The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-03-29


bags. They were designed for that
purpose. We would have dashed two
sIeds side by side like a satamaran. in.
aated the sleeping bags. placed them
under the sieds. and thus noated
across the lane OF water. But we
never had to do that. 1t would have
been The last resort, but we could
have done Il You can depend on Il
that we would never stay on the north
side Of a lane of water and stsrye to
death when life was on the soath side.
We would cross somehow, 7, a
Arctic Volcanoes.
When asked whether amy part OF
the polar region Is volcanic. Lisntens
ant Peary said that he saw. no signs
| Of volcanic action. either past or pres
ent. on the immediate shores of the
polar sea. But from what the Eslimos
told him he suspected that active vol
caE5es exist IN the interior of Green.
land. The natives have seen what
they call black snow. which Is proba;
bly, ashes from volcanoes. The expIor-
er was not sure, however, that the
ashes. which the natives spoke Of had
not blown from the great volcanoes of
Iceland. neagly two thousand miles
distant.
San Francisco Earthquake.
"At the time OF the san Francisco
earthquake" continued Lleutenant
Reary, u was rar out on the Afcric
ice. That was April Is. From that
date until l crossed the great open
water lane week later, i encounter,
ed more broken Ice than / had ever
met with before in that region. Since
my return have thought that this
ice might have been shattered by a
wave sent through the Arctic ocean
by the San Francisco earthquake. We
felt no shock and observed nothing
unusual except the broken ice."
The Innocent Natives.
Peary was the dlscoyerer of the Els;
kimo settlement where he obtained
his dogs and men. They are the most
northern people in the world. Their
existence was unknown until he found
them. They number 200. They knew
nothing of the world beyond the range
of their own hunters. So far as they
knew they were the only. people in
the world. Lieutenant Peary won
their confidence and gained their
friendship tlowly. He discovered
them during a former voyage. 4
"Tt was my successful expedition
across the Ice caps of Greenland years
ago that won their confidence" said
he. "They knew Of Greenland, and
considered its vast and icy interior
as fatal to human life. They thought
it was the land Of devils. and when
IScame through It alive they conclad.
ed that was albright. Ialways treat.
ed them well, and never broke prom.
Use with them. i doctored. some of
their sick. and they said saved their
lives. This increased my influence
over them. gave them presents. and
found them appreciative. like dog
which is thankful.when we'll treated.
"They have no. artificial habits, such
as drunkenness. They wear no orna-
ments. They have no written Lam
guage. They have very little sign Ian
guage, and have no code of signals for
sending messages, as some primitive
peoples. Their eternal fight against cold
and starvation leaves them no time
or disposition for additional trouble.
"My first step with them was to
learn their language. AT first 1t was
slow. When had learned enough Of
their tongue to ask, what do you
call it?" the trouble was over. BY
pointing to an object and asking the
question, Il soon learned names Of
things.
These Eskimos have no money,
and no standard of value. Every
transaction Is pure barter. II one man
has dog and another a sled, and
they want to swap. they agree to do
SO. IL they can. Bat that trade does
not fix a rule that a dog is worth as
much as sled in any other deal. Ey.
cry transaction stands alone, and Is
not taken as a precedent for any 9th.
er.
These natives are quick to learn,
and it would not be difficult to teach
them to read. They now. have a fair.
ly good idea of the world. On my
former voyages brought some Of
them to the United States, and later
took them back. These have told their
kindred of the outside world
IIautenaOf paar,, q. ~ 81,