Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-01-14
In the Arctic Regions.

Lieutenant S:hwatka, leader Of the
American expedition il search + relies
. Of the Arctic cxpiUrer. Sir John Frank
In, gives in his account OF the ,ayu"y
the following Interesting particulars
cOrcorui4g travel near tho Pole:
There were three Wli'e men beside,
myself IL tx" party All thirteen Inuit.
IN all, for wA"u Tia lul..- tr4vcl the,
always ta..r their women au,! children.
Oar i...r!,y WAS to lion siras. an. ".
followed tue habits ui the F-,nimlu&
as nearly ae possible, l.: aiultjph /.
heavy Undertaking, We wore what wae
practically two complete suits 81 fl!
clothing. Tnls VS. made If rein ir-t
skin, one suit having tine hair turned
out and the other in. iHc lulrr pl!r
OF trousers is"4ilri q" !wopals, al ;hc
outer kok Inns We were lorg ,t.ch-
ings, " las lektls, coming ~ ab,.e the
knee. The cap Is attached to til" ont
side coat, the whole being cY]icl
" couteiaug.' The cap tits closely
around the face The shoes were made
of the skin taken from the head Of the
reindeer.
The sleds were perhaps fifteen OF
eightecli !eot long. The runners are Of
Whale6One and the sides are incline /
out little. This is done 10y the Use Of
whale cask slaves for cross pieces, and
makes the sleds run more ca lily. Ga
these cross pieces the PROVISIONS and
luggage are garfield wrapped up in
decrskin, and lashed in place by seal
skin thongs. l started from Depot Is.
lands with forty-two dogs. Their,
would be perhaps fifteen to sled
They are driven by means Of a whip
with very long lash, always long
enough to reach the leading dog, al
though he may be thirty feet away from
the sledge.
Our sled loads amounted to between
1 900 and 5000 pounds when We
started. We were splendidly armed
and carried plenty of ammuniti on
Then we took Il good deal in the way
of provisions, such as hard bread, pork
compressed corn beef, oleomargarine.
coffee and tea, and other articles. We
had also some walrus meat; but We
were determined to depend chic fly
on the game in the country that We
passed through. This is where the tx
petition differed from most Arctic ex-
plorations. When we left Camp DAILY.
April l. 1879. We had pretty fair idea
OF the experience we would have, for
we had made some preliminary sled
journeys, and had habituated ourselves
to living in Esquimaux "igloes or
snow huts. There Was considerable
risk when sledging overland, of find
ing hills SO high that it would be ina
possible to get the sleds over them
and then there was some danger of not
finding sufficient game. Oar first da, +
journey was only ten miles, and for the
first month We averaged about eight
miles daily.
We were encouraged by coming
across some reindeer April ., and
Iaolooab, ono of onr E.quima ux, killed
two white does; auoiher killed one.
This was reassuring as to the prospect
for food, and SO loug as we CO aid get
plenty of fresh meat there was no
danger of scurvy. In travelling, every.
thing was taken on the sleds instead OF
using portage; that is, sending part
OF the lead ahead with the men and
following with the rest. And | forbade
riding on the sleds except when going
down hill. Some hills that we came
to were SO steep that we were obliged
to lower the sleds. When the tempera-
ture was low these sleds ran very
easily. We threw water over the run
ners, which frozc, and made surface
of ice over the whalebone. At night we
built little huts, or "igloes of ice,
banked up with snow. the opening or
door being very small. In one corner
was our fire, which was rather pecu-
liar one. A hemispnericAl stone lamp
was used, containing oil and bits of
moss, and little fires were built around
and on the sides. If it became 80 warm
in the hut that the snow melted and
dripped, and the air became too close,
we made o small hole through the top.
This hole was also convenient some
times to fire the Coston signals through
when the wolves came around at night.
We used deer skins and seal skins for
protection at hight. Some had deer
skin bags that they would crawl into,
and be perfectly snug.
The nights as rule were very COM
Portable, but it was unpleasant on
waking in the morning to find ones
stockings, that had become wet on the
previous day, frozen hard and stiff.
The wolves annoyed us somewhat, both
from their noise and on account of our
fears that they would attack the dogs.
The Inuits who accompanied us were
OF the greatest value in hunting. In
all we shot 5l1 reindeer, four musk
oxen and innumerable seals, walruses
and other animals: In walrus hunting
it is impossible to get the animals when
the wind is blowing the ice off shore.
But when the wind brings the ice in
shore the walruses come in and climb
up Oh cakes CT ice. Then the Es-
quimaux crawl over the hommocks I'M
til they get near enough to throw the
harpoon. The coil of line lies on the
arm, and they let it out through their
hands-usually bare-when the animal
plu nges into the water. 1t may take
two or three thrusts, but at last the
game is hauled on the ice.
When an Esquimau finds a slight.
rounded elevation. in the ice. with Il
little opening, he knows it to be seal
hole, and he stations himself beside it
with his harpoon ready in one hand and
his coil of line around his neck. After