The Sea Tales of Master Catrame - The Ghosts Of The Northern Seas - Sixth Story of 13

    

The Sea Tales of Master Catrame

THE GHOSTS OF THE NORTHERN SEAS

MEMO

The following text may present outdated depictions that are in no way or form shared by the translator themself, and neither are they shared by the original author of these stories.

Please understand that these stories' depictions are a depiction of their time.

A good translator strives to transfer the originality, tone, and idea of a text from its language of birth to its guest language, all the while respecting the intent and style of the original author. 

These translated texts do not intend to bring offense, but just to share the adventures 

written by Captain Emilio Salgari. 

Adventures inspired by his love for traveling around the world, especially to far, foreign lands, his passion for ships and sailing in general, as well as his endless curiosity about other cultures and what's out there, beyond the horizon line.

VOCABULARY

papa = pet name for one's grandfather (or grandfather figure, in this case). (Source. 11.12.2025)

master (mariner) = a sailor who is qualified to be a captain of a merchant ship. (Source. 04.11.2025)

have someone clapped (or cast) in irons = to put one in jail, often abruptly. "Irons" refers to shackles or handcuffs. (Source. 30.10.2025)

beak (or ram) = A beam, shod or armed at the end with a metal head or point, and projecting from the prow* of an ancient galley, used as a ram to pierce the vessel of an enemy. (Source. 09.02.2026)

*prow = may be used as a synonym for the more commonly used term, bow**, but it can also mean the most forward part of the bow that is above the waterline (the waterline is where the body of a ship meets the water). (Source. 17.10.2025).

**bow = the most forward point of a boat or ship. (Source. 17.10.2025).

topman = the man stationed in the top on a sailing vessel, responsible for the setting of the sails. (Source. 15.01.2026)

mast = a tall, slim post or tower, usually tapering upward, used to support, for example, sails or observation platforms on a ship. (Source. 02.12.2025)

*mast (alternative definition) = a tall spar**, or arrangement of spars, erected vertically or near-vertically on the median line of a ship or boat. A mast may carry sails, spars, and derricks***. (Source. 19.01.2026)

**spar = a pole of wood or metal used in the rigging**** of a sailing vessel to carry or support its sail. (Source. 28.10.2025).

***derrick = a device that is used for lifting and moving large objects. (Source. 19.01.2026)

****rigging = term used for the system of ropes, cables, and chains, which support and control the sailing ship's masts and sails. (Source. 28.10. 2025).

brigantine = a two-masted vessel, square-rigged on the foremast, but fore-and-aft-rigged mainsail with a square-rig above it on the mainmast. (Source. 13.11.2025)

stern = the rear of the hulls* of all nautical means of transportation. (Source. 02.12.2025)

*hull = the body or frame of a vessel, such as a ship or plane. (Source. 29.11.2025)

prow = may be used as a synonym for the more commonly used term, bow*, but it can also mean the most forward part of the bow that is above the waterline (the waterline is where the body of a ship meets the water). (Source. 17.10.2025).

*bow = the most forward point of a boat or ship. (Source. 17.10.2025).

sheet = a line (rope) used to adjust the trim of a sail. (Source. 21.04.2026)

foresail (or fore-course) = (nautical, on a square-rigged ship) the lowest (and usually the largest) square sail hung on the foremast. (Source. 02.12.2025)

gunwale (or gunnel (alternative spelling of gunwale)) = the top edge of the hull of a nautical vessel, at or above where the hull meets the deck. (Source 1. 21.04.2026) (Source 2. 21.04.2026)

quintal = an unofficial metric unit equal to 100 kg. (Source. 25.04.2026)

bulwark = the planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale* that reduces the likelihood of seas washing over the gunwales and people being washed overboard. (Source. 27.04.2026)

gunwale* (or gunnel (alternative spelling of gunwale)) = the top edge of the hull of a nautical vessel, at or above where the hull meets the deck. (Source 1. 21.04.2026) (Source 2. 21.04.2026)

have someone clapped (or cast) in irons = to put one in jail, often abruptly. "Irons" refers to shackles or handcuffs. (Source. 30.10.2025)

🌊👻🚢

On the fifth evening the former king of the savages had not shown up on deck. He had climbed up on deck at lunchtime, devoured his helping with the appetite of an old shark, then, noticing that the sea kept its usual calm and that the wind was stable, holed back up in his lair, taking with him a large portions of biscuits and the leftovers from his lunch.

