many of the men, including their commanding officer, had not survived the journey. Thus, in addition to facing the problem of escalating hostilities, their food shortage was magnified by the arrival of more men. Eventually, it is reported the situation grew dire enough that Yermak's men turned to cannibalism, eating the bodies of the deceased. Yermak’s death The precise details of Yermak's death are lost to history, but legend has preserved multiple variations of the account. With the onset and worsening of the food shortage, Yermak's people had now entered a time of famine. Kuchum, knowing this, set a trap. The most common account is that Kuchum purposely leaked information to Yermak, in which it was claimed that Bukharan merchants from Central Asia, traveling with large amounts of food, were being prevented from moving by Kuchum's men. In August 1584, Yermak set out with a band of men to free the traders. Finding the reports to be false, Yermak ordered a return to Qashliq. Whether because of an ongoing storm or because the men were tired from rowing upstream, Yermak's force stopped on a small island formed by two branches of the Irtysh and set up camp on the night of August 4–5, 1584. Convinced that the river offered protection, Yermak's men fell asleep with no guard. Kuchum, however, had been following Yermak's party and was lying in wait. Kuchum's forces forded the river around midnight; their approach was hidden by the loudness of the storm and the dark of night. Kuchum's Tatars were upon Yermak's men so quickly that they could not use either their guns or weapons, and a slaughter ensued. In the ensuing chaos, it is reported that all but three men on the Russian side were killed, including Yermak. Legend has it that after fighting through the invaders and being wounded in the arm by a knife, Yermak, finding that their boats had been washed away in the storm, attempted to cross the river. Due to the weight of the armor gifted to him by the Tsar, Yermak sank to the bottom and drowned. At least one survivor, unburdened by such heavy armor, was able to flee across the river and return to Qashliq with news of Yermak's death. Yermak's body was borne down the river, where seven days later it is said to have been found by a Tatar fisherman named Yanish. Easily recognizable by