The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-03-28
TO THE NORTH POLE
By the Slippery Route Of the Es-
kimo Sledges.
Lieutenant Schwatka Recounts Interest
ing Experiences Encountered in His
Journey from HudsOn's Bay to
the Arctic Ocean.

At the time of our leaving Hudson's
Bay in the early spfing of '78 on our
long sledge-journey of years hard
work we had forty-two very fine Eski-
mo dogs to pull our three heavily-laden
sledges over the hard frozen SHOWS.
Among the wild Eskimo we met on
that distant trip, so far away that only
very few had ever seen any white
men before, we added by purchase
eighteen more good dogs, making sixty
mall.
When the year was gone and the
journey ended with bitter cold Arctic
winter, and the joyful sight of our old
home in Hudson's Bay was again
brought before US, we had out of the
sixty but nineteen of the faithful Great
ures left. Nearly all the rest had
starved to death during the hard part
Of the trip where we had fought our
way along, almost starving ourselves.
When we started in the spring of
'78 we had enough good food for our
forty-two animals for a number of
days. A funny kind of food it was. too
great slabs of tough walrus hide,
nearly two inches thick and covered
with bristly hair. This we cut into
strips about foot long, and about a
dozen of the strips were given to each
dog. The animals were not fed again
for two days. That is the rule on a
journey, however much food may be
on hand; and if there be a ascarcitY they
may be fed only every third or even
fourth day. Singular as this seems ii
appears yet more wonderful that
the dogs will keep up their strength
and spirits when doing ordinary
sledging, day in and day out, and
yet be fed only alternate days.
have lived directly among the
Eskimo for over two years. just the
same as one of them, and / never saw
them feed their dogs oftener than
every second day, unless it was to give
them something that otherwise would
be lost or spoiled.
When the walrus hide gave out, as il
did in about three weeks, we had to re-
ly on game. principally the flesh of the
reindeer, over five hundred of which
we killed on our years trip. Nearly
all of these were secured through the
vigilance of our Eskimo hunters. Had
we all been white men / believe We
never could have made the trip from
Hudson's Bay to the Arctic Ocean, and
my belief is founded on many years
hunting experience in the West.
feel perfectly confident that no aver
age body of white men 1--WE mum
bered seventeen in all. four being
white) could have made the journey
and supported the forty-two hard.
working dogs with their voracious ap-
petites. Ny sledge expedition would
have been absolutely impossible with
out the aid of my Eskimo allies, and
shows the folly of attempting arctic en-
terprises without them and their means
OF life and travelling.
When we reached the Arctic Sea, we
got dried fish from the natives to feed
the dogs, and also killed a few seal on
the ocean ice. All summer we thus
kept them alive on King William:
Land, and ourselves too for that mat
ter; for we could only carry less than g
months civilized provisions and were
gone within ten days of year; there
lore when our starting-out supply wa:
gone we had to live for nearly a yeal
the same as the Eskimo; the same a;
the dogs in fact, except that they
would be stinted first in times o
scarcity.
During all this long summer
when the sun never went down, wher
the only way We could tell midnigh
nom noon was by noting that the sur
was little nearer the horizon at the
former time although it was just al
nght-we were burying the scattered
bones OF brave British expedition o.
over hundred souls that visited that
lonely land many years before and not
one q whom ever returned to tell in
what a dreadful way they were lost
= my little band carefully completed