The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-02

PrOf. NnthOrst Says Tourists Are An
Initiating the Reindeer in Spitz-
bergen

the coast, at Advent bay in Ice F'iord, a
very comfortable little hotel was opened
two or three years ago, and tourists are
now able to enjoy nearly all pleasurable
| aspects of the Arctic regions without fore
! going the comforts of civilization. This
| thoroughly Arctic land is near enough to
| Europe to be easily reached and IL is add
| ed permanently to the Hist of tourist at
| fractions, for these realms of the glacier
and ice mountain have giories all their
| own, whose peculiar charm and grandeur
| inspire the enthusiasm of the most invet-
| crate globe trotter. One might imagine
| that the fiat eXpanse of the pack or drift
| ice would be simply monotonous but tour
lists 10 Spitzbergen may always see it I'M
der circumstances that give new zest to
| pleasure travelling. 1t alone were worth
the trip, on a splendid Arctic morning, to
| see the sky flooded with the most brilliant
| sunshine and The steamer pioughing
through big and little sheets of ice, daz-
zling white on the surface, but blue or
green on the edges. 1t is a unique and
beautiful sight and one of the distinctive
attractions of this Northern journey.
| There is, however one phase of enter
| tainment in Spitzbergen that is not COM
| mendable. Some of the tourists are ac-
| cused of slaughtering the big game, and
particularly the reindeer in a most I'M
| sportsmanlike and barbarous manner. I'm
| less their ardor is restrained they will GER
| tainly exterminate the reindeer in that re-
gion without serving any purpose, except
| the mere love of killing. Prof A. G. Nath-
| orst, the Well-known Swedish explorer,
! brings this indictment against them, and
| all real sportsmen and the public generally
will share the indignation he expresses at
| this ruthless butcheTy.
| In the professors account of his fruitful
explorations in the summer of 1898 he says
| that while at Recherche bay on the west
| coast of Sptzbergen, his party had an
| opportunity 20 hunt reindeer On earlier
occasions when he had hunted in these
| high Arctic regions he had always found
the animals exceedingly shy, because they
| had been hunted before. Last year, how
ever, he reached the land so soon after
| the ice had gone out that the deer had not
been disturbed by hunters. He supposed
| they would be as shy as usual and so his
| party approached them with the utmost
| caution, crawling upon their hands ana
| knees, dragging themselves forward on
their stomachs and keeping carefully out
| of the wind.
Much to his surprise, he found that he
| and his men had only to show themselves
/ openly to attract the animals which,
| moved by curiosity, would come within
| range of their own accord. There was no
pleasure whatever in hunting them. Az
| one time three reindeer approached with
| in ten PAGES of the spot where the pro-
fessor stood, while two big bucks, with
fine antlers, stood gazing only a little fur
Their off. He had his rifle at his shoulder
| but of course refrained from shooting His
men agreed with him that it was mere
butchery to kill animals that would come
| forward to be shot and so they killed only
a few that they wanted for food.
Later in the year the expedition returned
| to Advent bay and found that the tourists
had been making wholesale war on the
| reindeer PARTIES had ia to
on hunts lasting for several days, and
| every animal that came within range was
shot down Not the slightest use was made
| of the carcasses, but they were left to lie
and rot where they fell. No sportsman
like qualities were exercised or REQUIRED
in this sort of work. The Swedish explorer
| characterizes these performances as dis
| graceful and barbarous and says they cam
| not often be repeated without annihilat-
| ing the reindeer on West Spitzbergen
There are very few if any Arctic regions
where large game is so plentiful that there
| is not danger of its entire disappearance
II it is assiduously overhunted. Mr.. F. G.
jackson, who is keen sportsman and has
| lived three years in Franz Josef land
would not permit any waste of game by
his party, and never allowed life to be
| taken for the sake of sport alone. He
| said he thought that even in a country so
| rich in animal life as Franz Josef land, it
would take only a few years to kill all
the larger game. He found walrus fairly
| plentiful, and yet he was certain it would
| not pay steam whalers to hunt them i'm
! those waters for more than two years in
| succession. In the past few years a good
| many walrus have been killed for dog
| feed by exploring vessels that have visited
the Smith sound region, and reindeer and
| other game have been killed there in I'M
usual quantities by white men. One of
the best known Arctic authorities has ex-
| pressed the opinion that the food supply
| of the Smith sound Eskimos was thereby
| being endangered. These few hundreds of
| people are largely isolated from the rest
of the world and are wholly dependent
upon the slender resources of the sur
| rounding land and waters 1t would be
| only humane to conserve their small food
| supply Any white men who cannot get
| along in the Smith sound region without
endangering the lives of the natives had
| better keep away
An expedition has sailed this month for
| Smith sound and among those on board
is a party from Boston whose only osten-
sibIe purpose in visiting the home OF the
| Arctic Highlanders according TO the pub
nshed reports, is TO hunt walrus, bear ana
reindeer" Possibly the report that they
are merely going to hunt for amusement
IS inaccurate, and at any rate when they
see clearly the conditions of Eskimo life
| there they will probably abstain from
!
Peary, in whose behalf this expedition is
going north, would not approve of any en-
terprise that would add TO the hardships
of life among the natives.
An army Of hunters however, would
have a hard task to deplete to a serious ex-
tent the bird life of the Arctic regions. p
explorers tell of their prodgious numbers,
and Prof. Nathorst adds his contribution.
He tells Of a cliff rising perpendicularly
from the sea on the south coast Of Bear
! Island where he believes there were. last
| summer actually millions of auks, ktt-
wakes ana fulmars. Every ledge and ev-
cry protection was thick with birds en-
gagged in the duties of incubation. When
ever a shot was fired myriads Of them rose
in the air and lowered about the cliffs like
q snow squan. and yet there still seemed
10 be quite as many left hebind on the
| rocks.
The neighbors were naturally inter-
ested in the scientific parent. why" they
H. a.