Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-09-27


emergencies the whip is The only real reli-
ance. Your control over the team is in
exact proportion toyour skill in the use of
it. The lash is about four feet longer than
the traces, and Is tipped With Cracker
of hard sinew, with which skilful driver
can draw blood if so Inclined; and he can
touch any one of his animals on any par
tlcular spot that may suit his purpose.
Jensen had to-day young refractory dog
in the team, and having had his patience
measures "You see dat beast ?" said he.
{" Il takes piece out of his car" and sure
enough crack went the whip; the hard
sinew wound round the tip of the ear, and
nipped it Oft as nicely as with knife"
1t was absolutely necessary to resort to
these extreme measures, These dogs are
as wild as wolves, and even more raven
Gus. They will eat anything, including
their own harness, If, as usual, made OF
skin. The ferocity with which they tear
their food is something terrible to witness.
Even the lashings of the sledge are not
safe from them, and have to be buried out
of sight at camping-time. During one ex-
petition, they ate up their drivers extra
boots, together with their fur stock
ings, and even meerschaum pipe which
happened to- have seal skin cover On
another OCCASION one OF their fellows be-
ing. unable either to pull or-folloW, had to
be shot. As soon as the bullet struck the
animal, 'wounding him but slightly, and
causing him to set up terrible cry, his
companions in the team flew upon him,
and tore him to pieces in an instant and
those who were lucky enough to get a
10 L. FOR h och
from his bones almost before the echo of
his last howl had died away in the solitude.
Nay, DR.. Hayes, who is very fond and
proud of them, is obliged to confess that
1.-THE wretches would eat us up if we gave
them the least chance. Knox stumbled
among the pack yesterday while feeding
them, and had not M'Donald bounced up
on them on the instant, | believe they
would have made meal of him before he
could rise" Yet when, as happened, these
animals were all attacked by the unknown
disease above alluded to-, our author be-
walled their loss with reason, for without
them Arctic exploration is almost impossi-
bic. The symptoms were something akin
to hydrophobia, and it may be imagined
what those dogs did under such aggrava-
ting circumstances.
ATTITUDES; every effort was made to be jolly
Notwithstanding the darkness and the cold;
every mans birthday was kept; every fes-
banquet; the Port F0a,lke Weekly Neaos
was started and, thanks to the general
cheerfulness, DR.. Hayes's benignant rule,
served vegetables, that scourge of Arctic
,bo1 hai n
chief physical trouble was frozen limbs,
the cure for which was to place the limb
in ice cold water, the temperature of which
was slowly increased from hour to hour I'M
til the flesh was thawed out; but it was
considered to be green trick to get frozen,
and the disaster was generally kept con.
cealed; just as at home, boys say nothing
about having had "a spill" out hunting
Curiously enough, the cold-so used they
got to it at last-caused them less inconve-
nience than one or two unexampled and
indeed inexplicable thaws. In November,
went up to thirty-two degrees, causing ev-
erything to drip, and making our friends
open not only their eyes, but their win
dows; then, as suddenly as it rose, it sunk
back to its normal position of fifteen de-
grees below zero Upon DR.. Hayes sub
sequent expedition in the spring, it was
thirty one degrees below zero in their
snow huts where they slept at night, and
in the open air, at sixty-eight and half
below zero, or one hundred and half de-
grees below the freezing point of water.
Well might Dr. Hayes (who had been out
with DR.. Kane in the same region) declare
this to be unexampled in his experience !;
and, indeed, only one traveller, Niveroff, in
Siberia, has ever chronicled lower tenn
perature. @ @
The coming on OF winter darkness is no.
ted In quite solemn manner Our author
knew that that would be the trying time
for his poor fellows On November IS,
he writes: "The darkness is not yet quite
absolute. With some difficulty, can still
see to read ordinary print at noon" AS
November ended, the last CLEAN Of twilight
fades, but the stars shine at all hours with
great brilliancy, and the moon gives some
relief From it's rising to its setting, 1t
shines continually, circling round the hori
zon, and running uninterruptedly Its ten
days course of brightness, and shining
with brllliancy-thanks to the whiteness
of the landscape and the general clearness
of the mosphere-unknoWn elsewhere.
Nothing in nature is more impressive, nay,
more CHASTITY, than Arctic scenery under
this weird aspect.
The coming of the sun, on the ,ther
hand, is watched for with eager impatience
and hailed with an almost delirious Joy by
these poor prisoners, /" bleached in the
long continued lamplight, and colorless as
potato-sprouts in dark cellar" Every
body hastens, on the day appointed by the
A1soo RI "a no h f1,1x
will command the best view of the well
come stranger. eve awaited the ap-
preaching moment with much eagerness.
Presently a ray of light burst through the
soft mist clouds which lay off to the right
a purple sea, and glistening upon the sill
very SUBMITS of the tall icebergs, which
pierced the vapory cloak, as if to catch the
coming warmth. The ray approached us
nearer and nearer, the purple sea widened,
the glittering spires multiplied, as one af-
ter another they burst in quick succession
into the blaze of day; and as this marvel
lous change came over the face of the sea,
we felt that the shadow of the cape was
the shadow of the night, and that the night
was passing away. Soon the dark red
cliffs behind US glowed with warm color
ing, the hills and the mountains stood forth
in their new robes Of Respondent bright
ness, and the tumbling waves melted away
from their angry harshness. and laughed
in the sunshine; and now the line of the
shadow was in sight. "There it is upon
the point" cried Jensen '1There it is
upon the ice-foot," cried Dodge There at
our feet lay sheet of sparkling gems, and
the sun burst broadly in our faces. Of
went our caps with simultaneous impulse,
and ITO ballad fhie lnnnr lost r.ro,,d ornr a.