The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-01-23
A WEARY TRAMP.
A Russian Refugees Flight Across the
SHOWS of Siberia.
Iaan Francisco CALI


The water front reporter was weary II
mao spent the greater part of the afternoon
IN valuable search for news of which there
was an alarming scarcity. The virgin page
OF his note book was as yet unsulIied bg
blur Of the pencil. he bad Just come to the
unsatisfactory conclusion that the day was
an unpIopitious one for inouisitive ne VS.
paper men, when he met an old friend in
the person of Captain Brown. master of a
whaling bark lately returned from a cruise
in the Northern seas. After the usual greet
iDgs were over. the scribe requested the Cap
tain TO detail some account of his last voy-
sge.
You must have had some startling ad-
venture" he said persuasively.
We'll, shiver me, it would be q dull
whaling season If we didn't" replied the
Captain slowly, as he lit a pipe which he
had been filling, and took q seat upon the
top of pile, "but this season we had a very
uncommon one. l wish we were aboard the
bark, I've got man there who could tell
you the story better than / can He's a
Russian, but he palavers pretty good Eng
llsb We left here last December. and of
course headed for the north. AS you knoS
the season Just closed has been an al
whales so scary. 1t was well on toward
March before we struck our first Ia ths
latter part of March, and when we we're
about twenty miles to the northwest of the
Fox Islands, the incident l am about to tell
of occurred One night I was aroused from
my sleep by my mate who, as soon as came
out. told me tDat the watch re9ortsd cries,
evidently human, from the wind ward The
cries had been several times repeated. |
listened with the mate, and it was not long
before | heard what sounded like long
drawn 'Hullo o-o.o' How far SWAY it was
We could not reckon, as the northern air is
clear and very dece ptive, slight sounds be-.
ing heard for miles so metimes. | made a
trumpet of my hands and returned the
cries, receiving responses.
Who or what the unknown halter was |
could not imagine as in the direction IRON
whence they came | knew was the opsn sea-
We could see nothing, as the night was
pitchy dark. Whoever II was | knew that
they could see our lights and would re main
In the vicinity until morning. All through
the night the cries were heard at intervals
In the gray of the morning we ga 9 strange
locking boat about half mile from us. and
in it was a still stranger looking object,
which stood upright. making motions. 1t
looked like shaggy bear, but we knew il
was a man, and Immediately put off a
boat He was brought aboard, aud on
reaching the deck fell down aud wa3 I'M
able to move, being exhausted from cold
and exposure. We removed his heavy fur
covering and chafed his limbs and after
restoring the circulation and bringing him
around gave him warm drinks. Soon he
was enabled to tell his story He SAID his
name was Timor Boufosky by birth he was
a Russian, but had spent the last seven
years in exile in the mines of Siberia hav.
ing been sent there on suspicion of being
nihilfst. Driven To desperation by the In
human treatment to which he had been sub
lected at the mines he took advantage OF
the first opportunity offered to make him
self scarce there. He spent nearly nine
months, as near as he could reckon
in wandering over the bleak and
barren country, subsisting on whstever
he could find. Sometimes be met with hos.
pitsble tribes who treated him well. He
was bent on reaching the seashore if posi-
bic, and there trusting to luck to being able
to get aboard some vessel The hardshi ps
which he endured on this tramp were terri
bic. At last he reached the seashore in
half-starved condition. no food having
passed his lips for two days. The ses-shore
was even more barren and bleak than the
country through which he had trave ed
The jagged rocks among which he searched
for shell.Esh cut his clothing and flesh ia a
horrible manner. His clothing now con-
sisted of furs with which be had been sup
piled by nomadic tribe into whose clutches
he had ia en-.
He lived on fish and roots for many days,
ali the time crawling along the coast in
search of a habfation. Whether he was
going north or south he knew not and cared
little. At night he slept in clefts of rocks
One morning he was awakened by series
of strange voices. On opening his eyes he
saw dozen or more dark fac peering over
the rocks at him. They were natives clad
like himself, in skins He saw they were
ins lined to be friendly, and made signs to
show that be was hungry by pointing toward
his mouth. They grinned and mosiOned for
him 20 follow them. After a long walk
they came to an encampment of about thirty
tents, spread on the shore at the very brink
]
him well. They gave him large
bow of warm drink made out of willow
leaves and saxifrage. He was also glad
enough to put himself outside of huge
piece of valrus flesh. There were several
OF the natives or Esquimaux, as | guess they
were, who could patter a few words of
broken English, which they had learned
from the whalers and other Europeans with
whom they had come in contact during
their trading excursions. Well, to make
long story Snort as the saying is. he stopped
with these natives for long time. He does
not remember exactly how long, rs be lost
all track of Ii ne. He learned their gutteral
language, and FINAL y married one OF the
women OF a sub chief, Il sort OF
half lord who owned good many
up in life by his father-in-law present.
ing him with a drove of dogs and a
couple of sleighs With these he accom-
panied the natives into the interior on their
trading excursions with other tribes He
became an expert seal fisher. Their fishing
nets were made of fine cut strips of seal
hide, netted with three inch mesh. Oae
day misfortune occurred which cast him
again sdrift. The women of the tribe he
| said were in the habit of going out along
the beach and gathering shellfish. and mark
ing any colony of seals or walruses which
had escaped the notice of the men. From
one of these excursions Timor wife failed
to return, though ne did from fishing trip
| down the coast. Search was made, aud his
| wife was found lying dead on the shore,
with spear, such rs they use, through her
heart.
When TiRor came back was seized and &C.
cused by his father-in-law OF the murder he
| denied it. but it was of no use, and the ma
| tves, after holding a meeting determined
L.