392
The more joint study there is, the more exchange of information, and the more exchange of personnel, the sooner will problems that affect so many millions be solved. MONTH THE COUNTRY? Two lorry drivers working on a new road being cut through the Siberian forests were found recently after being lost in the taiga for nearly a month. The two, Anatoly Laptev and Vladislav Inshin, had gone hunting with no more than 20 cartridges between them. After firing off all their cartridges, they met two bears. Fortunately these local residents appeared to have dined well and did not attack them. Another encounter proved lucky. It was the half-buried carcass of a huge elk, recently killed by a bear and stored for future meals. Meanwhile their comrades were looking for them. A helicopter and an AN-2 plane circled over the forest from morning to night. The two men saw the helicopter, but had no way of signalling it. Their matches had run out as well, and rubbing two sticks together only blistered their fin-: gers. At the beginning of the fourth week, they found a hunter's winter hut, with stores of dry bread, matches and salt. After bringing in wood, Laptev left his comrade, who had sprained an ankle, and went on, looking for help. He finally emerged near the Educhanka, a river falling into the Angara some 60 miles below the village from which their hunting expedition had started. Even them it took another two days to find the hut, which could not be seen from the air. NAPOLEON’S SWORD Among the many weapons in the State History Museum in Moscow is Napoleon's sword. It has its own history. Manufactured by the best armoires of Versailles, it has a Damascus steel blade on which is inscribed: "To Napoleon Bonaparte, the First Consul of the French Republic". The hilt is inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and has bronze and filigree work as ornamentation. At the end of the hilt is a lion's head and a ring. The scabbard is of black leather, ornamented in bronze. The signature of Bouttle - the armorer -is engraved on the scabbard. The only time Napoleon ever parted with his sword was under the following circumstances. When the French army was routed and the allied troops entered Paris, on March 31,1814, the high command decided to exile Napoleon to the Island of Elba. Among the three allied commissars who were to accompany him was Count Pavel Shuvalov, aide-de-camp of Alexander I. When he learned that an attempt was to be made on Napoleon's life at one of the pots through which they would pass, Count Shuvalov offered to change clothes with Napoleon, and gave him his army greatcoat. As a token of gratitude Napoleon presented him with his sword. 392
|