The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1905-08-03

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England, of which communion he is an
| intelligent and devout member. At
the age of eighteen he entered the en-
ploy of the factor, D. c. McTavish, re-
naming member of his household till
he removed to Winnipeg in 1901. Dur
ing this period, he was not merely a
! servant. He turned his hand to any
! thing needed, and was interested in all
| that was doing. He mixed medicines,
| and became expert in the surgery of
wounds, and sprains, and broken limbs,
and ribs, so that to this day Mr..
McTavish calls him CDR" Elson. Dur
ing recent years he has devoted himself
| to accompanying hunting, exploring,
and surveying parties.
! He is of medium stature, StOutly built,
muscular and 1.-the. His face is lumi-
nous, his brown eyes singularly bright,
his hair black, not straight, but curly.
| His voice is quiet and musical, his Ian
| guage refined, his observation humor-
Gus as we'll as keen. Occasionally a
! sentence is quantity turned, but any
Indian idiom he may have inherited or
learned in boyhood is put into Saxon
! words. His familiarity with the Scrip
i lures and the Book of Common Prayer
| has probably had much to do with the
purity and charm of his speech. [ have
had many conversations with him, and
have always been charmed with his in
telllgence, descriptive power, insight,
and ShreWd common sense He is de-
lightful letter writer, observant, flu
ent, witty.
Mr.. Hubbard's expedition landed in
Labrador July 7, 1908. Its leader was
the assistant editor of Outing, a well
known magazine. From his boyhood
he had wide experience in travel in
regions seldom visited save by trappers
and Indians. The portion of Labrador
which he set out to explore extends
from Grand Lake to Lake Michikamau
and the George River 1t had never
but once been crossed by a white man,
John Mclean, in 1888, who had many
narrow escapes and came near perish
ing of starvation. 1t was Hubbard S
plan to reach Lake Michikamau and
the head waters of the George River in
time to meet the Nascaupee Indians,
who assemble in that locality at the
period of the annual migration of herds
of caribou toward the sea coast Be
sides himself, his party consisted of
Dillon Wallace, New York lawyer,
and George Elson.
On July 18th they left Northwest
River Post, and on the next day enter
ed the unknown and cruel wild beyond
Grand Lake. After getting a glimpse
of Lake Michikamau from a mountain
top on September 9th, they had to turn
back before reaching it. They were
then suffering from famine, and the
fierce northern winter was beginning.
While they were yet a long way from
even the fringe of civilization, Hub
bard broke down from the strain of his
anxiety for the lives of his comrades
and his lack of food and on October
18th he wrote his last entry in his
diary. On the morning of that day
George Elson started on his long, soil
tary and terrible journey through the
wilderness to find trappers and secure
help. After nine days of incredible
hardship, nearly exhausted by hunger
and his struggle through deep snow,
fierce storms, steep mountains and the
savage tumult of swollen rivers full of
floating ice, he reached trappers
home on the shore of Grand Lake, and
at once sent back a relief party of four
men, which he was too weak to accom-
pany, making map for them and
marking it so that they could not fail
to find both Hubbard and Wallace
Travelling day and night, they were in
time to save Wallace's life, but Hub
bard's toll and suffering were over. A
part of his last entry in his diary is as
follows:
"Our parting was most affecting. ]
did not feel so bad. George said, The
Lord help us, Hubbard; with His help
I'll save you if | can get out" Then
he cried. So did Wallace. Wallace
stopped over and kissed my cheek with
his poor, sunken, bearded lips several
times, and / kissed his. George did
the same, and kissed his cheek. Then
they went away. God bless and help
them. l am not so greatly in doubt as
to the outcome. l believe that they
will reach the flour and be strengthen
ed-that Wallace will reach me-that
George will find Blake's cache and
camp, and send help, So l believe we
will all get out. am not suffer
ing. The acute pangs of hunger have
given way to indifference. I'm sleepy.
| think death from starvation is not so
bad. But let no one suppose l expect
it. am prepared-that is all.
in heaven. The rescue party could not
bring out his body, but wrapped it Sc
curely in furs to protect it from wild
beasts and left it in the tent In the
following March, George, accompanied
by trapper and a young lad, made an
arduous and heroic journey to bring it
out. He found the tent buried under
ten feet of snow, but still standing.
The body was placed on sled and ten
derby drawn by hand day after day
through the cruel wilderness to Cape
Corbeau on Grand Lake, and thence by
team of dogs to Northwest River Post, a
when relays of dog teams subsequently
conveyed it more than three hundred
miles to Battle Harbor.
WilliamstoWn, Mass
George Elson is now again in Labra.
dor as the chief guide of the exploring
party of Mrs. Leonidas Hubbard, Jr.,
which left Halifax June 10th. The
other four guides are Indians.-J. E. G.
IS.
GA ST EEA.
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