New-York tribune., 1897-10-17
HARVEST ~ THE FAR NORTH.
CURIOSlTlES OF \ FARMERS HOUSE AND
OF THE LIFE WITHIN THE
ARCTIC CIRCLE

yet when We arrived all the good people at the
station were asleep. our boatmen' hoWcvet,
carried our luggage UP To the farm and. though
they rad no further duty To perform on our L"-
half. for they had ro~ed theii stage, ana We're
at liberty TO depart OF seek a lights rest as best
they might raped at one Ol the windows. ana
sgnlicd desire To enter. We stood ana waited
The .voning Wa beautifully fine and mellow ihc
LAKE was calm. in IN, east and west IN" SKY
was cXquistely tingc! with 5 nencd color. Tn
sun seemed 10 rise long before II had fairly sci
there.
Presently a sleepy woman opened the door
She knew We had been there before and on
that OCcasior. too, had arrived AZ night 80
she opened her door WiI" and made way for
us 10 cone in'o huge Sucst-c chamber opposii"
the great Kitchen in which she had been sleep
ing. In another house close ly other mcmhrIs
Of the party We're harborcd Preparations Wer"
quickly made for our comfort Thr beds were
pulled out and made, which until. that time had
been only narroW-lookinG sofas piled high with
pillows and clothing. AMI tn" fire in The Kitchen
Crackcd soon upon thc "platform hearth
II is hot in the day and at night quite chiIy
In the Circlo. were glad to Join our boat
men. and the gin. who had made third oar,
ny the fire. What wonderful kitchen IL was.
There was n other light beyond the blazing
wood. the things the room c01tr ned reT, ael
themselves 10y degrees only. /, was cay TO -"
one companions cutting dried reindeer IF the
uSly-ooking joints they had brought IN their
pockets. and The farmers wife cooking some FISH
FOR Us in a littlo pan on three legs which stood
by the side ot the logs At the same tim" J;
was obious that there was men in bed be-
cause nj wls carrying on lively conversation
with our rowers. and that on tn Noor On an
other couch were some awakened but slen;
children. Afte~ tha; a cons iousnesS of the
furniture of the room arrived, the queer tall
clock Of panied wood date: we saw that all the
watches Of til" family huns on It's cas-" from
litlle nailsl. dated 1879: the fishing hooks and
twine. netting implements and many othc- use
ful objects on the wall. IN the raftcrs the old
fashioned gun. with the knecke-hrod on thi
sticks. and the ordinary wooden furniture, with
here and there a siranS" pot or pan. prm-
tive churn. and Il brass milk bucket. In that
country they rarely make what call bread.
and even dark bread is not common WHAT
they prefer is very thick and hard cake. mad"
Of rye in rather large disks called. We under
stood, krecke-brod. We had wondered hy
hole appeared in the centre Of these cakes. anI
now saw that they were kept in order - pe
thoroughly dried and hardened. strung on
wooden poles tight toc -thor between thu raftcr-
OF the ceiling. When all these oddities had on
tered our comprehension. IL became slowly ap-
parent that there were still more sleepers IN
the room. tall cupboard or press painted the
favortc green. with a dash of red about f. ro-
vealed itself as a double bed. like couple -
ships bertns. The upper part was open-that
Is TO say the shutters were ha'i pushed ava
and the face OF a man contemplating US silently
became apparent In the underneath half som"
one was probably boxed up who did not want
10 be either companionahe or observant
The boatmen ana the gir We knew would find
quarters in the numerous ana picturesque gray
outhouses scattered about tho s~ttleucn.. ~
tha station from which We had last started IL -
had upholstered fhe bottom OF N" boat with
doWny pillows and skins for Us - u" upon. ard
i IA
before We 're up they would haH" stared
back To their home miles and miles away .JNn
the great lake "" were traycrsiug.
