The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-01-31
TO THE NORTH POLE
By the Slippery Route Of tho Es-
kimo Sledges.
Lieutenant Schwatka Recounts Interest
ing Experiences Encountered In His
Journey from Hudson's Bay to
tho Arctic Ocean.


Journey from Hudson's Bay to
tho Arctic Ocean.
At the time of our leaving Hudson's
Bay in the early spring of '78 on our
long sledge-j tourney of a 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 Arcti<
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 whore 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 q 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
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 scarcity they
may be fed only every third or even
fourth day. Singular as this seems it
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 it
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 l 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 mon 1--WE num-
bered seventeen in all. four being
Whitley could have made the journey
and supported the forty-two hard
working dogs with their voracious APP
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 q few seal on
the ocean ice. All summer we thus
kept them alive on King Williams
Land, and ourselves too tor that mat
ter; for we could only carry less than a
months civilized provisions and were
gone within ten days of a year; there
fore when our starting-out supply was
gone we had to live for nearly year
the same as the Eskimo; the same rs
the dogs in fact, except that they
would be stinted first in times of
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 little nearer the horizon at the
former time although it was just as
hght-we were burying the scattered
bones OF brave British expedition of
over hundred souls that visited that
lonely land many years before and not
one OF whom ever returned to tell in
what 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
natives to it. so at least few could
have escaped along the dreary coast
where we were living in plenty at the
corresponding time of year when they
Were lost.
When our summer task was done
of following the lonely line of death
and burying the bones, we prepared
for our winters sledge journey home
to Hudson's Bay, whence next summer
ship would take US to the United
States.
The first cold snap of winter-and in
the Arctic regions winter sets in earlier
than in our own country by two or
three months - started the reindeer,
now fat and in fine fur, to migrate
southwark where the climate would be
little milder; SO we had to scurry
around pretty lively to kill enough OF
them for clothing, bedding and meat
until we should overtake them farther
south again.
We were quite successful. and early
in November we started back. hoping
and expecting to reach home in a
month or two at the most-an expecta.
ton that was dragged out two or three
months, even longer than that, and
gave us sledge journey through the
whole of the winter, an undertaking
before unknown even among the Es-
kimo. ---. ~
! Our dogs were good and strong and
covered with fat when we started, and
every thing worked along happily