The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-06-14

great disaster, many similar experiences,
none equalled the terror inspired by the
events of the night of the 9th Of Novem-
Der, 1867. By the 9th of December we
thought we had fairly settled down in our
quarters for the long winter The top
masts had been housed, and surplus stores
sleded ashore and cdched, the main deck
had been completely planked over; the
scuttles Of the cabin and forecastle COM
panion-ways had been rendered impervious
to the weather by a covering of snow
blocks, with tortuous passage similar to
the approaches to an Esquimaux ice-hut,
and everything aboard ship seemed to wear
an air of comparative comfort But on
the night of the 9Th violent gale set in
from the south, which ragged with unin-
terrupted fury for four days, and though
we had taken every preeaution to prevent
the ship from being carried out to sea again,
the immense power Of the "pack ice" i'm
PEELED by the driving gale, became at
length irresistible, and once more the
two vessels, lashed side by side, began
drifting rudderless amid the huge bergs
and dangerous reefs of Cumberland Inlet.
In this sad plight, utterly powerless to
remedy our situation, we remained for four
long days, every moment expecting the
little vessel to be dashed to atoms upon
some sharp-pointed reef, or split asunder
by violent collisions with the monster fields
of heavy ice which came rapidly driving
in upon us. II was toward midnight on
the 10th that the gale shifted to the north
ward, and the brig to which we had been
lashed after smashing our davits, and car
rying away all Of the small boats on that
side, and staving in our port bulwarks
parted company with us, and hoisting sail
ran upon the rocks at Umanockjuak, where
she soon went to pieces. The wind had
hardly settled well from the north before
the pack ice was down upon us, aud began
rapidly piling itself up in huge incongru-
Gus masses against the sides of the ship,
lifting her bodily high and dry out of the
sea, with her stern at an angle Of fully
forty-6ye degrees with her stem. In this
condition, in the centre of an enormous
pack, and driven by terrific storm, the
Era moved out for the last time towards
the broad ocean. When daylight appeared
it was found that 'the pack" had been
forced in between two very large bergs that
had grounded, and there we felt safely and
securely wedged, at least until the next
southerly storm. BY meridian altitude
observation We discovered that we had
drifted 20 miles from our old anchorage,
and as the great bulk of our stores was at
Umanockjuak and our supply of fresh
water ice was nearly exhausted, it was
determined on the night of the 18th of
December to abandon the ship and make our
way to the land. This was our only alterna-
tive, for it was thought absolutely certain
that in the next gale from the southwark
the ship would either go to pieces in the
heavy ice that surrounded her, or be car
ried out TO sea without water or provisions.
1t was indeed fearful expedient to throw
ourselves upon an ice-bound coast, with no
shelter, but a scanty share Of provisions,
and in country where the thermometer
ranged during eight months from 80 to
40 below zero. At three o'clock in the
morning we were called up and started
with our sleds, packed with clothing, pro-
visions and bedding, for the shore, distant
about two leagues from the ship. Hardly a
word was spoken, and even the officers
gave their orders in subdued voices, for
sad enough we all were as We pursued our
mournful tramp over huge hummocks Of
ice, and through deep snow, with the wind
piercing through our furs at every blast.
Arriving after almost incredible difficulty
at the foot Of one Of those monster pro
montories whose bleak and hoary heads
rise abruptly from the sea, and whose bold
outlines mark the landscape with such
startling distinctness, we deposited our
load of yaluables and selected the spot
where we were to make our home for
many long dreary months. | then expert
enced not the forlornness Of my situation
as shipwrecked voyager, but feeling Of
unraptured awe overcame me at the thought
that was in the midst of wild and
trackless waste, surrounded by scenery at
whose desolate grandeur | was forced to
stand aghast. If there were not actual
peril in my position-thus alone and to a
certain extent companionless- was
that amount Of adventure that summons
mans courage to its post, and tells him
that he must look to his own safety; and
who that has felt this sensation, this proud
sense of self.dependence, does not know
its ecstacy2 Fortunately for us, the
weather became milder soon after aban-
doning the vessel, which enabled us to
sled everything of value to quarters which
we had established ashore, where we had
improvised house from the ships main
sail and foresail Our tent we rendered
comparatively comfortable by covering it,
in native fashion, with huge blocks Of
snow. The natives, soon after our arrival
ashore, came down from above, and ma
terially assisted us in constructing our
house, besides keeping us constantly pro-
vided with fresh seal and bear meat. They
built their eglows or icchouses around US,
forming when completed quite colony,
which they formally christened with the
uncouth cognomen Of Quakjug.
With the Esquimaux, or Innuits, as they
call themselves, we remained seven dreary,
monotonous months, and had both ample
time and opportunity to study their charac-
ter and habits. But, as so much has been
written by far ADLER pens regarding the
natives Of the far North than mine, / will
conline myself simply to few cursory
remarks and sketches of Innuit life as I
saw it, The natives we met at Quakiug
were finer specimens of humanity, il any
can be 80 denominated where all are
dwarfed stunted beings, than those we
met at the head-waters of Hudson's Bay.
The men were not muscularly strong, but
there were no drones among them, and
they accomplished a great deal in their
own peculiar way ofworking. The women
were all remarkably apt, in many respects
superior to the men, and all that | saw
were infinitely more intelligent did
not see one finely formed man, and but
one pretty face among the women, and
this was little girl not over ten years Of
age The old women were absolutely
lideous and do nof doubk h,,t AL. NJ