Before = O'Clock in the morning the busy II"
Of thc farm began. II was the time for harr.. ST.
ing on the island. What corn was not ripe
must be cut with The rest because II th- frOsts
that might XII II in night; Except The farm
er's wife, all hands went into the tiny patches
and work from the time II getting up 60 that
u going 10 bed. She stayed indoors and got
ready the great bowls - milk and tn great
ffsi ffffte
the harv f"ast-d. There wer" several
strong girls among tn workers. but Mt ono was
more persistcntly energetic than bent old
woman. whose proves with her tiny SICK" Was
extraordinary. There was also young man
who never ceased 10 work ezcapi for very brief
visits TO the kitchen fgr food, on" who was
hunchbacked. though he looked strong and wa
very tall Il was his duty 10 pile thr corn upon
poles much taller taan himself =. ii was made
ready for him by the women. He fixed tn p0.'s
in the ground by boring hole Into il Win an
iron prod, stamped tn Garth round. and then
picked up tn banded sheaves with long FORK
and r3TsiiX'd them on The sharp"n@d ppi'.
pushing them down one on top Of TN" other. TIL
the pole was decorated 10 the summit.
1t was beautiful day for the work bright.
warm. and with sufficient hrcezo 10 keep the
mosquitoes and snats in b, arab" check Inr
women of cOurs". wore their square sha"ls
upon their heals. leaving only tn" smallest Vie"
Of face possible. but not until night. whom iae
Insects were NOR" particularly vicious did tn
men hang their handkerchiefs at the back Il
their heads from th-r caps Even the farmers
wife left the front door open quite carel"ssly.
on q bad day up there IL would be closely smut -
keep the mosquitoes out.
As for the WindIvs. not one is made 20 or"n.
They ara as tightly glazed. too. as possible.
though the glass is :,ry poor stuff. and In some
cases distorts everything when YOU look through
H. 4 mixIur. that keeps In" creatures away Is
smeared on their faces bv many Of the people
And as IT stains the skin. very funny effect
is produ ed when il has ben applied only on
the forehead. checks and chin hy the eirlf Wh"
depend upon their kerchIcis 10 protect thoif
nocks. their temples. and hllf thcT chc,k
The men soem t. us the stuff l9vishlv II thHy
pre- worried. But thai the creatures do not at
tack them aN is apparent frop tho fairness ~
som" Of their confessions. Th' rest are
swar,hy. but it would appear rather as me ei-
feet cf stain than Of sun.
Twenty minutes easy rowing makes In" Who'll"
round Of the island and one dar readily su'nred
to o. all the rca'ns D} hanq. an IN, ,E',' ,oo 6
shcaves. anad nearly all the hearng ~ the
shoaVcs upOn the pole As thir f.. TO the one
man some was lefi til the next day. though Ii"
worked TIL bcdtimo-at so Toward evening
be did not even come 20 he house for milk but
had # carried out to him in beautiful and
shapelv silver tankard. nicely engraved. prob
ably prize won in the winter for prOwess in
skidlGpning. or some other ice and snow attn
leticism.
The Island was very quiet. and the people
wore also quc, There were no cocks and hens
and no cows TIE COWS We've Oh the mainland.
and to milk them wen the girls. rowing
themselves across the lake in fine style. Every
, one seemed very happy and busy, however.
and to have plenty 20 do. the old woman who
had worked so hard a. She reapinG was in the
evening engaged IN digging potatoes for her
own and her chiidren's supper. cleaning hsh and
cooking IT, and between whites superintended
the boiling o.. scme mysterious compound in
huge caidron. like Irish pot. propped up be-
tween two forks Of earth and stone. beneath
which a fire had been built Mix. coffee. rye
cake and FISH formed our food. They gave us
their dried reindeer flesh also hut II was so
hard ard tasteless that we could not cat IT
with pleasure.
have noticed before. and in this place noted
again the beauty Of color in an Arctic sum-
Il is NOT ,fel.- - :
skv when the sun shines. bright, and the rye
yellow 81 ,hat the pur" white or the mountain
,noys f-irns distinct and strit ing contrast
The peoDle have something 10 do with the
s,hcrre They c0ln, ihcii wooden hous bright
H. and wear cAee,y shirts and blcuses over
.ho;~ dark trousers and skirts. In this particu-