The crew, starting to acquire a taste for those more or less fantastical narrations, gathered early around the barrel, competing for the first row; but papa Catrame hadn't shown up. Was he ill or had he slightly drank more than usual? Nobody could tell, because the old sea bear never told us; and the cabin attendant, whom we had sent in the cargo hold to check up on him and let us know what was up, came back up on deck with his face clobbered by a slipper thrown straight at him.

We kept waiting until nine, then until ten, but uselessly. Some, despite the superstitious terror that that strange old man instilled in them and the ugly welcome given to the cabin attendant, dared to descend and go to the cargo hold; but they couldn't tell us anything except for the fact that the sea bear was snoring like a badger, rather, like an off-pitch contrabass.

The captain, whom cared deeply about his master and would close one eye or even both when it came to his oddities, commanded that he would be left alone that evening.

"His tongue must be tired.", he laughed."By Bacchus!* He talked much more all these evenings than he did in his entire life."

Everyone obeyed, but a deep discontent reigned on board, and the men on guard duty were annoyed to death, especially the ones who had gotten the first watch, whom had gotten used to spend it around the barrel of the old sailor.

The next day papa Catrame showed up again on deck at lunchtime; but this time, too, took with him the leftovers from lunch and went to hide at the bottom of the cargo hold. Evening come, he had shown no signs of life.

"Ah! You scoundrel!", the captain exclaimed."Does this wise guy think that he's finished his punishment? Hey! Two men, go down to the cargo hold and tell the master that, if he doesn't come untie his tongue, I'll have him cast in irons for the remainder of the other eight days. Go!"

Ten minutes later, papa Catrame was once more sitting on top of the barrel, surrounded by the whole crew, eager to listen to the fifth story.

The master was in a bad mood and had surely only obeyed because of the fear of the captain actually following through with his threat of having him cast in irons. Thus, we weren't expecting a cheerful tale; we could read it in the eyes of the narrator.

"Is your tongue ready?", the captain asked, in a severe tone of voice.

Papa Catrame nodded.

"Speak, then!"

The master bent his head towards his chest in order to focus, while a religious silence fell around him; he searched and searched around in his mind for a few minutes, then, squinting his eyes, asked:

"Have you ever gone to the polar regions?"

Nobody answered, except for the captain, whom mumbled a yes.

"I see", papa Catrame resumed sarcacastically."Challenging the deep cold of the Arctic or Antartic is something that appeals to none of you. Fine sailors that you are, by Bacchus! Constipations made you afraid...! Lalala! Lalala! Modern sailors tremble in fear in front of a white bear and don't dare confront the polar ghosts...! The ghosts of the Pole...! That's the title of my fifth novella, and if it doesn't suit you, good night to you all, and I'm off to the cargo hold."

"Easy, papa Catrame", the captain said."Tonight you will not go to sleep in your lair before you will have narrated your fifth novella, unless you would like to sleep with a pair of handcuffs. Come now, whether it's about ghosts or elves, bears or wolves, keep going, because we're all listening. Hey, you, cabin attendant, pour a good ol' glass of wine for our narrator and bring him a dozen of those thick Manilla** cigars, so that he gives up his frown and shows a face that's much more similar to a Christian, a fellow man. Goodness gracious! You look awfully grim tonight, my dear sea bear."

The old master, whose mood was quite dark, was slightly pacified; he was visibly satisfied as he emptied the captain's Cipro*** wine, and lit up one of those delicious cigars, swallowing and burping true dark clouds of smoke.

"The Arctic Pole!", he resumed."Who doesn't feel a shiver down the spine upon approaching that mysterious ocean, covered in immense fields of ice, shining in the passionate glares of the polar lights and covered in those heavy, frozen thick fogs, which seem to open up with great difficulty in the face of the sharp beak of the ships?

