The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-05-01
STORY OF LONSDALE"S TRIP.
He Penetrated to IS Degrees North, and
Had Some Lively Experiences.

Had Some Lively Experiences,
SAN FRANCISCO, April 23.--Lord Lons-
dale arrived here to-day from Kodiak,
and gave full details of his extraordinary
voyage to rs degrees North latitude and
his overland trip across Alaska. He. is
in excellent health, and bears no trace
of the hardships he endured. He de-
clared that he penetrated to Banks
Land in latitude IS degrees, discovered
Niagara of ice 900 feet high, and
found that all maps of the Arctic re-
gions are wrong Schwatka's so-called
military map of Alaska, he says, is a
farce, as few of the passes and ravlneS
are indicated He found little game
anywhere, and his hunting expeditions
were failures. Lord Lonsdale reached
the Great Slave Lake in June last year,
and went around it in boats, suffering
great hardships. His only white com
panion was William McEwan, Hud-
sons Bay Company's cook. On Hay
River he found one of the company's
steamers put on to carry freights up the
Mckenzie River. OF this part Of his
trip he said:
''While on the Hay River I saw the
most beautiful waterfall in the world.
1t is horseshoe in shape and has
sheer fall of 200 feet, with another fall
above it. It is about one and half
miles wide at the top and one and three
fourth miles wide at the bottom.
''It is more beautiful than Niagara,
although there is not the same weight
of water. Words cannot describe its
magnificent beauty as block after block
of ice and iceberg after iceberg come
whirling over and down into the abyss
below.
~ went to Peel River in a steamer
and there got boat and eight natives
and started for the Arctic Ocean. It
was with the greatest difficulty l could
get Indians to 60 with me, as they were
terribly afraid of the Esquimaux. who
up there are called 'Huskeys.' These
Huskeys seem to be race by them
selves. Instead of being small of stature
and dark, as is the case with ESquimauX
generally, the are big and tall. ;"
These EsquimauX tried to lntlmidate
Lord Lonsdale, but he refused to be
frightened by their pretended attempts
to stab him, and they ended by becom-
Ing his sworn friends. In August, with
their help be arrived at Melville Island,
the farthest North he reached. From
this point Lord Lonsdale determined to
walk to the Yukon River, across the
mountains, distance of eighty miles.
He reached the Yukon, and Aoated
down the Ajuko, where there is Rus
sian missionary station. The river was
then closed, so he determined to strike
off overland for Katami, opposite ko-
diak. He says Of this trip:
During the journey we encountered
many difficulties, and it was bitterly
cUld, the lowest the thermometer reached
being 64 degrees below zero. 1t was
worst, after walking and running all day,
to have to lie in the snow to sleep.
There was no wood to warm our cloth
ing, and We had the greatest difficulty
in crossing the mountains.
The people said it was impossible;
that twelve men had died in trying. |
started with nine sleds and sixty-nine
dogs. At the foot of the mountains the
Indians refused to cross and tried to
desert in the night. took one OF them
by the neck and made him 60 before and
I walked after him. I took all their
rifles and snowshoes, put them in my
sled, and sat on them. At 3 in the
morning, when they got upt to abandon
me in the dark, they were surprised to
find me Before them. l started at s
o'clock that morning in the dark and had
to cross ranges, the highest point of which
was 5000 feet. The cold was
intense, and terrible storms would
come up at times. When l
cot across I had only twenty
nine dogs left, all the others having
frozen to death. Seven Indians were
missing and five sleds. After waiting
two days I set out to look for the MISS
ing men and found them in terrible
condition. All the dogs were dead. |
brought the men down safe and sound,
only their hands and feet being frozen.
| waited at Katami until March 10,
when the Alaska Company sent letter
TO me. Then | waited for the steamer
Bertha, on which have just arrived:
In conclusion. Lord Lonsdale said ne
did not think anything would be made
out of the Yukon mines. There was
gold, but only in small quantities.
The miners were suffering greatly.