St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1880-09-25
Horrible.
A Famine ia the Polar Regions.

Story of the Cruise of the COrwn.
On the second day out from st.
/ Mlchaels we reached st. Lawrence is
land, where it was reported famine
had swept away nearly the whole pop
ulatlon during the previous year. The
island is ninety miles long from east to
west. We steamed along close in by
the shore, working our way through the
ice. At last the settlements were
reached, and each one that was visited
presented the same dreary scene of
death and desolation. Not a sign of
life was to be seen anywhere. Not a
dog Or rat was to be found about any
of the rude huts; but in front of the
houses, in CHASTITY row, lay the dead
bodies OF those who had suffered from
the terrible hunger. They had lain
there for fifteen months, and we were
probably the first to look upon them.
Their clothes had rotted off the bodies,
but the forms were preserved by the
cold 50 that they looked like mummies.
The skin was drawn tight over their
emaciated faces and forms, and looked
like ancient parchment. So perfectly
had the dry air preserved them that we
could distinguish the bodies of the
| women from the men by the deep
tattoo marks On the chin, which is one
OF the peculiar styles of feminine orna-
ment. In a few houses bodies were
found in various postures, just as they
fell in the last agony Of solitary death.
AS long as there were survivors to per-
form the service the corpses were placed
| in regular rows in front of the huts. At
one place we found fifty bodies side by
side, some being the remains OF little
children, while others were the corpscs
of old people.
| The usual litter and refuse which
surround the Esquimaux huts were
| lacking, and there was not a scrap left
of any kind of food. The cleanly-
gnawcd bones showed that they had
eaten their dogs; they had even de-
voured the rats which infested the vii
lage; they had chewed up the old bits of
walrus hide-cverything which could
satisfy the cravings of hunger. At last
they had persisted miserably, dying by
inches, with no hope of succor and no
chance of escape. At least 500 of the
poor wretches suffered this hideons
death. To explain this terrible famine,
| which was as unusual as it was fatal, it
must be added that the season was one
OF unparalleled severity. The natives
of this island were large, robust men,
and expert hunters and fishermen. But,
| like most or their race, they We're I'M
provident, and made DO provision for
such winter. The cold set in early
and continued without interruption.
The mercury was 400 below zero for
weeks at tine. The cold and violent
storms prevented them from going out
on the ice to catch walrus and seals
their main dependence for food in winter.
Their scant stock of meat was soon ex-
hausted. They were many miles from
| Siberia, and could not have reached it
alive in the face of the bitter winter.
At the northwest end of the island we
found settlement of about two hun
bred and fifty people. These had suf-
fered severely from the famine, only
one-half of the original colony having
survived. They had larger stock Of
provisions than their unfortunate neigh
bors, and thus escaped complete ami
hilation.