Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1889-04-05
TO THE NORTH POLE.
LIEUTENANT SCHwATKA RECoUNTS IN
TERESTING EXPERIENCES.

|
TERESTING EXPERIENCES.
At the time OF our leaving Hudson's
Bay in the early spring of 81 on our
long sledge journey of a years hard
work we had forty-two very fine Es-
kimo dogs to pull our three heavily
laden sledges over the hard frozt n
SHOWS Among the wild Eskimo we
met on that distant trip, so far away
that only a very few had ever seen
any white man before, we added by
purchase eighteen more good dogs,
making sixty in all.
When the year was gone and the
journey ended with bitter cold Are
tic winter, and the joyful sight of our
old home in Hudson's Bay was again
brought before us, we had odt of the
sixty but nineteen of the faithful crea-
lures left. Nearly all the rest had
starved to death during the hard part
of the trip where we had fought our
When we started in the spring of 81
we had enough good food for our for
ty-two animals for number of days.
A funny kind of food it was, too
great slabs of tough walrus hide, near
ly two inches thick and covered with
bristly hair This we cut into strips
about foot long, and about dozen
of the strips were given to each dog.
The animals were not fed again for
ney, however much food may be on
hand; and if there be scarcity they
may be fed only every third or even
every fourth day. Singular as this
seems it appears yet more wonderful
that the dogs will keep up their spir-
its and strength when doing ordinary
sledging. day in and 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 would otherwise be lost or spoiled.
When the walrus hide gave out, as
it did in about three weeks, we had to
rely 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 found
ed on many years hunting experience
in the West. | feel perfectly confident
that no average body of white men
(we numbered seventeen in all, four
being white) could have made the
journey and supported the forty-two
hard-working dogs with their vora
cious appetites. Ny sledge expedition
would have been absolutel impossi-
BILE without the aid of my Eskimo al
lies, and shows the folly of attempt
ing Arctic enterprises without them
and their means of travelling.
When we reached the Arctic Sea we
got dried fish from the natives to feed
the dogs, and also killed Il 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
a months civilized provisions and
were gone within ten days of year;
therefore when our starting-out sup
ply was gone we had to live for near
ly a year the same as the Eskimo; the
same as the dogs, in fact, except that
they would be stinted first in times oi
scarcity.
During all this long summer-when
the sun never went down, when the
only way we could tell midnight from
noon was by noting that the sun was
a little nearer the horizon at the for
mer time, although it was just as light
we were burying the scattered bones
of brave British expedition Of over
a hundred souls that visited that lone
ly land many years before and not
one of whom ever returned TO tell in
what a dreadful way they were lost.
AS my little band carefully completed
the last sad rites for these remains |
could not help but wish that their
party too had been much smaller in
numbers and had added faithful ma
tives to it. so at least few could have
escaped along the dreary coast where
we were living in plenty at the CORE
spending time of year when they were
lost
When our summers task was done
of following the lonely line of death
and burying the bones, we prepared
for our winters sledge journey home
to Hudson Bay, whence next summer
a ship would take us back to the Uni
ted States.
The first cold snap CT winter-and
in the Arctic regions winter sets in
earlier than in our own country by
two or three months-started the rein
deer, how fat and in fine fur, TO mi
CRATE southwark where the climate
would be little milder: so we had TO
scurry around pretty lively TO kill