Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-22
ExILEs OF TRADE AND RELIGION
White Men Along Cumberland Sound,
Where News is Two Years Old,

Probably the last white man to hear of
the death of Pope Leo will be the Rev.
James Peck, an Anglican missionary, la
boring among the Eskimos in Cumberland
sound an inlet on the vast unexplored area
north OF Hudson bay. He did not learn of
the death of Queen Victoria for eighteen
months after it's occurrence when a storm
tossed whaler entered the region and i'm
parted to him the news in July. 1902. This
devoted cleric has established himself. in
that 1ar-oH country in order to bring the
pagan Eskimos the blessings Of the Chris
tan faith, but the extremes to which men
Will go In the pursuit of wealth are illus
trated by the fact that there are two whal-
Ing stations in the same region the princi-
pals of which, a German and Scotchman
nave been thirty and thirty-seven years
there, respectively. without once leaving
Cumberland sound is $50 miles north of
Hudson strait. and is one Of the most DESC
late, cherries regions in the world Two
Whailng stations are established there, at
rex hehAerton and Blacklead. and the fishing is
done by the Eskimos. These through inter-
course with the civilized men and the use
or civilized weapons, have quite lost their
native art of killing the leviathans with the
pIlhltive harpoons of bone and flint. which
their ancestors hurled with stout arms from
sealskin kayaks, firing out the great crea-
lures by inflated skin buoys attached to
ropes Of walrus hide
AAASeOe'us Tic E1ShlInOS OF today pursue the
hunt after the civilized fashion-in stout
wooden boats, with steel harpoons and lines
VI hemp-and the industry pays chiefly be-
cause SUCH labor is SO cheap, being paid for
t ~ sooas ana necessaries of life. AS has
peen the experience with aboriginal races
elsewhere. the Eskimo can no longer return
TO his primitive conditions of existence He
would certainly starve If he did, and there
lore ne must rely upon the white man, to
whom he becomes a dependent-a slave. in
deed. In all but the name
At kekkerton the factor Is q Mr.. Mulch.
a Scotchman. who for twenty-s seven wears
mas remained welded to his solitary exist
ence. The Blacklead station is controlled
by Mr.. Sheridan. a German, who has seen
thirty years there. Both have amassed con
siderable wealth. but evince no inclination
10 return TO the outer world. with all the
marvels of science and art which have
marked the advancement of the last uen-
Grafton. Every two years a whaling steam
er from Scotland visits them. bringing sun
piies lor them and their Eskimo followers
and removing the stocks Of whale oil, whale
bone, hides, ivory and other articles of
trade accumulated in the meantime.
with these self-exiled settlers money has
no meaning Everything is done by barter:
every service paid for with a fragment Of
iron or pound of biscuit. The profits of
the venture go to the credit of their ac-
counts In Aberdeen. where the products are
marketed, and, possibly. when beyond their
labor. these two refuses may make their
way back to civilization to mourn the lost
advantages they are now too old to entoy.
Ihey live in frame houses, the only ones
besides the clergyman's in that northern
land They fare on canned foods, eked out
with Venlson from the muskox Of the In
terror. or steak from the whales captured
by no means unappetizing dish. But they
are not averse to the raw seal bear and
walrus which the Eskimos affect for no
man ca maintain his strength more than a
season or two in that latitude without con-
Stunning large quantities OF raw fat meat
The missionary, Mr.. Peck, has his station
between the two whaling posts, and lis grad
ually civilizing the 300 Eskimos who com
prise the population. The children are be-
ing taught English and can speak English
but the status of existence is very low The
natives are Jolly, happy, inoffensive lot
but are slowly dying out from the whitening
contact with civilization and the spread Of
disease pertaining thereto. AS they become
infirm they are practically pensioned by the
whaling factors. and as their requirements
are but small. 1t Is not a serious matter to
Insure them against want and distress in
this world.
1t is remarkable what fascination the
frozen and remote north has for those who
come into contact with 1t. The factors of
the Hudson Bay Company have all spent
ten to thirty years in the wilds, and prefer
to remain there longer rather than to dwell
among cities afterward. 1t Is the same way
with explorers Never a man ventures
within the polar zone but is consumed with
desire to return there. though the desire
to achieve scientific conquests in the lev
wastes relieves them from the Charge Of the
more sordid considerations which apply to
those whose lengthy sojourns in the north
lands are dictated by an effort to amass
some OF the worlds goods.