It's over there, in those desolate solitudes, where no plant grows on those islands, that the night prevails continuously for six months; it is from there that those immense fields of ice break off and that the currents carry to the coasts of Norway and even to those of Scotland and Ireland; it is there where they ice the wine, the petroleum, the brandy and even the mercury, and not just the noses, but even the hands and feet of the unfortunate sailors that dare to venture in those high latitudes or pushed by the avidity of profit or by the love of science or by the powerful curiosity of lifting up the veil that surrounds that mysterious spot called the Pole; lastly, it is over there that sometimes huge, wandering shadows can be seen amidst the thick fogs and snow, where immense, oddly-shaped animals and enormous ghosts appear, passing by the ships and in front of the terrified crews; where in the whistling of the wind of the polar lights one can hear screams, horrific bellows, scary roars that no one will ever know from which animal they came from, but which the legends of the Nordic people ascribe to the mages that surround the mysterious spot, that spot that cost the life of so many sailors from all nations from around the world and whom now sleep the sleep of eternity under the fields of ice, in the bosom of that scary ocean."

"Honestly!", a young topman exclaimed."You're giving me goose bumps, papa Catrame! What a lugubrious tale!"

The old bear let out a threatening grunt and angrily waved his hands. Had the topman been closer, he would've found out just how heavy his hands were.

"Jackass!", the old man grumbled. "If you interrupt me one more time, I'll teach you to respect your master. What is this! Have I become your buffoon, maybe...? You stomach of a whale! If..."

"Hey now, papa Catrame, that's enough!", the captain interjected. "Tonight you bite too much. Resume the story; as for the rest of you... keep quiet, or you'll end up taking a bath."

The imprudent topman quickly retreated behind a mast, his eyes cast downwards; but the irascible master kept grumbling for two more minutes before returning to his tragic narration.

"You must know, therefore, that I had boarded a brigantine, whose purpose was to explore who-knows-what islands in the Arctic Ocean, in order to track down two ships that had gotten lost over there together with their respective crews and an admiral that was guiding them towards the Pole.

"That admiral... Might it have been... Admiral Franklin?", the captain asked, starting to be rather attentive to the story.

"I think that was his exact name, yes.", papa Catrame answered.

"In that case, you must've gone in search of the Erebus, and, of the Terror**** or of their scraps."

"Yes, yes, that's precisely what they were calling them.", the master replied, after a moment's consideration. "But that doesn't matter, even more so because we hadn't found either one, and had returned home half dead from the cold, all of us ill from scurvy*****, actually not all of us, since two or three were taken away by the ghosts from the Pole."

The captain burst in a merry laugh.

"You're laughing!", papa Catrame exclaimed in utmost astonishment. "Could it be that you have never heard about those gigantic ghosts? All the sailors that ventured in those gelid and deserted regions saw them, and even the sailors that had never set foot beyond the Arctic Circle know about them, since the Nordic populations have been talking about them for on and on for centuries."

"I know that", the captain answered, still laughing. "In fact, I will admit myself to have seen immense monsters, scary ghosts, and so much more."

"And you still don't believe in them?"

"Continue your tale, for now; let's see what do the sailors have to say about those scary apparitions."

Papa Catrame shook his head in such a way that it made everyone laugh, at the same time making a gesture full of commiseration at the captain's disbelief, then slowly resumed:

"Having left Liverpool's port, we headed North, and the wind had been so favourable that twenty two days later we found ourselves on a vast sea, that geographers called Baffin Bay******. Seriously! Can you believe this?! As if a sea should be called bay!... Yet, it is the way things are and I certainly won't be the one to fix things and put them in their proper place and where they ought to be.

But let's put that issue aside and proceed forward at full speed ahead. I'm not able to explain to you with exact precision where your ship was when, one evening, a fog so thick fell down on the sea that the men from the stern couldn't discern any object that was at nose length from them and those from the bow couldn't discern the sheet of the foresail that, as you all know, is tied to the gunwale that is at the bow.

Up until that point the crew had taken on the cold and the ice with a lot of courage, nothing out of the ordinary having happened during that first month of the voyage; but that evening, a collective anxiety reigned on board, having news spread that were going in search of two crews that had died in the middle of those deserts******* of snow and ice. The older sailors, whether because they were scared or because they wanted to test the young ones' bravery, uncorked about lugubrious polar legends, frightening tales that did a lot more than just cause goosebumps, to quote the topman's earlier comment. Hundreds of dwarves and giants came to the surface, followed by the horrendous monsters that lived in the boreal abysses, good and evil sea genies, whom were long-bearded and covered in long-haired skins; then about the sailors whom had died in those regions, that were lurking about in those thick fogs, and adding more and more such things as they went on.

