Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1885-10-02
Esduimau Endurance.

The amount of. cold these northern
nomads can endure, borders on the phe-
nomenal, says Lieutenant Schwatka. |
have seen the little babies, two and three
years old, play, perfectly naked, for
hours at time, on the reindeer robes Of
the bed in the igloo, the temperature as
l have said, constantly below freezing;
and in the fall | have seen them naked,
playing and splashing in pond Of water,
long needles OF ice forming on the quiet
places. saw an Esquimau baby boy
taken from its mothers hood, and naked,
made to stand on the snow until she
found its reindeer skin clothing, from
the sedgc, fairly strong wind, su1i
Cient to drift the loose snow along with
it, blowing at the time, the thermometer
minus thirty eight degrees the only pro-
tection it had being behind a sledge
loaded about three feet high, around and
over which the wind poured. Its eX-
posure thus was good minute, and to
appreciate this, one must take
watch in his hand and see
that length of time drag by,
time that a not unconscentious but sem
sational writer might readily jot down
as five or ten minutes. And have known
naked man, surprised asleep i'll his igloo
by polar bear, hastily grasp gun and
pursue his enemy 200 or 300 yards in the
snow, the thermometer fifteen to twenty
degrees below zero, and slay him. These
Esquimaux rub slushy snow, dipped in
water, on the bottom of the runners of
their sledges, with the open palms of the
hands, until it freezes into solid ice, the
thermometer being from zero TO seventy
degrees be,ow, when have known it to
be done. | have seen an Esquimau
traveller throw himself on the snow and
rest comfortably for half an hour, the
thermometer seventy-onc degrees below
zero, or 1913 degrees below freezing, and
probably doing some light work with
ungloved hands. The Kinnopctoe Es-
quimaux, who seldom build even the
small fires of the native stone lamp il
their igloos during the very coolest
weather of winter, are probably the
hardest of all these borcal Tribes in with
standing low temperatures, and sit
around in their cold, cherries snow
houses with only their undergarments
on (the Esquimau has two suits of rein
deer skins, the outer with the hair turned
outward, and the inner with the hair
turned toward and resting against the
body, their arms withdrawn from their
sleeves and resting on their bare bodies
across their breasts, chatting all the
while pleasantly about various matters,
the thermometer often being below zero; a;
in fact, the only warmth the snow house
has is that given oft by their bodies.
have known one of these Kinnopetoes to
take in undressed reindeer hide that had
been soaked in water to remove the hair,
which was frozen stiff as plate of boiler
iron, put the same against his naked
body, and not only hold it there till it
was thawed out, but until twas perfectly
dry, so as to use it for a drum head (kee,
Iow-tee) in their peculiar savage rites
In fact, | might say that | have been
naked myself in temperature of minus
sixty weight degrees, during the short
time it took to undress, roll my reindeer
coat in bundle for pillow and crawl
into my sleeping bag; but my move
ments partook more of the character of
a small boy going to baseball match
than one saving wood.