The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-04-06
Our 0lio.
To the North Pole.

rrc,lgriek ~rhvaiks in Wide Awake
At the time Of our leaving Hudson
Bay in the carly spring Of - on our long
sledge-iouruey Of a years bard work We
had forty.two very fne Eskimo dugs 10
null our thrcc heavily laden sledges over
The hard frozen SHOWS Among the Wild
Eskimo We mct on that distant trip, 50 far
away that only very few had ever seen
anv white men before, We added by Pur-
chase eighteen more good dgrs. making
sixty in all,
When the year was gone and the journey
ended wlth a bitter oold Arctic wiGser, aud
the iovfal sight Of eur old home in Had-
sons Bsy was again brought before us, We
had oat IL the sixty hat nineteen Of the
faithful creatures left Nearly all the rest
had starved to death during the bard part
Of the trip where wc had fought our way
alen.. almost starving ourselves.
Whom We started in the spring ci 1s
we had enough good food for oar f9rty-iso
animals for number Of days 4 funny
kind Of food it vas. sOo-grcat slabs Of
tnurh.walrus hide, nearly two inches thick
and covered With bris,ly hair. THIS Ne cut
into s,rirs about foot long. aad about
dozen of the strips were given To each dog.
The animals were unt tcd again for two
DAYS That il the rule 90 journey, how
ever much food may &c on kaad; and If
there b. a scarcity they may b. led ouiy
every third OF cvea foursh day. Singular
as this sccus il appears yet more wonderful
ihat the dugs viii keep up their strength
aud spirits when doing ordinary slcdglng,
day ii and day ou,, aud yet be fed only
alternate days. have lived directly aulong
the Eskimo Tor over two years, Just the
ssme A. one Of them, aud | never saw them
feed thesr dog oftcucr than every sccond
day. unless il was 20 give them something
that otherwise would be lest or spoiled.
When the walrus hide gave cut, a. II
did in about thrce weeks, we had to rely
only on game. principally the aesh Of the
reindeer. over i've hundred Of which We
killed on cur years trip. Nearly al. oi
these were secured ihroagh the vigilance
Of our Eskimo hunters Had NC all been
white men believe We never could have
made the trip from Huds1ns Bay to the
Arctic Ocean. and nv belief is founded 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 whiiel could
have made the journey and supported the
forty.two hard-workius dogs with their
yorscious appstit7s Ny sledge expedition
would have been absolutely impossible with
out the aid of my Eskimo allies, and shows
the folly Of attempting arctic enterprises
without them and their means OF life and
travelling.
When We reached the Arctic Sea, We
gos dried fish from the natives TO feed the
dorS. and also killed few seal on the
ocean ice. All summer We thus kept them
alive on King Williams Land, aud our
selves too for that matter, for We could only
carry les than months civilized proyi-
.ions and were gone within ten days OF a
year. therefore when cur ssartiug-out sup
piy was gone we had TO ike for nearly =
wear the same as the Eskimo; the same as
the dogs in fact, except that they would be
stinted first ia 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 u little nearer the
horizon at the former time although II was
lust as lisht-ve were buryiagthe scatter
ed bones Of a brave British expedition OF
over hundred souls that visited that lonely
land many years before and not one OF
whom ever returned 10 tell in what dread
full 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 a few could have escaped
along the dreary coast where We were NV
ing in plenty at the corresponding time OF
year when they were lost.
When our summers task was done oil
following the lonely line of death and bury
ing the bones, We prepared for our winter
sledge Journey homo to HudsOn's Bay
whence next summer a 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 anc
in fine fur, to migrate southwark where
the climate would be little milder; so VT
had to scurry around pretty lively to xii
enough of them for clothing, bedding ant
meat until we should overtake them farthe
south again.
We were quite successful, and early il
November we started back, hoping and ex
pecting to reach home in month or tw'
at the most-an expectation that wa
dragged out two or three months, eyel
longer than that, and gave us sledg
Journey through the whole of the winter
an undertaking before unknown even amoni
; the Eskimo.
Our dogs were good and strong aud GOV
cred with fat when We started, and ever,
= thing worked along happily enough Will
we were passing from one Eskimo villag
. ITO the other, where We could exchang
: trading material for dog food.
1 The last village we left November II