The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1883-09-22
WINTER IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.

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no very great undertaking to spend a
winter in the arctic regions; but in
earlies times this was not so; every one
shrank from the dreadful climate, even
in summer, and feared the terrors of
the sunless land. 1t is true that in old
times they did not possess all the adj
vantages afforded by modern science to
those who undertake arctic travel, but
still it seems strange that the prospect
of such an undertaking should have
been regarded with such terror.
Certain Muscovy merchants, we read
actually obtained a pardon for some
malefactOrs condemned TO death, on
condition that they should remain
year in Greenland. where ''all necessa-
ries of clothes and provisions were to
be provided, and ample payment made
for accomplishing the task.'' The
terms were accepted and the convicts
embarked 'but on viewing the place
of their Punishment they rejected the
offer; they preferred death to living
there"
In 1880, however, the feat was ac-
complished, against the will of him who
did it, under far less favorable con-
ditions. Captain Goodler, of the Salu-
tation, one Of the vessels engaged in the.
whale fishery, left the Foreland for
| Green Harbor, in order to take in
twenty men who had been transferred
| to one of the other vessels. Finding
himself near part of the coast famous
! for the abundance of its venison, he
| sent eight men ashore in a boat to hunt.
| This was on the 10Th of August. They
carried with them couple of dogs. a
matchbox, two lances and finder
| box, and were so fortunate as to kill no
| less than fourteen deer that very day.
As they were extremely tired, they re-
solved to rest on shore that night and
return To their snip the next day. But
the weather being hazy and much ice
arising between the sea and the land,
the vessel was forced to stand out to
sea, and they lost sight of her. Under
these circumstances they decided to
hunt along the shore to Green Harbor,
where she was to pick up the twenty
men. They killed eight deer more,
and, with their boat well laden with
provisions, arrived at the place to find
that the twenty men had been picked
up already and that their ship had de-
parted"
The time for leaving Greenland being
the Goth of August, they lost not a
moment in pushing into Bell Sound,
the place of general rendezvous, some
fifty miles away. But though they
threw their venison overheard, they
made but slow progress, and "being
without compass, and uncertain of
the navigation, they reached the place
too late. The fleet, having a fair wind,
had sailed away
Their disappointment was very great
and the misery of being entirely de
serted was increased by the conviction
that they must winter in a cold, inhos
pitable and desoate region, without
ANYTHING wherewith to make them
selves comfortable. If they had beer
mere sailors taken at random, instead
of picked men accustomed to hunting
all would have been over with them. Al
DIR. Rae, the Arctic explorer, one,
pointed out to me, this is the real secre
of life or death in these regions. In hi
own marvellous expedition he had The
Hudson Bay Company's men with him
who do not waste powder. These eigh
poor fellows, however, were not sensi
bic of the advantage they possessed il
this respect, or, at all events, it com
forted them but little. They only re
membered stories of desertion, and nov
nine of their fellow-countrymen ha'
been abandoned at that very place AM
had come to miserable end, thei
bodies having been found the mex
, spring, "miserably disfigured by beast
of prey" They took counsel and re
/ solved to winter at Bell Sound, where
| hut had been built by the Dutch for tn
! whalemen. 1t was, however, eight
: feet long and fifty broad, so that it wa
[ necessary to build much smaller con
J partment within it for themselves. The
/ were thus, it will be observed, well pro
: vided with e-wood-an immense aC
| vantage in those regions. Even pre-
9 visions were not wanting, though ;
t first fresh meat was so scarce that the
| confined themselves to one meal day
e On Wednesdays and Fridays they ha
n only whale fritters, scraps of fat throw
4 away after the oil had been extracted
4 They mended their clothes, which wei
a worn out, as well as they could wit
S threads of rope-yarn AND needles
i whalebone.
e On the 14th of October the sun san
: to rise no more for months, and the
4 spirits sank with it. Nevertheless "tl
v moon was in view all this time bot
It night and day, shining for the most pa
d as it does during bright weather in r
r gland. When it was obscured they uss
h an oil lamp with wicks made from rop
:. yarn" AS the new year commend,
the cold grew more intense; bliste
would rise on the poor fellows flesh
IA though they had been burned with fir
!. and iron stuck to their fingers like bir
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