Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-19

getting dark, and we had no kettle or
camp. as we had expected to pass half
dozen refugees ere this. and were travel
ing light. So once more we walked away
ahead, till at length we emerged on
river leading to little summer settle
| ment, which Is deserted In winter by. the
| summer fishermen. who congregate to-
gether at that time farther up the bay.
| The only approach to the place Is over
very steep clin, which drops directly into
| the cove over similarly precipitous de-
| scent. Otherwise, one must. follow the
river to the hole 1t has cut through. but
| where now the turbulent torrent was, as
| we found, still unfrozen. After trying In
vain to get our deer up the ascent, the
little Lapp said he would venture the de-
file, and though we all went safely on the
snow bridge, no one, I can assure you.
was more devoutly thankful than when
the caravan emerged on the beach.
An Empty House.
Among the group of deserted houses is
larger one belonging to an old friend,
trader and a fisherman at once. I have
been benighted at this lonely place before,
and then. having broken open one Of the
smaller houses for a nights lodging, my
good friend had upbraided me for not
making use of his. So this time we de-
cided to accept his kindly permission:
With us we had one key-that of our tut
about half way to our destination. With
the greatest good fortune it gave us ad-
mission to the empty house. Here was
stove. a kettle and lamp-all we de-
sired-that we might get dry and warm
while the hours of darkness detained u.s.
Meanwhile. we tethered our deer on the
high hillside. where, in spite Of the cold:
the darkness and the continued drift OF
snow, they were placidly feeding when we
steep hill with great difficulty on our
racquets in the dark. Without pulkas to
haul the deer had climbed 1t easily.
A lovely morning greeted US. and we
were we'll pleased that we had pushed on
even so far For surely now we could go
at a good pace to our destination But
shortly our Lapp. who had gone out
without lighting the fire or putting the
kettle on), returned. He said the deer had
not fed we'll. They were so weak that
they could not go on or even return to St
Anthony: that he would stay by them all
day, and that we should walk home. He
would return next day and lead the deer
back We were strange to the deer and
| strange to the language, but 1t seemed
we must try to do better than that. So
we drove the pulkas up on the hill. and
then In half an hour picked more maldau
than the deer could eat. After they had
| fed we'll we each took a deer and pulka.
| leaving the Lapp to follow with the third
| in any way he liked The last we saw of
him he was still walking ahead of his
| deer while we were alternately sitting on
and running with ours. We waited for
him, however. on the last hills; but we
had learned many things by that time.
A Fiasco.
First, it was obvious that the deer must
either go faster and understand better or
be Of no use except as draught beasts for
log hauling, etc. Secondly, it was apparent
our deer were never broken to driving fast
at all. They would stop and eat ice. and
never once exceed a slow amble. except
tvlyon ,,dA en1H Yich hxyn a. i'm
| ing off and running after them. Then
they generally jumped out of the path
| altogether or turned round and went the
wrong way. Thirdly. they showed no ca
while running. frequently wandering of
1t, though that might have been our driv-
| ing. They frequently ran right into a
pulka, instead Of stepping around or over
| 1t. and we were inclined to think this stu
pidity Fourthly, the pulkas are exceed
ingly heavy and clumsy. They overran
the deer coming down hills, because the
deer would, for no apparent reason, sud-
| denly stop-probably because frightened
at the pace and unframed. On these occa-
| sions and pulka and baggage and deer
got all mixed up. and one ran considera BILE
danger Of getting hoof on the head from
| a capSized deer
as for our Lapp, he was. we thought
| either lazy or knew nothing of driving
beyond walking ahead. though when at
last he came along, he was sitting on
just as we had been. But then any deer
will follow. We wanted him to set us an
| example by driving fast ahead.
The one rein is awkward. It is used
for directing by throwing it over the back
to the side you want the deer to go. If.
however. he jumps over 1t, which he does
frequently, the drivers being so low 1t Is
impossible to throw it anywhere. More
over. it generally catches in the wood
yoke and as it has to be used for hustling
him UP. and also for stopping him as well,
| 1t ends often enough by so confusing him
that he just turns round and stares at
you. We have since remedied this by
| rings on the back.
| That they were well able to- haul was
shown by our sitting on up a steep hill.