The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-14
GREAT WALRUS HUNTING.
MIR. PEARp's STORY OF AN Ex-
CITING ENCOUNTER.
A TussIe With a Big FeIlOw-AttacI1-
ed by His Savage Companions.
Brisk Fighting With HarpOons and

hlues, ana success.
From the Youths Companion.
In that part of Whale Sound, Greenland,
which lies between Cape Cleveland and
Herbert Island the water comparatively
shallow and is thickly dotted vita ice
bergs and great cakes and pans of ice
during August and September. There
hundreds of walrus spend their time in
alternately feeding upon the shell fish,
which they dig up from the bottom with
their tusks and in sleeping upon the sur
face Of the floating ice pans, where they
are often attacked by hunters. Twenty
miles east of Cape Cleveland is the Eski-
mo settlement of Karnah and 20 miles
| further, at the head of Bowdoin Bay, is
my house, Anniversary Lodge, from
which Lee and l started on Monday, Sept.
! II, 1894, ito go walrus hunting. We took
! seven Eskimos--Kardasu, Pan-ik-pah, E.
| ling-wah, I-o-kud-i, his wife, Took-oo-
ming wah, and the two boys, Poo-a l-loo-
nah and Sipsu. We went in the whaleboat
| General Wistar, with the purpose OF OBJ
tanning a supply of meat on which to sup
| port my dogs during the winter.
| My second whaleboat, the Mary Peary,
had been loaned to friends at Karnah,
where l stopped to get it and crew, and
as many other recruits as might wish to
| join the expedition. When ! left there L
ndQ TWO Dig DOdJS ana three KAYAKS, ana
all the able-bodied men and boys of Kar-
nah with me-
Such an imposing flotilla had never be-
fore left an Eskimo village in these high
northern regions. Hitherto their hunt
ing had been confined, of necessity, to sin
| gle-handed efforts, each man for himself,
or at most two comrades working togeth-
er. NOW my whaleboatS enabled an en-
tire settlement to combine forces for a
| common object.
1t was after dark when we reached our
| hr cd hn hoo &c wall IN on
| the beach. made coffee and ate supper.
| Then Lee and lay down to sleep in the
stern of the General Wistar, while the
1 Eskimos slowed themselves away, some
| in the other boat and some in the shell
tered inches of the rocks.
| The next morning we were up and had
| eaten our breakfast before the late MORN
| ing light was enough for a start. 1t was
/ dirty forenoon, snow squalls flying in
1 rapid succession down the guif and out
! of the sound. The scene was savage an
] the extreme-barren snow-covered shores,
1 dead white, CHASTITY ice foes, spectral
! bergs driven here and there by the wind
and currents and dashed upon by black
1 waves--all rendered more dismal by the
somber twilight of the Arctic autumn.
| The airswas tremulous with low, con-
tinuous roar, as of distant surf. above
which, from time to time, rose the crash
and thunder of capsizing or disruptlng Ice
| bergs.
| land bluff, we pushed out with both whale
boats and the three kalaks in search OF
| our game. The General WiStar was IN
advance, manned by picked crew or lye
Eskimos with Lee and myself in the
stern. Behind us came the Mary Peary,
| with a crew of boys and old men. The
| three experts in the kaiaks darted to and
| fro Keeping pace with our progress.
The work of the day was 20 be pure bust
ness, not sport" We wanted walrus
| meat for our dogs; it was necessary we
| were seeking; so [ made up my mind to
| harpoon the walrus, because l knew that
| a large proportion of the walrus that are
| hit by bullets succeed in getting to the
| water where they sink at once.
| We had gone but short distance from
camp when / heard the hoarse believing
| of walrus coming from the driving snow
l and the labyrinth of bergS that lay be-
tween us and Herbert Island. So we pull
| ed in the direction of the sound and soon
saw a large herd upon a cake of ice As
the day was too raw and cold for them to
! sleep comfortably. they were restless ana
constantly fighting among themselves.
While my tur-clad ''huskies'' pulled
| noiselessly toward the herd. behind the
screen of small berg, i went forward
to nay place in the bow, leaving Lee at
| the tilleF.
On the small triangular decking at the
| bow my long, stout walrus line was coll
ed One end of it was fastened TO the
| iron boatring. The other end, with its
iron and ivory barb, was attached to the
! harpoon shaft which lay across the gun
| wales over the decking l. detached hve
or six coils of line from the rest, and set
| them little apart, so that could rea lilly
| grasp and hold them in the left hand at
the instant of hurting the harpoon.
! On the decking were also a score OF
| loose cartridges and my three-barrel gun,
| cut down to a length of eighteen inches,
very handy weapon. My Winchester re-
heater leaned againt the starboard gun
! vale just behind me; it and the three-bar-
rel alike carried the powerful 45-gO-SOO cart
ridge.
the Walrus after being harpooned, and the
! repeater for repelling charge from the
herd Lee had beside him. in the stern
! nF second ranD9teT
| same purpose We could now no longee
retain the shelter of the small berg ana
/ with a low shake her up, innuksue, "
from me- the boat swerved out past 1t,
and with ali the speed of five iron backs
and ten powerful arms, dashed at the
! uuarrelng monsters. For an instant they
! were TOO startled to move then the huge
! brutes, half-frightened, half-enraged,
| plunged Believing and roaring toward the
spr.nging to my full hight, with mo-
! ton that called every muscle from toe to
head into play, / hurled my harpoon at
the nearest. a big bull that had plunged
! directly at the boat. Straight as a rocket
] the heavy shaft with its trailing line flew
| through the air aud caught the huge fell
/ low iair in the shoulder.
The iron-edged head pierced the tough
| hide, the shaft disengaged itself and float
| ed loose, and, with roar, the walrus dis
appeared, in vortex of blood-staned
With a quick movement tossed the re-
| naming coils of the line overheard. The
!
| a hundred feet distant and had dragged
the line taut. In an instant it changed
| from a sinuous, flexible thong to a vibrant
| rod of Steel singing like deep aeolian
| with a fierce note that sent the blood leap
ing through my veins and every nerve
quiverlng.
The boat reeled. quivered, and rolled as
! on a pivot. Her bow crashed into the ice
! with shock which sent my excited Eski-
mo crew sprawling on their backs be-
| tween the thwarts. She slid off and the
! next moment we were full speed after the
! snorting herd, with the foam surging at
our bows and the water boiling under our
stern.
| For the first few yards nothing of the
| herd except the head of the animal TO
| which we were fast was visible-then with
! a rush and a splash all the other walrus
rose close to and surrounding the boat.
! strengthening brutes they were, with
| their large heads armed with cleaning
| white tusks, their small, deep-set, blood
| shot eyes, and their thick bristle-covered
lips opening to give vent to vicious roars.
| Lee and got to work with the Winches-
ters. he shooting to sterboard, l TO port.
| A cool well-directed Volley upon the most
| pugnacious OF the animals stopped them
| and sent the herd under again. Then
| cast rapid glance about me to see that
| everything was right aboard, and that we
were not In danger of being smashed by
/ walrus power against any Ice.
| Tho raapifa short a a fc