Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1872-03-14
#is sIlantuus.
Lie in Greenland.

very dfeary. About the first OF october,
i the iastship leaves for Europe, and from
THAT time until next May, they have no
communication with the civilized
/ world; their yeari is divided into one
Hong day anaonelong night. For many
4 months the sun never sets; throughout
4 1.-THE tyenty-four hours, he is seen des-
Icribing his brilliant circuit in the north
efn skies In July, you watch his de-
scent towards the horizon till he seems
to dip his golden edge into thesea; then,
seeming to pause in his course for a
4 moment, he mounts again into the
i heavens. While we were there month
4 later, the sun disappeared for less than
four hours; had watched his setting at
ten p. NJ, covering sea and sky with
gold and purpie; but the heavens re-
/ manned bright with aimeIlew light by
(which Tread during the brief night;
land at one A. NJ, he re-appeared in his
glory. This wasa novelty, and felt
free from the slavery of hours, but that
4 prolonged day brought with il "A strange
texcitenae j knew not when to retire,
| when to rise. Bells called us to break
fast, lunch and dinner; bells called US
I to repose and aroused us from our fitful
lsiumber. aftG fs5i9 ssai - -t1.
4 This heightened day is followed by an
equally leng night, which brings men,
! tai and moral depression Men are mo-
ping, testy, and imaginative, and ap-
pear as eolOrleSS rs potato-sprouts grow
| ing in a dark cellar. Even the dogs
suffer from the prolonged darkness
Yet Greenland Is not without some
/ bounties Of Providence. During the
| brief summer, the valleys are green
with grasses and moses. Some flowers
have been found as faI north as 80 deg.
| OF course there are no forests, but, as a
/ substitute, quantities of drift-wood,
! from North American rivers, are gath
cred on the coast and used for timber.
! But If nature is seanty In her supply of
vegetati6h She is sabundant in hersupply
! of fish, fowl, and beast. The waters
abound8in salmon, Goldfish, stura con,
whales, the yalfHs and the seal. The
| very air is sometimes darkened with
ducks, geese and quail But the REIN
deer, the walrus, the seal, and the bear
are of the greatest value to the Esqui-
| maux, both for food and raiment. Wrat
the eocoanut-palm, that tree of hum
dred uses, is 20 the people of the Indies,
and theolive tree is to the inhabitants
of Palestine, the reinder is to the in
habitants of Greenland. The flesh, the
tongue, the marrow in the bones are
delicacies; the bio d is nourishing bev-
erage; the skin not only furnishes clo-
thing impervious tothe cold, but also
tents and bedding; and outof the bones
and horns are made all necessary house
hold utensils. w zen an Esqufmaux
catches reindeer, he has, on four lie IS,
a larder well filed, wardrobe well sup
piled, house we'll furnished.
Next to the reindeer, the walrus is of
most value to Greenlanders. Itwas on
a bright August day, when for the first
| time I saw herd of these immense
beasts. The largest was not less than
twenty feet long, and weighed two
thousand pounds. The neck was short
and the feet resembled broad fin-like
paddles. When on land their move
ments are slow and awkward, but in
the water they move with great rapid
ity and power. When pursued by the
hunter, they display almost human in
telligence. When in winter the walrus
comes out of the water, he breaks up
the ice with an explosive puff which
may be heard for miles. In the mean
time the hunter is lying on the ice
awaiting the favorable moment. His
instrument of attack is large harpoon,
to which is fastened strong line of
many fathoms length, made of walrus
hide. The other end of the line is at
tached to a rod OF bone pointed with
iron, to be driven into the ice. The
moment comes. The waIrus rises
breast high above the ice, and looks
around as il half suspicious that some
foe is nigh. In an instant the hunter
is on his feet, and the harpoon is buried
under the fiipper of the breast. With
desperation the waIrus plunges beneath
the water, and the hunter drives the
iron pointed rod into the solid ice,
which holds the line securely. Finding
himself fast, the wounded beast comes
to the surface again, looks around, OBJ
serves where the stitch is that holds tight
the line, again descends, comes up and
break the ice, just where the staff had
been planted; but, knowing the cum
ming of the walrus, the hunter has haul
ed in his line and planted his stick in
another place. And thus the struggle
| goes on between skill and force, till the
beast is exhausted and the game secured
But with all his strength and cunning,
| the walfus is no match for the polar
bear. In August, the walrus makes his
way to the shore, draws his huge body
upon the rocks, and there basks in the
sunshine. Ever watching for his pray,
| the bear mounts he overhanging cliffs,
and lifting large rock with his fore
! paws, and then calculating the distance
and the curvature with the accuracy of
a mathematician, he hurls the rock upon
the animals head, crushing in the pom
derous skull; then, like an arrow, the
hoo II {I,a al:
Ealrus still lives, he hammers away
| with the same rock till the beast is
dead. ti3osii.= ~ h-
Bear hunting is one of the most excl
ting scenes of the polar regions. A large
she bear with a four-months-old cub,
was attacked first by the dogs, which
she, caught up and flung first one and
then another to a great distance. Du-
ring the struggle, the cub was wounded
with pistol ball. Atonee the mother
| placed her cub between her hind legs,
and showing it along, sought flight; but
wounded herself, she faced about, rose
upon her hind quarters, placed the cub
ance to her pursuers. Wounded again,
she fell dead, and the cub mounted the
dead body of its mother, and continued
the fight till captured.
4 Since the days of Job, there has been
no such patience as is now displayed by
the Esquimaux, when in winter he is
hunting the seal. Having ascertained
where the seal is gnawing beneath the
| ice for a breathing hole, the hunter per-
forates the spotwith aslender bone rod,
with point at one end and knob at
the other, which is moved by the seal
i in coming to the surface. This may
occupy twenty-four hours. He then
builds a wall of snow, four feet high, to
shelter him from the wind. Seating
himself behind it, he places by his side