The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1880-11-26
Polar Famine Horrors.

| uus pul ltOm Db. u1iSLlOAS We lN"~hNN
St. Lawrence island, where it was re-
ported famine had swept away nearly
the whole population during the pre7j
ous year. The island is ninety milei
long from east to west. We steamed
along close in by the shore, working oul
way through the ice. At last the settle
ments were reached and each one thai
was visited presented the same dreary
scene OF death and desolation. Not 6
solitary dog or rat was to be found about
any of the rude huts; but in front OF the
houses, in a ghaStly row, lay the dead
bodies of those who had succumbed tc
the terrible hunger. They had lair
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 Eythe cold
SO that they looked like mummies. The
skin was drawn tightly over their ema-
ciated 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 tat
too marks on the chin, which is one o.
the peculiar styles of faminine face 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 rs there was any survivors to
perform the service, the corpses were
placed in the regular rows in front Of
the huts. At one place we found fifty
bodies side by side, some being the re-
mains of little children, while Others
were the corpses of old people.
The usual litter and refuse which sur
round the Esquimaux huts were lack
ing, and there was not a scrap left oi
any kind of food. The cleanly-gnawed
bones showed that they had eaten their
dogs; they had even devoured the rats
which infested the village; they had
chewed up the old bits of walrus- hide
everything 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 hideous death.
To explain this terrible famine, which
was as unusual as it was fatal, it must
be added that the season was one of un-
paralleled severity. The natives of this
island were large, robust men and ex.
pert hunters and fishermen, but, like
mosJ Of their race, they were improvi-
dent and made no provision for such a
winter. The cold set in early and con-
tinued without interruption. The mer-
curry was forty degrees below zero for
weeks at time. The cold and violent
storms prevented them from going out
on the fce to catch walrus and seals
their main dependence for food in the
winter. Their scanty stock of meat was
soon exhausted; 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 q settlement of about $50 people.
They had suffered severely from the
fam inc, only about one-half the original
colony having survived, They had had
larger stock of provisions than their
unfortunate neighbors and thus escaped
complete annihilation.
At this settlement two sailors from
wrecked bark were left several years
ago. They are living there still, having
adopted native customs. One has taken
a native wife, and the woman's hus-
band, on attempting to reclaim her, was
killed by the sailor. The customs oil
the natives are savage and brutal. 1t is
usual for the old people, when they feel
that they can work no longer, to an.
nounce the fact to their children. Then
the poor creatures are taken out of the
hut and either knocked on the head or
stabbed by their sons. If they fail to
give warning Of their helplessness, the
children are quick to detect the signs of
age and promptly dispatch their parents,
generally by beating them ovel the
head. The bodies are seldom buried;
they are cast to the dogs, who devour
them. At this place also we had new
evidence of some native peculiarities--
the ease with which they could see at
great distance with the naked eye and
the marvellous way in which news was
transmitted from the most distant
points. A native Will describe the dress
and appearance OF II man who is ap-
preaching at a,great distance. A white
man, even q sharp-eved sailor, can Just
make out that it is n human figure. So,
If anything occurs on the coast-if
piece Of wreck comes DslCre--the fl
particulars will be known in very
short time 1000 miles from the spot
where it occurred. 1t is wonderful
system of telegraphy-one native rush
ing off TO pass the news to another, and
thus spreading the intelligence over
hundreds Of miles OF territory in single
day. The information which we re-
ceived in this way was also very &C
curate.