The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-18 00:00:00

A CRUISE IN THE ARCTIC SEA.

The San Francisco Chronicle publishes a long and
interesting narratife, by Lieutenant Hand, of the
voyage of the Arctic whaler's relief vessel, Thant.=
Corwin, which left San Francisco in May last. It
took nine days to get through the ice-pack to reach
St. Michaels. The party were then informed by the
Esquimaux that the winter had been the most severe
known for many years. The people there were sur-
prised to see them, having no idea that any
kind of a vessel could penetrate the ice-pack.
They also said the winter had been terribly
severe, the thermometer falling as low as 40 deg.
below zero for weeks at a time, and sometimes
even lower, and that it was reported at the mission, a
station on the Yakon river, some 400 miles inland, that
the thermometer had dropped on one occasion to 72 deg.
below zero. Only one day was passed here, and the
gallant little Corwin started again through the ice,
with the prow pointing towards Behring's Straits. On
the second day out from St. Michaels they reached
St. Lawrence island, where it was reported a famine
had swept away nearly the whole population during the
previous year. The island is ninety miles long from
east to west. The Corwin steamed along close in by the
shore, working its way through the ice. At last the
settlements were reached, and each one that was visited
presented the same dreary scene of death and desola-
tion. Not a sign of life was to be seen anywere. Net
a solitary dog or rat was to be found about any ot
the rude huts; but in front of the houses, in a ghastly
row, lay the dead bodies of those who had succumbed
to the terrible hunger. • They had lain there for fifteen
months, and the Corwin's party were probably the
first to look upon them. Their clothes had rotted
off the bodies, but the forms were preserved by
the cold so that they looked like mummies,
The skin was drawn tight over their emaciated
faces and forms, and looked like ancient parchment.
In a few houses bodies were [found in various
postures, just as they fell in the last agony of solitary
death. As long as there were any survivors to
perform the service the corpses were placed in the
regular rows in front of the huts. At one place were
found fifty bodies side by side, some being the remains
of little children, while others were the corpses of old
people. The usual litter and refuse which surround
the Esquimaux huts were lacking and there was not a
scrap left of any kind of food. The cleanly-gnawed
bones showed that they had eaten their dogs • they had
even devoured the rats which infested the village ; they
had chewed up the old bits of walrus hide—everything
which would satisfy the cravings of hunger. At last
they had perished miserably, dying by inches, with no
hope of succour and no"chance of escape. At least 500
of the poor wretches suffered this hideous death. To
explain this terrible famine, which was as unusual as
it was fatal, it must be added that the season was
one of unparalleled severity. The natives of this
island were large, robust men, and expert hunters and
fishermen. But, like most of their race, they were
improvident and made no provision for such a winter.
The cold set in early and continued without interrup-
tion. The mercury was 40 degrees below zero for
weeks at a time. The cold and the violent storms pre-
vented them from going out on the ice to catch walrus
and seals—their main dependence for fciod in the
winter. Their scanty stock of meat was soon ex-
hausted; they were many miles from Siberia, and
could not have reaahed it alive in the face of the
bitter wind. At the north-west end of the island a
settlement of abour2so people was found. These had
suffered severely from the famine, only about one-half
the original colony having survived. They had a
larger stock of provisions than their unfortunate
neighbours, and thus escaped complete annihilation.
- - - _

The Corwin, which Lieutenant Hand left to bring
back another vessel, will push as far north as possible
this autumn. At St. Michaels she took on two teams,
of ten dogs each, with sledges. If stopped by the ice
the crew will take to the sledges and will attempt to
reach Wrangel Land. This point, it is thought, has
never been reached yet. The nearest approach to it
was made by the barque Nile, Captain Thomas Long,
which was forced to atop within 15 miles of it by the
ice. It is known that there is no solid land or ground ice
there, as no ordinary ice would break the current as
the land does at this point. It has been the dream of
Arctic explorers to make this land the base of sup-
plies, as they believe that it forms the shore of the
open Polar sea.