Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1892-05-18
ON AN ICE FLOE.
The Experience Of an Tvoy-Hunter
in the Far North.

Years ago, in northeastern Siberia,
made the acquaintance of a Russian
who bad been a mem her of an expedi-
ton sent out by a commercial com
pany to collect the tuslzs of mammoths
from the Lialhov islands, in the Arctic
ocean. The LiakhOv islands lie off the
north coast of Siberia, and are so far in
the arctic regions that they are desti-
tute of vegetation, with the exception
of few liohens and NOSES In ages
gone by they must have been much
warmer than at present as they were
covered with forests, in which the
mammoth roaned at will He was in
such mum bers that the collection of his
tusks has been profitable industry
for long time past. The tusks are found
embedded In the frozen earth, or are
cast up from the depths of the ocean
by the waves during the severe storms
in summer.
1--WE reached the is ands without much
difficulty said my Russian friend, land
gathered a good stock of ivory that had
been cast up by the sea. In a cliff of
frozen earth that had broken off since
the previous season, found tuslz sol
Idly embedded, and it took me two or
three hours to chop it free. There was
a great satisfaction in discovering it,
not only because it was a valuable
find from CONNIE rcial point of view,
but because l was bringing to light
something that had been concealed for
q period variously estimated from ten
thousand to twenty-one thousand
years. The ivory is not as good as that
from Africa, where it is taken from
the elephant killed on the spot 1t is
whittier and more brittle, from its long
exposure to frosts, but it is very good
article for many purposes.
When we were ready to go back
again to the mainland we found that a
storm had broken up the ice for con-
siderable part of the way where we
had found firm road only a little
while before; there were many
lanes of open water where we would
need boats to ferry rs over, if no other
means of transit could be found. The
sea was full Of great hummocks and
hoes-in fact, there was great deal of
Ice to a small quantity of water, as one
looked at 1t from the shore.
''As the passage under such circum-
stances would be very dangerous for
our dog sledges, we decided to wait
until the frost had closed the lanes of
water and restored the route to pass
able condition. So we returned to the
work of hunting for ivory, and found
three or four tusks; as we already had
as much as we could undertake to
carry with safety, we concealed our
latest finds where we thought they
would be safe until the following year.
The islands are visited very rarely, and
there was little likelihood that our
ivory would be disturbed
THE weather grew much colder in a
few days, and the frost closed the open
water as we had hoped and expected.
One of our men went out several miles
on the ice, and, as his report was favor
able, we started on our return to the
coast. We could not travel fast, except
on the young ice, as the old ice was
very rough, and much of the way we
were obliged to chop down the hum
mocks and otherwise smooth the way
for the dogs and eledges. A mile an
hour was good average for us as long
as we were in the hummocky ice; when
we found young ice recently frozen, we
went along at the best speed of the
dogs, as they seemed to enjoy getting
over the road rapidly wherever they
could so.
THE days were long and the nights
short; in fact there was very little
| night, and had it been earlier in the
season we should have found the day
| light continuous We halted occasion
ally to rest ourselves and the dogs,
and, of course, we halted during the
nights, or from ten o'clock until two,
when the sun rose. Unfortunately for
us, on the second day the wind rose
with the sun, and very soon it blew a
gale.
THE effect of the wind upon the ice
was alarming. We were tossed almost
as though we had been in boats on the
water, and the cracking and crashing
of the ice was deafening. Great fs
sures opened in all directions, and VIZ
found ourselves on a cake perhaps (;
quarter of mile long by one-half tina
width. AS long as the cake held to
gether we were in 20 immediate dan
ger, but if the wind continued it wa
very likely that our refuge would b.
destroyed. Far as we could see was
mass of mingled ice and water, tossing
and heaving with the effect of the higl
wind.
"Wbile we were considering what w
should do, there was a crash almost a
our feet, and the ice foe on which w
stood was broken into a dozen cakes
We had three dog teams and drive
| 4la
two of the teams we're on one cake c
ice, while the third was upon another
The drivers were Tungusian native:
and had passed their whole lives in tn
arctic circle, and all had previousl
made the trip to the Liallhov island:
Though they had passed through man
adventures and perils, they had neve
been in place of UGH great danger q
they now found themselves.
"You may think they deserted the
teams and tried to find safety fc
themselves; they did nothing of til
kind, but stuck manfully TO the an
mails, though it is possible they did S
through belief that the dogs woul
be help rather than an incum branc
in bringing them to a place of safety
There were three Russians of u
and each of US accompanied one of ii
dog teams and directed its movement
though the control of the dogs was lie
+, to the drivers When the ice fc
, broke up l found myself alone wit
my team and its driver, and the cal
on which my friends were was drift
. ing rapidly away from us, through Il
, influence of the wind and the curren
that prevail in ali parts of the Arct
ocean,
ITO the south OF us was some i,
that seemed to be quit, firm and
n considerable extent, and | shouted
s my friends to try to reach it. We d
e cided that the only way to do so WI
It to swim the dogs through the wate
; first throwing away all the Two
It which we could not hope to save. T.
o sledge, relieved of the weight of t
3 ivory, void easily float, and we cou