The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1885-09-05
Our Oliu.
The Arctic in Summer.

Frederick Sct,catka in Ne,o York Times.
The two hot months named after Julius
and Augustus Caesar, when the thermom-
eter is having such a "high old time" in
our latitudes, are more dissimilar in the
arctic than with us, July being much the
pleasanter month The northern shores
of Hudson Bay are fair-sized rolling hills
of gneiss and granite, with here and there
quite bold headland projecting into the
bay, much of which is covered with dull
coiored moss, especially in the valleys and
and lower levels. Such was its condition
when we.sighted it on the morning of Au-
gust s, 1873, when it was apparently as
deserted as the land in the moon. We
had hoped to find Esquimaux here in or
der to determine where my party should
land, so dependent would l be upon them
for dogs, dog drivers, guides, hunters, and
other necessaries for my expected expedi-
ton. Presently from distant low island
there appeared an ill-shaped affair, looking
as melancholy as drift log with an up
right snag in the centre. 1t turned out to
be an Esquimau in his skin canoe. 9th
ers followed, creeping out from hidden
places, until the water was covered with
these little craft and we were surrounded
by them, replying to our whalemen's cries
of "kimo, kimo! % (welcome, welcome y
with the same word, but as | afterward
learned, being word not used by these
Esouimaux or known to their vocabulary,
they evidently supposing it to be English,
while the whalers, who have picked it up in
the Hudson Straits from the Innuits, think
they are talking Esquimau to the natives.
They crawled upon the deck in full force,
and after they had worn off their bashful
ness, which was expressed in idiotic grins,
they condescended to show us their villa
ges, which could be seen by means of a
glass, though they were exactly the color
of the moss against which they were pro-
iected.
There was no ice as far as the eye could
reach. The last we had seen foated in a
long pack off the southern mouth of Foxs
Channel as we sailed by it. This was con-
trary to my preconceived ideas of the arc
tic, as 1 had expected to land alongside
the shore ice, 20 or 80 feet thick, and use
it as a sort of dock for landing my freight.
The country was desolate enough to be the
arctic, but beyond this, as far as anything
pertaining to the frigid zone could be
made out, it could just as well have been
the Arabian desert, Florida sand key, or
any other dreary stretch. The polar pier
not being at hand, the subject of getting
my freight to shore, some two miles away,
was consideration, as the whaling master
did not like to spare more than one whale
boat for this work, for fear he might ''raise'
a whale, and the Esquimaux promised to
supply the deficiency with their large
boats, or oon,iiens, which are made of skins
stretched over strong wooden frame,
holding quite as much as a whaleboat, and
probably weighing less. They seem to be
dangerous things at glance for a person
not used to them, as the water could plainly
be seen through the wet transparent skins,
which are held against the frame in bulg-
ing masses by the load There is crank
mess about them in all their movements
which would suggest to the philosophical
mariner that the centre of gravity had
climbed to the top of the 1O-foot mast,
from which they sometimes suspend rude
lateen sail With couple of these and
another whaleboat-fo the master decided
it was better to get rid of us and 60 cruising
for whales than to await them in this
harbor-we had our effects on shore in a
short time, and no sooner was the spot Sc
lected where we should "pitch" our tents
than the little scattered Esquimau villages
from far and wide commenced moving up
alongside to secure our company. The
prospects for getting up our tents were not
very good, as the ground was simply solid
rock, and we had neglected to bring along
a rock drill company to help us drive in
the pins. Our Esquimau allies by an in
genious disposition of the small and large
stones that they brought with them soon
got our tents up, and were not long after
that in getting their own around us.
The Esquimau summer tent is not very
prepossessing looking affair, and a village
of such tents is far less artistic than the
displays of the Indians of the plains with
their ornamental lodges of tanned elk skins,
and bristling masses of lodge poles radiating
from the top. This tent (too-pik of the
Innuits) has two poles to hold it up, one
near the centre, about feet high, and one
at the entrance about 5 feet high. The
rear tent pole has wide, fiat cross-piece
between two feet and thirty inches in
length, fastened to its top, and placed at
right angles to the length of the tent. Its
purpose is to spread the top in order to give
more room below The front pole, stand
ing about FIVE feet from the other, has from
its front one or more guy ropes, generally
extending forward and fastened to stones.