The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-05-07
ON AN ARCTIC ICE FLOE.
EsoUIMAu HUNTERS
THRILLING RIDE.
Nearly q Month at Sea with Bear Meat
Diet-His House Dropped Out OF Sight
While His Back Was Turned
Land ut Last.

North. Not any real starvation. but
oftentimes rations so low that to catch
any game whatever. even little seal.
sent thrill OF joy among the poor
natives while to capture walrus
would have been enough to have made
them indulge In the widest festiv-
tiles only the Esquimau method OF
showing delight was simply to grin;
they grinned little when they got
SEAL and would have nearly grinned
their heads of had they got the wal
rus. So far that winter they had not
done much grinning. Day or night
fair or stormy, wind in shore or of.
the hunters had walked the Ice edge
looking for walrus, but no walrus were
| found.
The gale at times was fearfully in
tense, and those who slept In their
little now-houses near the sea could
hear the terrible ripping sound as
piece after piece OF ice broke from
the shore and there were many
thoughts for the hunters out in the
storm. and hopes that they were not
on these most unstable ships
One OF these stormy nights an Esqui-
mau hunter was walking the ice
watching for walrus. In front OF him
was the appearance OF small sub
merged reef which he identified by
the bullying up of the ice over it when
the tide was low. and this he thought
would be good anchor to hold the
shore ice to its place during such a
terrific wind off shore. When the tide
was low this was safe enough. but as
the ice only formed ten or twelve feet
at its thickest and as the tide rose
and fell over twenty feet he did not
know the bottom of the reef could not
touch even the bottom of the ice when
at high tide. so his anchor OF rock
would be useless The poor savages
seldom do much thinking thatrequires
addition and subtraction. even when
/ Their lives are Ia danger.
Shoe Roke for such was tho
Esquimau hunters name-thought he
saw an object near the reef that
might be a walrus but when he crept
nearer he found that it was only a
large quantity OF seaweed, kind of
pulp very plentiful in the Arctic
regions, that had been washed up on
an ice cake. and as 1t moved up and
down it deceived even the expert
Esquimau hunter in the dim light
AS he was turning to go back to-
ward the shore. with grunt in
Esquimau for .angry''-the strongest
expression they use when disappointed
he heard terrible noise behind
him like the roaring OF thunder. and
which the poor fellow knew at once
to be the giving way OF the ice on
which he stood. With what rapidity
he could master he ran to one end.
but there saw very wide channel Of
water and to his chagrin saw that
had he gone TO the other end. he might
have saved himself for the foe had
swung around that corner as on a
pivot; but by the time he reached the
end of the long foe it was too late.
and he dared not attempt the Jump
for none OF the Esquimaux know how
to swim. and it would have been
certain death had he fallen into the
water.
All that he could do was to wait
until his ship should reach the edge
of solid ice, says the New York Dis
patch. and then make his way home
as best he could. This depended
wholly on whether he was able to hold
out and keep from starvation. or his
home did not break to pieces and
tumble into the water Many OF his
friends be knew had drifted out to sea
in this way. some absent many days.
and some he bitterly remembered
never returned.
As the Esquimau people are accus.
toned to the greatest hardships they
are not accustomed to sit down and
bemoan their fate on an occasion OF
this kind. Shoe Rpke at once CON-
menced to look around him, and was
greatly surprised to see dark object
on the foe. Walking over to it, he
was astonished to see it was his light
sledge and four dogs The poor
dogs lightly fed for many a day. had
curled up In bunch and were SO
comfortable that they had not moved.
Shoe Rokc took out his snow knife.
that all Esquimau men and boys carry
with them and built him snow.
house. in which he could crawl to
protect himself from the fury of the
gale, which sent the spray flying clear
across his open boat He built an
other to protect his poor dogs. for in
case of necessity they would prolong
his life skeletons though they were.
Four long days he tasted seeing no
game he could reach, when, to his de-
light he saw walrus and. arming
himself with his spear. he crept up to
slay it but only disappointment
awaited him. for the walrus escaped.
and again he went to bed supperless
Still hoping to save the dogs by killing
game. He hardly had closed his eyes
when he heard great noise OF his
dogs barking and snarling at some
thing. Grasping his spear he rushed
out and found that the dogs had
brought to bay fair-sized Polar bear.
The bear had scented the camp and
was investigating when he woke up
the dogs Undaunted. Shoe Roke at
tackled him. and after being nearly
killed by ferocious charge from the
creature. he got thrust In the bears
neck that ended him. So the subject
OF food was settled for a long time.
vVhflo 10 ,.a. c,,<ttV,s 40 ,,x, ~ 4, e,,.x t~~o-