Be that as it may, once that thick fog descended, a clear terror rose among the men of the crew, especially since, in the ancient Nordic legends, it is said that it is during such moments that sorcerers, castaways, and monsters appear. I, on the other hand, who had a tendency not to believe in such things, was keeping my wits about me and was doing nothing more than trying to warm myself up with a few, good glasses of brandy and gin, hard alcohols that were abundant aboard that American sailing ship. Meanwhile, the fog kept getting thicker and thicker as it descended, and heavier and heavier, as if it was intent on crushing us, and to top it all off, in the middle of that dark atmosphere, the wind whistled and howled above our heads, between the masts, yards, and riggings. From time to time, dull bellows echoed on the gelid sea, and large waves would come break themselves against the sides of our ship with a prolonged roaring.

I think those were from the chunks of ice that were capsizing; but the sailors, whose fright grew more and more by the minute, were murmuring that they belonged to the dead sailors of the the two shipwrecks or to the sorcerers of the polar region or to the kings of the sea. 

I must confess to you that between seeing that thick fog becoming heavier and heavier, hearing those bellows and howls, I, too, was starting to feel something more than anxiety and in some moments, I could feel my heart tightening more and more.

Sometime after a midnight, not too long after, here suddenly comes, out of nowhere and across that cold and heavy fog, something akin to a sanguineous light that would flash here and there, sometimes intensifying itself and other times brusquely diminishing itself, as if it was about to go out. What could it have been? I wouldn't be able to tell you, even though our captain kept insisting and reassuring us that it was an aurora borealis that was emerging from beyond the thick, heavy fog. Even now, I struggle to believe it, seeing as, whatever the monsieur scientists may say, I have never seen an aurora borealis of that kind, moving as if it had a tarantula on it."

"Ah! Papa Catrame!", the captain exclaimed.

"Wait, my good sir", the master answered as serious as he could be. "Even though that blood-coloured light had a certain effect on us, we weren't too frightened by it, as it was quite far, or at least it seemed that way. The real trouble came afterwards.

I had gone to the stern in order to light up my pipe, when I heard a great racket come from the bow, well, less a racket and more like terrified shouts.

"Captain! Captain!", some were shouting.

"Every man for himself!", others shouted.

"The lions...! The elephants...! The sea monsters...!"

I made a ran for the bow and in doing so I witnessed a sight that I will never forget, should I live even forever.

On a steep coastline, which was also being dyed red by the mysterious light, I saw heading towards the sea a huge monster, ten meters high, at least, with an immense tail, whose far end was wiping out the snow, and whose mouth was so vast that it could eat two men in a single bite. Behind that one, I saw several others, all of them enormously big, galloping in gigantic jumps towards us and lining up on the beach. I counted them: there were thirteen of them, keep well aware of that, thirteen!

We were all stunned from fright, as pale as ghosts, with our hairs standing up straight, eyes wide and speechless. What kind of monsters were those? Could they be the gigantic monsters that nearly all the Nordic legends talk about, or a different, more voracious species? I know that at the Pole or in the areas surrouding it there are polar bears, wolves, (Arctic) foxes, muskoxen*********;  but I wasn't aware of other animals living there, especially of that size...!"

The master looked at the captain, to check on his face expression, and us, too, looked at him: he was laughing, as calmly as he could!

"You don't believe me?", the old master asked, launching a powerful punch on the edge of the barrel. "I was anything but drunk!"

"I believe you, papa Catrame, and in all actuality, I am sure that you have seen with your very own eyes those monsters: but you go on and let me laugh at my leisure."

"Belly of a seal!"

"Don't get irritated, grumpy old bear; carry on."

"Those nasty animals remained on the shore for a few minutes, watching us and wagging their immeasurable tails, as if they were driven by the desire to and devour us all, something truly not difficult for those enormous mouths; then, I don't know if they got scared by another, stronger animal or something, but they turned around and disappeared with an amazing speed into the sanguine atmosphere.

