American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1855-12-29
From The N, Y. Crusader.
+ THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.
Dr.. Kane, the American Navigator.

The so long expected arrival Of the
distinguished Dr. KANE from his adven.
turous " dating expedition to the Arc
tic regions, elected universal ioy all
through the Union. Twas fcarinlly an
ucipaled that he had met with the same
gloomy fate as Sir John Franklin; bat
notwithstanding a long series of dangers
aud sufferings, the band of braves be-
longing totlie Aarance reached their ma
tive shore. tw" years and six months af.
tar theirdepanure.
We were among tho invited guests
who sat at a banquet given at the Me.
.tropoi,an Hotel on the evening of the
eve of Drs Kane leaving for the icy re-
gions, and we well RENE mber, thar the
words expressed On that occasion by the
American navigator. in regard To his ex
peditipp, were full of hope for the ready
discovery IF Sir John franklin and his
unfortunate companions.
The.frllowing information, from the
Officers fthe Kane expedition, will be
read with much inle,est:-
HABITS or THE EsoUIMAUx INDIANS.
The FIRST time thai, The parry came in
connection with the Esqumsux was in.
March 1904, about lh" lime when the
llnhg winter night comes To close, aud
when there are two or three hours of
natural light in the twenty four. The
ship was visited hy niBe of these Indians
each driving sledge drawn by eieh,sor
ten Esquimanx dogs. These sledges
are of peculiar construction. They are.
between four aud five feet long and
fourteen inches wide. The body is
made of pieces of the waIrns tnsks and
the horn of The narvnhl or unicorn cut
into pieces about an inch long, and LASH
ed together by snews. The runners
are faced with The ivory of,he narvahPs
horn. The Esquinaux are very inspu.
Gus. aud manage tn bore holes bv means
of%a drll worked in hole in The from,
tooth. The sledges are thus, on account
Eofthe labor bestowed on them, very VAL
uable. and are bequeaihed,. from father
20 son as most precious legacy. Ii
is n" uncommon circumstance when the
community want tn get rid ola bad and
, lazy member who has a good slcdge
aud team "f dogs tn induce him To 90
AT gtcaI distance from lamd To take a.
way his sI"dgc aud spear him.
These lndians who visited the i'd
rance had some walrus meat To dispose
ut whichthey did for jackknives. They
were, however, very shy and timid but
DR.. Kane and Mr.. Peterson, tho inter.
prefer, went out to meet them. and at
last oscrcame their rimdily and induced
them to come on board
The Esqhimaux settlements are some
forty mics apart, and generally consist
OF but TWO OF three huls, containing a
population of some eighteen or twenty.
heSe hnts are generally huilt Of mas.
siVs stones, some Of them several tons
weight, and it is matter ofsmprise
how hey could have possibly got them
up. Lake the sledges, the huts are hand.
ed down as most valuable property
Some OF them have hcen seen built of
whalebone-probably frum fish taken
! by them after being killed by whalers
In summer they form tents of skins,
a"d at II pinch, Of snow. They are
hosPitable, and fond Of visiting. aud so
these settlements keep paninterchange
PLY. Their huts are heated by my.us
OF Stone lamps, cut by themselves, out
OF sort ofsoap stone, fed with blubber
and with wick Of ground moss. BY
this means they manage to keep UP a
temperature ofsixiy degrees Fahrenheit
while the tempe, atufe out Of doors il as
many degrees below zern. They usu.
ally eat raw meats--thc flesh Of walrus
aud seal but when they do cnnk any.
ihlng. or make any soup which thGy
make very good--it is by means OF these
lamps.
Their sleeping places are platforms,
oui't ot stone, raised some eighteen ii,-
ches from The flo,r--so as 10 keep in the
warm atmosphere covered with
grass taken from lslauds at distance.
Their clothing consists Of iump.
ers or coat with an inper jnmpe, "fbird
SKIN, the feathers nard en.skiu.
trowsefs, bear-skiu boots, aud bpar.skin
gloves. The dress Of tho women is sim.
liar 'n that Of the men, except that the
former wear bouts extending half way
up the thigh, while those Of the ,nen de-
not extend to the kneo; and Thai The la
dies also wear u sack To their hoods,
which they call nossak, in which tbey
carry their children The mon are Of
medium size, and stoutly built, while
the women are Of smaller statue and
siighter, They do not ptacfse the Nor.
mon habits Of polygamy, but on The
contrary, arc extremely pafticular a..
boot their matrimonial relations. This
has beeb the universal testimony of trav.
eIcrs Who have visited them. As win
all savage DaiipDs, the onus Of tho labor
de8oIyes upou the womvn. The men
come In from the hunt, throw down the
prey they have secuted, walrus, or seal
aud the women then go 10 work skin the
animals, prepare the iles, ior food, ex-
tract The bniles. and nrnnnfa Tho einn,na