The Opelousas courier., 1897-07-17
d FIELD OF ADVENTURE.
THnH.IINa INCIDENTS Ann MAJ
Ing DEEDS ON LAND AND sEA.

THnHLsINa INCIDENTS Ann IA,
Ing DEEDS ON LAND AND SEA.
Aurnic on Ice In the Open Sea
Iowed by a Sawfsh-Ihe Ca,
gresham and the Bear.
DETER MAcHER, the
- OF Carl schultz's troupe o
L. Great Danes, now on exh,bi
o t1on at the Hagan, says the St
LOUIS Republic, claims to be the nnI
1ul!,oloeded Eskimo at present in tn
onlted States. His adventures sine
seaving his native country nearly fv
years ago, against his will and per
sonal inclination, read like an Arabian
Nights story.
Machef was born nearly fortv wear
ago at Davis Inlet, a British posses
sion lying considerably north o
Labrador, and spent the first thirt,
years OF his life at that place. ri,
then secured the British contract fo,
carrying the mail from Riglets t.
alexandria, a distance of seventv-ont
miles. Riglets is situated in the north.
ern part of Labrador. 1t consumed
a weeks time to make the round trip,
which was made with dogs and sled.
IN b central portion of the terri.
tory is a body of water called Hunters
Bay, nearly four MICS wide. To save
q detour of eight or Ten miles. Mache,
always crossed this bay, which was
frozen the year round to such an ex.
tent as to admit of traffic, although it
was at times attended, during the
summer months, with perilous incl.
dents, OF which fact, Macher was we'll
aware.
On one of his trips, about four years
ago, IN the latter part of May, 81 he
approached the bank OF the bav, he
heard a grinding noise, a sound that
generally precedes the breaking up of
the ice. Macher at first hesitated about
driving over the water, but being a
little behind time, he finally concluded
to risk it. The rest of the story is
best told in his own words:
"When I reached the centre of the
bay l heard several sharp noises that
resembled pistol reports. Fully real
Izing my ~predicament, 1 threw myself
On my sled Il was at the time walking
beside it), and whipped up my dogs.
An instant later O crevice formed in
the ice and I had barely time to roll
off the sled when both it and the dogs
vent under. I got up and staggered
back, when q dizzy feeling came wei
me and l fell in a faint. When I re-
covered consciousness, about, 1 sup
cose, two hours later, I was floating
southwark on a large foe of ice. The
water around me was filed with ice
aoes, and / think if I had tried, I
,culd, by dexterously jumping from
one foe to the other, have succeeded
in reaching the shore. But / was in a
dazed condition and soon afterward
again relapsed into Inconsistencies.
81 did not recover until the next
morning. When I looked around no
land was to be seen. I think that I
must have been fully twenty miles
rom the shore. The foe I was on was
about the largest l had ever seen. but
[ knew at best it could not last over
three days. If I were not picked up
IN that time my doom was sealed. l
thought. and for the time I forgot
hat I had had nothing to eat for the
preceding t~wenty-four hours. I de-
sermined, however. TO make the best
Of it, and all that day scanned the
horizon for the approach of relief.
But none came /; the night passed away,
" did the succeeding day.
"The following night I heard the ice
cracking on the edge and knew it was
but the beginning of the end. Iclosed
ny eyes, hoping to be asleep when the
inal crash came. But sleep came not.
During the entire night l could hear
The ice cracking as if it were sounding
nv death knell. With the approach
Of day I again began to hope. I
watched all morning for o vessel, but
vain, and I-gave myself up as lost.
But about 2 o'clock in the afternoon
was sighted by an American trading
picked up and carried to New
York. Relief came none too soon, for
[ had not been on board fifteen minutes
before the ice broke with a terrific