I wouldn't be able to tell you for how long we had remained unable to utter a single word, that's how deep the fear inside us ran. We beeseched our captain to leave that coast, fearing a sudden return of those monsters, assuring him that they were sent by the sorcerers that watched over the Pole; but he shrugged his shoulders and threatened to cast us in irons if we kept speaking such nonsense...! Nonsense, he said...! Belly of a seal...! If those animals had set foot on deck, who knows what kind of meal they would have made out of us. Truly, it is known that the incredulous have always existed, and those types never lend their ear to the legends of the sea.

But the sorcerers of the Pole didn't lose time in proving that Mr. Captain wrong, thus demonstrating by way of events their existence and their immense power.

Sure enough, half an hour later, in the middle of that light that was leaping every moment from the North-West to the North-East, with a strange vibration, as if an impetuous wind was blowing behind it, suddenly two huge ships showed up, fifty metres long at least, manned by two giants taller than thirty arms' length, whom were holding in their hands two huge, double-bladded oars. Their limbs were covered in long hair, their heads by a hairy hood, and in the front of those colossal ships, something similar to a whaler's harpoon was attached; but what a harpoon...! I could be that it was forty metres long at least and that its sharp end alone weighed half a quintal.

They approached our ship, which was completely still in the middle of that thick, heavy fog, then stopped five or six hundred metres away. They nodded towards each other, pointing at our vessel, then drew up in the air some mysterious signs, and shouted to us, with a voice that resembled the growl of an irritated animal: Tombok! tombok! tombok...!

I don't know what those words meant, and nobody ever found out; but there was a peremptory order to turn back, if we didn't want to share the fate of the two ill-fated crews led by the English admiral and keep them company under the eternal ice of the polar ocean.

Seeing that the ship wasn't moving and that we were as white as could be from fright, as well as speechless, they rose their immense harpoons simultaneously, pointing their sharp ends towards us. Woe betide us had they shot them! I am convinced that they would have gone through the armoured sides of our ship with the greatest ease. 

That was a terrifying moment for all of us; it was as if we were nailed to the ground and, regardless how much of an effort we'd put into running away, a mysterious hand was keeping us still, in our respective places; we wanted to shout, but our tongues seemed to be glued to our palate and wouldn't emit anything but inarticulate sounds.

The captain, whom was the only one who wasn't feeling that strange emotion and that kind of paralysis that our limbs and tongue were struck by, seeing the threatening movements of those two giants, drew a pistol and shot at them.

In that moment, an interesting and scary phenomenon took place. The pistol shot seemed as loud as a cannon shot; the two giants turned their boats around and vanished somewhere I don't know, since we couldn't see them anymore; the sanguineous light suddenly went out and the heavy, thick fog wrapped itself bound itself even tighter around our boat as if it wanted to crush the ship or gravitate towards it so much so as to sink it. Then, in the middle of that icy darkness we heard sharp creakings, thuds, violent clashing, and sinister racket that seemed to be produced by mountains of ice breaking and turning upside down, as the ship was being lifted and furiously shaken up by roaring waves, whose foaming crests were rebounding over the bulwark with a thousand roars.

I will always remember that night spent among the ice in the Pole, in that region of ghosts and monsters; a fatal night, at that, seeing as several of our men lost their lives shortly after that. In fact, after that warning, our vessel was caught in the ice, crushed by the pressure that was unmistakenbly coming from the magic arts of those two giants and their thirteen animals. It sunk during a stormy night, among the fog and the snow that were furiously descending on those deserted lands and gelid seas, and several of my crewmates followed it in the depth of those abysses.

I am here to tell the tale of that devastating journey because I had been lucky enough to have been picked up the following year by a Danish whaler from the shore of the Lancaster Canal**********; but those ill-fated men are sleeping right beside the crews of the unfortunate admiral, covered by the eternal ice of the polar ocean, forgotten by all. The sea will roar above their heads, the polar lights will ligh their damp tomb; but no other living creature will probably ever go to such high latitudes as that, in order to bring a flower or shed a tear for the victims of the polar ghosts."

Papa Catrame rose his head, and staring down the captain, said:

"Go on ahead! Laugh, you who don't believe in anything!"

