Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-04-01
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discovery OF a Peculiar People in
the Far North Arctic Region.

ls
Italian Correspondence of the PHILADELPHIA Rul.
letin.
The heroes Of the hour are the
returheu from the Norln one, auu
who have discovered new coun-
try. a new people, etc. Perhaps
these celebrated Adventures might
not have been received with SO
much enthusiasm as they have ex-
perienced had it not been for the
fact that precisely the one who dis
covered the new Attic territories
happens to be Italian. His name is
Bove, and he is a Lieutenant in the
Italian navy. He is barely thirty
years of age, and is as fair in COM
plexion as the Swedes, with whom
he travels. 1t so happened that
Bove was little distant from the
rest of his companions whea be dis
covered the land of the Crxici. and
he Immediately christenea the town
that sprang into view with the
name of "Umberto."
The people, however, who were
found there, were not precisely saw
ages-they were clothed (roughly,
perhaps). but they were clothed 10
skins of reindeer ard seal. Their
costume might not. perhaps, suit
Partisan taste, but was adaptable TO
their cline. II is composed of rein.
deer stockings, lined with elder.
down, reindeer or seaIskin boots
reaching to the knees, and, uader
these, again, reindeer or sealskin
trowsers, over which are worn in ex
ira cold weather other trowsers lined
with fur. And then a tunic, coat or
blouse of the same materials reaches
to the knees, and, according to the
weather, several of these are worn
one over the other. For the head
they wear cap to match the rest of
this charming costume, and this cap
is tied under the chin, like baty's
cap. Finally, they wear over their
chests bib of sealskin, which they
draw over their faces when the air
threatens to bite their noses.
The very fashionable people of the
country fasten tails of animals to the
edges of their coats. This is to show
that they are rich, as their riches
consist in reindeer. some families
possessing as many as 100000 of
same costumes as the gentlemen,
which gives them strange and awk-
ward walk. However as little dis.
tinction, they wear their hair in two
long plaits at the side of each cheek,
and their neck and backs are bare.
1t seems that the cold has less effect
on them than on their lords. 1t is
true that when they have young chill.
dren they carry them on their backs,
and that shelters them Both men
and women are short of stature but
stout and wonderfully strong,as they
can walk for miles with burdens on
their backs which we Europeans
could not even lift. Their faces are
large and broad, and they have no
foreheads. In this the women would
be quite the fashion in Europe, where
the women do all they can to con
ceal their foreheads.
The men cut their hair close to
their heads like French soldiers, but
the ladies' let their hair grow as long
as possible, their beauty being
judged by the length of their hair,
which, strange to say, is quite black.
Their teeth, it seems, are so sharp
that they need no other instruments
for any work they may do. Their
hands and feet are curiously small,
however. Their hands, especially
are so small that they cannot hold
more than one thing at a time in
them. They are, Lieutenant Bove
tells us, jolly set of people, always
laughing, even in the midst Of ice
and hunger. Their houses are made
of wood and whalsbone, and are
rooted with deer or sealskin. They
are warmed and heated with burn.
ing fat. set in rough kinds of lamps.
L NC blSbCu VI titccc 10 ehiI W DS uu-
bearable to those not born to it.
Their cooking is as uubearable as
their firing and lighting system, and
the only thing that was stolen from
the Vega (the ship of our explorers)
was ham. Some one who had
tasted of one evidently desired an
other taste, but upon being caught
in the act, he quietly restored II to
the ships cook.
They know nothing of mechanics /;
still, they can draw quite well, both
from figure and landscape. On the
whole they are described as being
remarkably intelligent. 1t is pity
the Vega did not bring specimen
of the people of Ciukici with it. But
as it is, the explorers are being re-
ceived like so many modern Column
buses. Over 5000 people were at
the station to meet them, and the
whole town 10 befiagged.