLOONAS
Burial of John Franklin. Author: me

KABLOONAS

Kabloonas is the way in which the Inuit who live in the north part of Canada call those who haven´t their same ascendency.

The first time i read this word was in the book "Fatal Passage" by Ken McGoogan, when, as the result of the conversations between John Rae and some inuit, and trying to find any evidence of the ill-fated Sir John Franklin Expedition, some of then mentioned that they watched how some kabloonas walked to die in the proximities of the river Great Fish.

I wish to publish this blog to order and share all those anecdotes that I´ve been finding in the arctic literature about arctic expeditions. My interest began more than 15 years ago reading a little book of my brother about north and south pole expeditions. I began reading almost all the bibliography about Antarctic expeditions and the superknown expeditions of Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton, etc. After I was captured by the Nansen, Nobile and Engineer Andree. But the most disturbing thing in that little book, full of pictures, was the two pages dedicated to the last Franklin expedition of the S.XIX, on that moment I thought that given the time on which this and others expeditions happened, few or any additional information could be obtained about it. I couldn´t imagine that after those two pages It would be a huge iceberg full of stories, unresolved misteries, anecdotes, etc. I believe that this iceberg, on the contrary than others, would continue growing instead melting.



jueves, 15 de marzo de 2012

LOS DUROS HOMBRES DE LAS ISLAS ORCADAS/ THE HARD ORKNEY MEN


En la Narración del viaje a las costas del mar polar de 1819. J.F describe el comportamiento de los hombres de que le acompañaban y que había reclutado en las Orcadas, cosa bastante frecuente en aquellos tiempos, de la siguiente manera:

"No es fácil para nadie, excepto para el testigo visual, hacerse una adecuada idea de los esfuerzos de los marineros (o barqueros) de las Orcadas en la navegación de este rio. La necesidad de saltar frecuentemente al agua para levantar los botes sobre las rocas les obliga a permanecer todo el día con la ropa mojada, en la época en la que las temperaturas caen muy por debajo de cero grados. Las inmensas cargas que además,  transportan durante los porteos no sorprende más que la prontitud con la que ejecutan su laborioso trabajo."

Hay que añadir que en diferentes partes del libro, en el tramo de la ruta en el que se produce este comentario, se mencionan temperaturas extremas que llegan en algunos párrafos a 35 grados bajo cero. Y en una ocasión incluso llegó al extremo inferior de su escala donde no podía medir más allá.

On the Narrative of the journey to the shores of the arctic sea of 1819, John Franklin describes the behaviour of the men that accompanied him and which he had recruited on the Orkney Islands, a very frequent thing  that time, on this way:


"It is not easy for any but an eye-witness to form an adecuate idea of the exertions of the Orkney boatmen in the navigation of this river. The necessity they are under of frequently jumping into the water to lift the boats over the rocks, compels them to remain the whole day in wet clothes at a season  where the temperature is far below the frozing point"
It is necessary adding that on different parts of the book, in the same part of the route in which this comment is made, it is mentioned extreme temperatures that reach 35 º C below zero. And in one ocassion it reach even that point that was impossible to read the measure.