"At the ill-fated men that the sea dragged in its abysses, no, but at your monsters and giants, Papa Catrame, let me have a laugh."

"You don't believe in the Nordic legends, then?"

"No."

"But you, too, have seen monsters and giants in the polar regions?"

"Yes, papa Catrame. Tell me: do you know what a mirage is?"

"Yes, you told me that it makes you see capsized ships, cities upside down, islands that don't exist and..."

"Do you know what the polar mirage is called?"

"A mirage at the Pole...! Eh! C'mon, you must be joking!"

"It is called refraction and this phenomenon is much more common in cold climates rather than in the warm ones, and it has emerge a fox fifty times its size, a boat as big as a battleship, a man as tall as the ghost of Black Forest's Brokken***********, etcetera. The sanguineous light were the polar lights, the thirteen monsters were either wolves or foxes, the two giants were two poor Inuit people mounting their kayaks, whom, just as well as you, were deceived by the refraction and mistook your ship for a huge whale or something similar. Ah! Papa Catrame! The things did our sailors of old believe...! And how many of them!"

The master didn't answer. He made a gesture of commiseration, shook his head several times, muttered something under his breath and left without bidding us a good night. If not for the fear of being directly cast in irons, I am pretty sure he would've called our incredulous captain crazy.

🌊👻🚢

Source of the tale. (27.04.2026)

Between fairy tales and reality: tRANSLATOR'S NOTE

A refraction is the process of redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomenon, but there are other waves such as sound waves and water waves that also experience refraction. How much a wave is refracted is determined by the change in wave speed and the initial direction of wave propagation relative to the direction of change in speed.

Polar mirages are also called hafgerdindar (Norse for sea hedges or sea fences), a term which refers to the circular physical illusion depicting a giant wave similar to those occasionally reported in the Polar sea regions. The term hafgerdingar comes from a 13th-century manuscript called the King’s Mirror (original title: Konungs skuggsjá), which is a dialogue between a father and a son, in which the son, seeking wisdom and understanding, asks his father about the world. 

Though the manuscript contains descriptions of Iceland, Ireland, and Greenland, when the father talks about Greenland, he describes these mysterious sea hedges as follows: “as if all the waves and tempests of the ocean have been collected into three heaps, out of which three billows are formed (…) they are higher than lofty mountains and resemble steep, overhanging cliffs”. 

These sea hedges filled Norse warriors with terror, sometimes making them flee their ships in panic, as they had no way of knowing that what they saw were simply Arctic mirages (also referred to by the Icelandic name hillingar) or images of land located far beyond the horizon.

Hafgerdingars form because the air lying close to cold ground is denser than the warmer air further above and, as such, has a light-bending effect. In short, they are displaced images of distant objects, just like Fata Morgana, which can be observed in the world’s deserts. Mirages are caused by the refraction of light in air layers of varying temperature, and aren't dependent of location.

Arctic mirages are examples of what are called superior mirages, which differ from their desert equivalents in that the light rays bend the opposite way. In case of a desert mirage, the image is upside down and lower than the original object. Hafgerdingars, on the other hand, make the objects appear the right side up but higher than they really are. 

A superior mirage forms by way of he layer of air lying close to the ground being cooler and therefore denser than the layers above it. This makes light rays bend towards the bottom layer, causing a mirror reflection to occur. What the observer sees is an image of an object which in fact lies below his line of sight, beyond the horizon. As a result of atmospheric refraction, or the bending of light-rays in the atmosphere, the objects seem to be “lifted”, which makes them visible from a much greater distance.

An example of an Arctic mirage is the so-called Novaya Zemlya effect (which is the most mysterious, spectacular and rare of examples). It is an illusion of the Sun rising during a polar night, which is a result of an optical channel forming in the lower level of the atmosphere. 

As most mirages, it is caused by significant differences in air temperature over the surface of ice. A strong temperature inversion, with a colder layer of air found underneath a warmer layer, creates favourable conditions for the effect to occur. The inversion layer, however, must be at least 400 km thick, which is extremely rare and which is why the phenomenon has only been witnessed a handful of times. The sunlight is caught under the thermocline, which means it can be observed even though the Sun itself remains below the horizon.

