Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1885-07-31

pass. -.
1t is to tell you a most startling
story of this kind that l started upon
in this article, story told me by an
old walrus-hunter among the Exqul-
maux in the northern part OF Hudson's
bay, and which l thought was thrill
ing enough at the time, and only hope
can convey it to you az well as ne
told it 20 me. There had been pinched
times during the winter at Plkkenllk,
the little island where he had built
his little snow>house, or lgloo, as
thew call it; no real starvation, but
aftentjmes on rations so low that to
catch any game, as even little seal,
sent thrill OF joy among the poor
natives, while to capture walrus
would have been enough to have
made them fire cannon or indulge IN
torchlight possession had they
known anything at all about such a
method of Notification, but they SIM
ply grinned-grinned a little when
they killed a seal, nearly grlnned
their head off when they got a walrus.
But there was not much grlnnlng
that winter; the corners OF their
mouths, like their spirits. were droop'
ing. Day and night, fair or stormy,
wind inshore or off, the hunters pa
trollea the ice edge looking Tor wal
rus.
The gale at times was fearful. Those
who slept in their snow houses near
the sea could hear the terrible ripping
sound, like a volley of musketry from
a big brigade of soldier, as piece after
piece of ice broke from its fastenIngs
from the shore, and May suppllca-
tons weno up from those at home
that 40 unfortunates hunter were
on those slippery and unstable ships.
One middleag hunter, however,
duaing one of these nights, was pac,
ing the floor, having his two small
boys on either side of him, watching
for walrus, which, if seen, they were
to their father In front OF them was
the appearance of small, submerged
reef, which they identified by the
bullying up of the ice over it when the
tide was low, and this they thought
ought to be a good anchor TO
hold the shore ice TO It's
place, otherwise they would not
have been I'm such dangerous
place during such terrible oG>shore
gale. Their ideas were good enough
when the tide was low, but as the ice
only formed ten or twelve feet deep at
its thickest, and the tide rose and fell
over twenty feet, they should have
known the top Of the reef could not
touch even tbs bottom of the ice when
at high tide, and their anchor Of rock
would be of no use to them. Poor
savages They seldom do much
thinking that requires addition and
subtraction, even to determine such
an important thing as whether their
lives are in danger. They only con
sidered that the reef was in front OF
them and thought in general way
that it ought to protect them. Shoe
Koke, for such was the EsquImaux
hunters name, thought he saw an ob-
jecL near the reef taat might be
waIrus, but, creeping nearer in the
rapidly diminishing twilight, he saw
it was but q heap OF seaweed, a kind
of kelp SO abundant in the Arctic,
that had been washed on a cake OF
ice, and when it turned over, rearing
its head in the air, ii deceived even
the expert Esquimaux hunter as to its
true nature. He was just turning
away with grunt of Mah-me au-nah !
the Esquimau for 'angry," and the
strongest ebithet they ever use to ex-
press their anger or disappointment,
when he heard a most terrible noise
behind him, like the believing of a
thousand balls, and which the poor
fellow knew at once to be the giving
way of the ice on which he stood.
With the rapldity Of a race horse he
ran to the end toward his home, but
there saw a channel of water thirty or
forty feet wide, and to his utter
chagrin and dismay he saw that If be
had gone to the other end of the OBJ
long piece, a couple Of hundred yards
in length, he might have saved him
self, for the little foe had swung
around that corner as a pivot; but by
the time he had gotten there it, too,
had swung clear of the shore ice with
n parting snap, and he dare not trust
himself to jump the twenty or twenty
five feet away, for none of the Esqui-
mau, so cold Is their waters IN lakes
and sea, know how to swim, and 1t
would have been certain death to have
fallen into the water He shouted at
the very top of his voice for his
boys, but the wind was shrieking
perfect gale, an unusual gust
of which had torn him loose,
and it was like trying to hurl a hand
full of feathers back to them TO throw
his voice to wherever they might be-
II would have been but of little use
to him in any way, as they could not
have done anything to help him, and
his loss would soon be known at the
village, a mile or two away, simply
by his not returning. All that he
could do was to float away in his ship,
wait until the wind changed and
brought him near some land. when,
if he recognized it, he would wend
his way home; all this if ne was for~
tunate enough to kill some game to
prevent starvation, or his home OF ice
did not break up into small pieces,
and by falling over tumble him into
the watar, when he must surely
drown.
lie knew well enough that such
drifts out at sen were not uncommon,
and that many of his friends had
been absent two and three days, and
occasionally as many weeks. He al
50 remembered bitterly that some of
them never returned to tell the sad
tale of their journey to their death.
| have spoken of ii as a winter, but
ii was late in that time, and so abrupt
ly do the Arctic seasons change that
winter jumps to summer without
spring, and the summer makes one
bound into winter again without any
apprceiable fall or autumn. One of
his great fears, therefore, was the
chance of this warm weather, which
would make his snip of ice less liable
to hold together in the fierce waves
of the Arctic spring. He devoutly
hoped for the coolest times possible to
help him out, or until he could re-
turn.
The Esquimau people are so used to
hardship and danger that they are
not prone to sit down and bemoan
their fate in a great emergency like
this. Shoo>Koke at once looked
about him TO comprehend bis sur~
roundings, and was much surprised
to see a dark object ON the foe. to
which he walked, thinking it possible
another batch of kelp. and was aston
iSbnj in5aaI ~ COO {bot ~ uoS his