Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-14
ExILEs OF THE NORTH.
White Men Along Cumberland Sound,
Where News is Two Years Old.
From the Montreal Star.

From the Montreal Star.
Probably the last white man to hear OF
the death Of Pope Leo will be the Rev.
James Peck, an Anglican missionary labor
ing among the Esquimaus 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 its occurrence, when 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 far-off country in order to bring to
the pagan Esquimaux the blessings OF the
Christian faith; but the extremes to which
man will GO in the pursuit of wealth are
illustrated by the fact that there are two
whaling stations in the same region, the
principals of which, German ana a
Scotchman, have been thirty and twenty
seven years there, respectively, without
once leaving.
Cumberland sound is $50 miles north of
Hudson strait and is one Of the most desc
late, cheerless regions in the world. TWO
whaling stations are established there, at
Kekkerton and Blackhead. and the fishing
Is done by the Esquimaus. These, through
intercourse with civilized men and the use
Of civilized weapons, have quite lost their
native art of killing the leviathans with
the primitive harpoons Of bone and flint
which their ancestors hurled with stout
arms from sealskin kayaks. firing out the
great creatures by inflated skin buoys at
tached to ropes Of walrus hide.
Instead, the Esquimaus of today pursue
the hunt after the civilized fashion-in
stout wooden boats. with steel harpoons
and lines of hemp-and the industry pays
chiefly because such labor is SO cheap
being paid for in goods and necessaries OF
life AS has been the experience with abo-
riginal races elsewhere, the Esquimau can
no. longer return to his primitive condltion
Of existence. He would certainly starVe
~ ND rplv
the white man. to whom he becomes
DEPENDENT slave. indeed, in all but the
name.
a Scotchman, who for twenty-seven years
has remained welded to his solitary exist
ence. The Blackhead station Is controlled
by Mr.. Sheridan, a German, who has been
thirty years there. Both nave amassed
considerable wealth, but evince no tnclina-
ton to return to the outer world, with all
the marvels Of science and art which have
marked the advancement OF the last gen
Grafton. Every two years whaling steam
er from Scotland visits them, bringing sup
piles for them and their EsQuimau fol-
lowers and removing the stocks Of whale
oil, whalebone, hides, ivory and other arti-
cles of trade accumulated in the mean
time.
with these self-exiled settlers money has
no meaning. Everything Is done by barter;
every service paid for with fragment
of iron or a pound of biscuit. The prohts
OF the venture go to the credit of their
accounts 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 enjoy.
They live in frame houses, the only ones
besides the clergymans In that northern
land, They fare on canned foods. eked
out with venison from the musk OK Of the
interior or steak from the whales captured,
q by no means unappetizing dish. But
they are not averse to the raw seal. bear
and walrus which the Esquimaus affect,
for no man can maintain his strength more
than a season or two in that latitude with
out consuming large quantities OF raw fat
meat.