You can see the Novaya Zemlya effect over here (27.04.2026).

You can see another Arctic mirage over here (27.04.2026).

(Source 1. 27.04.2026) (Source 2. 27.04.2026) (Source 3. 27.04.2026)

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*Bacchus (initially known as Dyonisus, later on as Bacchus, a name adopted by the Romans, as well, later on) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. His name is due to a frenzy he is said to induce called baccheia (or bakcheia, a sort of madness meant to free you from your normal self through ecstasy and wine). (Source 1. 22.01.2026) (Source 2. 22.01.2026)

**The correct spelling is Manila cigar; Manilla cigar (with two ls) is what we would consider Salgarian penmanship.

The Manila Cigars that Captain Salgari refers to in this text are most likely the ones made by the Tabacalera lncorporada company, which was founded in 1881, is active to this day in the cigar industry, and it is one of the oldest cigar blends in the world, manufacturing the finest hand-rolled cigars for more than 135 years. The company is based in the Philippine City of Manila since its founding by Antonio Lopez y López in 1881. Though nowadays it is much more widely known as Tabacos de Filipinas (in Spain) and La Tabacalera (in the Philippiness), its original founding name was Compania General de Tabácos de Filipinas S.A. (or Compania de Filipinas (CdF)), La Tabacalera being just its nickname at the time, rather than its actual name. It is only in the present-day that the company switched to Tacabalera Incorporada as its official name. 

(Source 1. 09.02.2026) (Source 2. 09.02.2026)

Note: This is in NO way an encouragement to smoke. This information has been written for purely informational reasons. The author of this blog does not condone the use of cigars. Moreover, in order to access Tabacalera's site, you have to be over 18 years old.

***Cipro is a type of sweet, red wine, that has a sweet-bitter taste accompanied by a scent of roses with nuances of apricots and violets. It is originally from the Slovenian Istria, but it's a variety of wine that has almost died out due to the incredibly demanding cultivation of grapes. It is one of the oldest wines in the world, dating back to 2000 years before Christ. It is also known under the name Muscat rose (Croatian Istria) or Moscato rosa (Trentino, Italy).

**** The ships Captain Salgari refers to in this story are HSM Erebus and HSM Terror, both led by Captain Sir John Franklin, in an expedition in 1845. HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were both assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic and to record magnetic data to help determine whether a better understanding could aid navigation. 

The expedition ended disastruously after both ships and their crews, a total of 129 officers and men, became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in what is today the Canadian territory of Nunavut (the largest and northernmost territory of Canada). After being icebound for more than a year, Erebus and Terror were abandoned in April 1848, by which point two dozen men, including Captain Franklin, had died.

It was at the pressure of Franklin's wife, Jane, and others, that the Admiralty launched a search for the missing expedition in 1848.

As far as more recents news is concerned, in 2014 a search team led by Parks Canada (an agency charged with the protection and presentation of nationally significant examples of Canada's natural and cultural heritage) located the wreck of Erebus in the eastern portion of Queen Maud Gulf. Two years later, the Arctic Research Foundation found the wreck of Terror south of King William Island, in the body of water named Terror Bay (an Arctic waterway in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada).

Research and dive expeditions are an annual occurrence at the wreck sites, now protected as a combined National Historic Site called the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site.

(Source 1. 24.03.2026) (Source 2. 24.03.2026) (Source 3. 24.03.2026) (Source 4. 24.03.2026)

***** A disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C, leading to the formation of livid spots on the skin, spongy gums, loosening of the teeth, and bleeding into the skin and from almost all mucous membranes; (countable, obsolete) an occurrence of this disease. (Source. 24.03.2026)

****** Baffin Bay is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, sometimes considered a sea of the North Atlantic Ocean, and can be found between Baffin Island* and the west coast of Greenland**.

*Baffin Island is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut (the largest and northernmost territory of Canada).

**Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and the world's largest island, lying between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (also known as The Arctic Archipelago, it is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm), and Iceland (an independent country)), with its capital and largest city being Nuuk. The citizens of Greenland are considered citizens of Denmark. They are thus citizens of the European Union (EU), although Greenland itself is not part of the EU.

