Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1860-04-13
MIS- c Il l. l. A N Y.
Life in the Arctic Regions.

and adventure among tho Esquimaux. We
give the following extracts from the book :
TuE GLLcITE At rHE nEip or MELVILLE Bar.
I, was midnight whom wO made our Hp.
proaeh. Tho sun was several degrees be.
meath the horizon. and afforded US a faint
twilight. Stars Of the second magnitude
were dimly visible in the northern heavens,
When We were within about half mile OF
th, icy wall. a brilliant meteor fell before
Us, and by It, reelection upon tho CLASSY
surface beneath. greatly heightened the Of
fec. Of tho scene while loud reports, like
distant thunder or the boomin. Of artillery
broke at intervals from the heart oflhe iro.
Ien sea.
Upon closer inspection we found the face
Of the galcier to ascend at an angle Of 80 10
IS de-. A, its base lay high snow bank.
up which wo elambsrsi abou. sixty feet
but beyond this the leo was 50 smooth a,
TO defy our efforts. Ths mountains. which
stood like gian, ga,.pos,s on siiher side were
ovsrlarpel and partially submerged by the
glacier. From the face OF this multi tudo
Of little riIulet, ran down ,hs cutters al.
ready mentioned. or gurslel from beneath
the ice. and formed On the level land, be-
low. sort Of marsh not twenty yards from
the icy wall. Here grew in strange con.
,ras, bed, Of green mos aud in these,
;uf,s Of dwarf willows were twinins their
tiny arm. and rooils,. ab1nt the lecbler
flower grovih. and there clustered ,osc,h.
or, erouehod among the gra.s. and shelter.
"a by the leaves. and feeding on the bel Of
liehsns. found white blo.somins dr1la.
which would have needed only a lady's
,himble fora flower pot, and a white chick.
weed. Do,ting tho few lee, Of green
around ns were sO,n the yellow blossoms Of
the hardy poppy, the pOisHi'Ra, and the
white, purple, aud yellow .aIiirages.
GorNG 10 BEp.
Then We went TO bed, by crawling Zee.
firvmOs, into the before mentioned sleeping
bas'. In ,hi, manner one may rest quito
securely. Even in the op,n AR, IL the ten.
psraiurs b. no, far below z5ro. IN which
cas-, a snow hut becomes necessary. Such
a hut, II well packed with men coon DO.
comes quite warn, by tho hea, rada,ed
from the p.rson, OF the occupants. Al.
though with plenty Of furs ono may u'uAlly =
be warm enough in the open air a, almo.,
any temperature, yo, ! am compelled 10
say iha, a sleeping bas i' no desirable bod
m which to spend tho night, for IL you eH-
po'c your head, you run great risk Of
freezing that sensitive organ, the nos, and
IL you haul your head within doors, or
elo,S the mouth Of the bae, you run an
equal risk OF .mj,herins. lisa nice op.
sr.lion, and Que requiring some practice,
to adjust proper mean between these two
extremes.
CooEiNG UNDER DTTicuLrIEs.
Meanwhile John wa, braving the cold.
aud the eddie. Of snow which came whirlins
into his oItsmpore kitchen. II, mus. have
been exposed during several hours-,I ac.
eordins TO hi. own account. IL, certainly
suffered enough TO MAKE the number seem
to him twelve. Poor fellow he wa, al :
mOs, frozen his face and hand, were black
onci with SCOT, and from hi. eyes were run.
ming great tears. which were forced out by
the binding smoke iha, hc was compelled
to eonfno within the galley, by closing up
the sail in orier 20 protect the lam ?
against the wind. Notwithstandin. his
care. the fame was blown out no les. than
Eve times and the reader will appreciate
how grsa, was tho annoyance. II be has sv-
sr tried to strike spark in little box Of
light finder. which he held between his leg.
and cni,avored 10 protect with HE body
every moment expecting that drifting
snow would pour down upon aud spoil IL,
or whitr Of wind come and carry it away.
Once hS was abou, half an hour relightIng
hi. lamp. which had been blown out when
tho pot over it was nearly boiling. The
tindsr was damp, and he could not, for Q
long time mako IL take Gre, and when he
succeeded. and was getting ready a brim'
stone match. the wind scattered the con.
tent, Of bis box over the ground lie had
then TO hun, TO the bottom Of his bag for q
little roll Of charred rags, which lao was
fortunate no, to find damp. by the time
,ha, no had succeeded in relisb,ins the fro
the contents Of tho kettle were covered with
a crust Of ice.
Fortunately. John, whatever might be
his faults, was no, easily conquered by dill.
fculues. or wo should have been deprived
Of our meal Tor Godfrey, who alone Of the
party equalled the other as cook. lacked his
perseverance,. Everything. therefore, de-
pended upon John. Finally. a, three o.
clock in the afternoon, he aroused US aud
served to US plentiful stew Of fox and bur
comaster. We had not tasted food for
more than four and twenty hours. While
we were occupied with our meal, our ten,
va, almOs. blown over. Some time elapsed
before everything could be made safe. An
additional guy was placed on the windward
side, and those ut the ends were fastened to
heavier stones. The awning was also tight
ened, and everything being thus rendered
apparently secure we once moro drew our
head, under cover. We could do nothing
for our brave cook bu, present him with
dry clothing the lest place IN tho tent, aad