Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-12-31
relative to the peculiar habits of this
animal What are thew

j0 cairns made by Sir John Franklin
e party Z The Pres1uin1P9tio44 P1i Is thai
n tat every step Of their way left eYiden-
ces behind them telling of their prog
ress. These were placed in cairns, and
no doubt q pole was erected TO mark
1.-THE spot. The polar bear has not only
! torn down the pole, but he has scatter
]; ed the rocks under which the metallic
Z / box containing the papers was placed,
and destroyed the box and contents
I verify believe that if one of the Gel
/ ebrated burglar proof safes, which are
used in our banks, were placed in the
| arctic regions, the polar bear would
open it. he goes about his work very
: methOdically. On finding that he cam
| not crush or break an article with his
, paws, he will take stone, which two
men would be unable to lift, and sit
ting down on his launches, he will
pound anything to pieces.
| What kind of government have the
Esquimaux
Capt. HaIl-The Patriarchal. The
head of the family rules, until he
reaches an age when the younger
members of the family think he should
die. Insubordination ensues--his au-
thority is destroyed and he is not only
:. disregarded, but entirely neglected. As
I said before, they have no punish
ments for crime, and therefore no ne
f cessity for organized government. If
I q u16lD6I OF Bl6 DElDb Is kAlAGu UY one
of another tribe, it is the duty Of tho
nearest kinsman of the murdered man
to avenge the death by killing the
i murderer at first sight. This is, at
times a swift retribution, vengeance
being taken before the party has time
TO leave the vicinity of the murder.
What of their courtship and mar
riage
Capt. Hall-These are very primi-
tive. If the girls are not stolen by a
| neighboring tribe, on reaching the age
of fifteen or sixteen, they are espoused
and taken in marriage Immediately
/ There Is never much OF a surplus Of
females on hand. Many of them die
| very young. I mean they are murder
ed. The mother always does the kill
ing, of course, at the bidding of the
husband. There are no regrets ex-
pressed at the untimely taking off of
| these innocents. 1t is matter of
/ course, and looked upon as duty. So
many of the men are lost in their con-
1 tests with the Walrus and other ami
mails, that were the female infants all
| reared, there would soon be a super
| abundance, and their sustenance would
/ be a matter of great moment. To pre-
! vent this accumulation, infanticide is
! praeticed, and the sweetest little babes
are thrown into the ice-cracks without
the slightest exhibition of feeling.
How are the icebergs formed?
Capt. Hall-They are the accumula-
| ton of years of snow. They are not
formed in the seas, but on the land
mostly on the rugged, mountainous
coasts. Year after year the snow falls
on these high points, and every summer
there is slight melting, the water run
ming down into the body of the bank, |
turning into ice, and the immense /
weight above packing the lower mass
es. After the body has gained great /
size, it commences to slide from the !
mountain, at the rate of one foot per 4
day. This gradual movement is kept 1
up winter and summer, the mass leav- /
ing the mountain side and entering 4
the sea. Day after day and month af- !
ter month and year after year it contin- 4
ues to push into the sea, until it extends 4
one and two miles out. Then the
summer comes again and the great /
mass snaps asuuder near the shore,
and the iceberg floats away. The wave
created when the parting takes place,
is terrific, overwhelming and swallow
ing up everything near it. Then large
bodies become very sensitive, just be- /
fore breaking off, so much so that it is /
dangerous to fire a gun near them, lest /
the concussion part them. came near l
losing my life once on one of them. I I
had climbed to the top of one which 4
was floating in the water, and when on I
the top, I struck my staff, which had a /
sharp iron point in the end, on the ice.
In an instant, with fearful report, a
large hssure yawned at my feet, and I
assure you hurriedly left my position.
1t is very dangerous to go on them
while they are floating, as they are
liable at any instant to break into a
thousand pieces.
In the fall of the year what kind of
nights have you
Capt. HalI-Just beautiful-far sur
passing anything you have here. For
weeks at time there will not be a
H.,
as can be. The consultations are mag
nihcent, and as you look up, it seems
as though you saw the end of illimit-
able space. Tier after tier of stars
look down with a brightness that al
most startles, and as you gaze with
heart overhowing with love and won
der, they appear to grow larger, and
brighter, and nearer, until it seems
they would kiss the eternal SHOWS by
which you are surrounded. I have sat
for hours looking at these diamonds
which pin the robes of night DER
earth, and each moment have felt that
was getting nearer to God 1t is
worth a trip to the arctic regions,
though you saw nothing but night.
How are your Aurora displays
Capt. HALL should remain silent on
that question. Words are poor dumb
things to speak of the glories of the
Aurora, and I, who am so poorly gifted
never see them in the north they al
ways appear to the south of us. They
form in arch first, narrow and regular,
and light in color. Then their scintil-
1atiOns commence, and in an instantl
all the prismatic cOlOrs flash out, max
ing radiant the entire sky. Long {
streamers shoot forth in regular1ines,
until the arch appears studded with
spears. They waver for a moment and +.
then shoot from their places, dashing
OIL o.to aan of nd T
mingling with electric speed, until one
thinks that battle royal has COM
menced in the heavens, and that earth,
and air, and sky, and stars, are strug- /
Cling in the contest. As though eX-
hausted in the fury, the radiant cOlors .
waste themselves in the broad expanse, ;
and turning to milky whiteness, the
remnants slowly sink into the horizon, I
sweeping the icy mountain tops with }
their disheveled masses, getting dark
er each moment, until the heavens ap-i {
pear as though covered with tangled {
skeius of rain. In q few moments an Il ]
other display is lifted up, pausing for a
moment, as though resting on the
mountains, and then quickly hurry J
ing to the battle ground, the contest is Z
resumed, grander and sublimer than
before. All the night through these {
magnificent displays continue, aud the
eyes gaze with marvellous wonder, and .
the brain longs to fathom the mys-t
terious deep in whose pregnant womb
these gIories have their birth.
1t is your intention, if properly fitted
out, to reach the North Pole S
Capt. Hall-That is what I live for. s
The North Pole is my bride, and am {
welded to her. 1 have no doubts as ]
to reaching it. All want is the nee 2
essary means. I have been searching ;
for Franklin's men, and have hoped :
for years that l would be able to find
some of them. But, alas they arc {
all gone. Poor, splendid, courageous ]
CrOzier, was the last to succumb.- {
Without winding sheet or narrow I
house, his bones are lying amid the +
Polar SHOWS, a victim to insatiate sci /,
entific longing and splendid daring .
/, too, have these lOngings, and rather !
I hnrn Nnil mill q Z