(Source 1. 21.04.2026) (Source 2. 21.04.2026) (Source 3. 21.04.2026) (Source 4. 21.04.2026) (Source 5. 21.04.2026)

******* A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground. The four main types of desert include hot and dry deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts and cold deserts. Polar regions, because little precipitation occur there, are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts". (Source 1. 21.04.2026) (Source 2. 21.04.2026)

******** There are several ways to call pieces of ice, depending on their size. They are as follows (from smallest to biggest):

• Ice Floes (a cohesive sheet of ice floating in the water; the sea ice cover is made up of conglomerates of floes; ice floes are not unique to sea ice, as they also occur in rivers and lakes) (Source. 21.04.2026);
• Brash Ice (accumulation of floating ice made up of fragments not more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) across, the wreckage of other forms of ice) (Source. 21.04.2026)
• Growlers (an iceberg less than 2 meters (6.6 feet) across that floats with less than 1 meter (3.3 feet) showing above water; smaller than a bergy bit) (Source. 21.04.2026);
• Bergy Bit (large chunk of glacier ice (a very small iceberg) floating in the sea; bergy bits are usually less than 5 meters (15 feet) in size and are generally spawned from disintegrating icebergs) (Source. 21.04.2026);
• Iceberg (a piece of ice that has broken off from the end of a glacier that terminates in water) (Source. 21.04.2026).

 A glacier is a body of natural ice, a type of rock, that is constantly moving under its own weight. (Source. 21.04.2026)

In the original text, Papa Catrame says "ghiacci", which can apply to any of these.

********* The muskox is a hoofed mammal that is native to the Arctic and it is noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males during the seasonal rut, from which its name derives. This musky odor has the effect of attracting females during mating season. Its Inuktitut name, umingmak, translates to "the bearded one". It is actually more closely related to sheep and goats than to oxen.

In historic times, muskoxen primarily lived in Greenland and the Canadian Arctic of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. They were formerly present in Eurasia, with their youngest natural records in the region dating to around 2,700 years ago.

Populations were reintroduced in the U.S. state of Alaska, the Canadian territory of Yukon, and Siberia, and in Norway, part of which emigrated to Sweden, where a small population now lives. (Source. 21.04.2026)

********** The Lancaster Canal is a canal in North West England. (Source. 27.04.2026)

*********** The Black Forest is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is the source of the Danube and Neckar rivers.

Although I haven't been able to identify anything about a ghost called Brokken, I have been able to track down a legend about a supposed Tall Man that supposedly lives in the Black Forest.

The legend states that it is a supposed mythical creature associated with woodcuts carved by an unknown artist in 16th century Germany. The creature was commonly described as a fairy of the Black Forest who abducted bad children that entered the forest at night, and would stalk them until they confessed their wrongdoings to a parent. 

Its German name, Der Großmann, can be translated either as "The Tall Man", or "The Great Man", as groß is the German word for big and the word great, in English, can also imply something of a big size.

(Source 1. 27.04.2026) (Source 2. 27.04.2026)

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Personal Notes:

It is said that the stories written by Emilio Salgari are stories he would hear from sailors, when he would go to visit the dock.

His best and most known work, "Sandokan, The Tiger of Malaysia" has been proven to bear resemblance to true historical facts, starting with the firstly-thought-of-as-fictional island, Mompracem (currently known as Kuraman Island), and with the strong impression that Sandokan is no other than a fictional representation of Syarif Osman, who ruled Marudu (north of Borneo) (I recommend you go here for more information about Sandokan or Syarif Osman. Miss Bianca has done a marvelous job in finding, gathering, and translating information about Salgari and his works, especially those concerning the character of Sandokan).

Going by this, I strongly suspect that all of Emilio Salgari's stories are based on true, historical happenings and people, the sands of time mercilessly erasing most of their traces.

Emilio Salgari's stories feature places from all around the world; many of them feature places as far as possible from Europe itself. It is not far fetched that a story from your own hometown might be present in one of his writings, regardless of how remote or unknown you might think it might be to others.

If you know how to find the original, historical, sources of any of the stories present on this blog or if you even recognize one of them here as a local, known story (or legend) to you, please feel free to contact me.

I would love to put both the story written by Salgari and the historical one side by side and not let these names become forgotten.

Thank you very much for your assistance.