Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-02-07
LIVE IN THE FuRTHEsT NORTH.
Impressions Of a Year Spent Among
Esouimaux.

| land, whose father was Dane and who
| has lived most of his twenty seven
years in his native land, has written a
book on his life for year in the huts
Of the Smith Sound natives, the most
northern people of the world. The book
has been translated from Danish into
German and is attracting much atten-
tion because it has great literary merit
and as the story of primitive people
It Is unique.
He had rare advantages for writing
such a narrative, because he Is an
educated man, trained as an ethnol-
ogist and partly Of the same blood as
the tribe that opened their doors and
hearts to him. He went among them
as brother, they awakened his SYM
pathy and affection, and their idiom
differs so little from his own that he
was one Of them from the day they
first saw him.
They told him everything, and when
he left them for Denmark he wrote
the first book that has ever been de-
voted wholly to these natives. The
German edition Is entitled "Neue Men
schen" and 1t has been published in
Bern, Switzerland.
The purpose here Is simply to give
few incidents Of Rasmussen's life
among these people, and some Of his
impressions Of them. He was their
comrade in the merrymakings with
which they brighten the sunless win
ter, and he joined them in the hunts
for bear, walrus, reindeer and seals,
and in the spring killing of the birds
which they pack away for winter use.
They liked him and wished him to
live with them always. They would be
happy II only he would marry one Of
the native girls and settle down. So
one winter evening when the hut was
crowded with people old Sorkrark
arose impressively and made little
speech:
Are not our maidens good enough
for you?" he said. "See, there are
Isigaitsork and Amimik: Isigaitsork
has the longer hair If that will please
you and she has brand new fox skin.
Now we must tell you that 1t does
not do for a young, unmarried man
to be travelling around our country.
You will ruin our good opinion Of you
and make yourself a laughing stock.
There Is only one young bachelor
among us and he is a babbling idiot" 4"
rThis is fact. He has been mention
ed by explorers. ... ..
Among all things a man should
possess, the chief is a wife. The first
thing he gets is woman and next
comes his dogs and then a canoe and
last, and most difficult to get, is a
gun.
You have all these things except
a wife. Who will keep your things In
order and your hut warm and go along
to help you when you travel? The wife
always goes with her man on his jour-
LneysR possible and if not, ne borrows
somebody else's wife.
Rasmussen does not inform us what
response he made to this appeal. Old
Sorkrark Is known as the greatest bear
hunter among his people, but he did
not shine on this occasion as matri-
monial agent. The people said he must
tell Rasmussen the story Of some Of
his big hunting exploits, but he long
refused.
when I go out with my dogs after
a bear" he said, ut is not long before
his meat is in the cooking pot. That
is all I have to say"
One day, however, he yielded to per-
suasion and Rasmussen heard the first
and last story he would tell.
1T was on a winter night and very
cold" he said. land knew that bears
would be watching around the holes
in the Ice where the seals come up to
breathe. I went out with my dogs and
soon I dimly saw bear through the
twilight.
II gave chase and my dogs were
overhauling him when he disappeared
within a cave in the ice. When came
up I sent the leader Of my dog team
into the cave, for a bear in this way
may often be driven out from his re-
treat without injury to the dog. But
in a moment I heard a cry and my
dog staggered out and died at my
feet
II said to myself that I was going
to get that bear, I could not use my
spear in the small cave, so I put my
knife between my teeth and went in
on my hands and knees. It was very
dark and I could see nothing, but
could hear the breathing Of the bear.
l hugged the ground and made no
noise as I crept forward, inch by inch.
"At last felt the animals warm
breath in my face. My blade was long
and drew back and made a mighty
lunge. At the same time terrible
blow fell on my body and lost my
senses.
"I do not know how long lay there
in the cave, but when I came to my
self my first thought was of my dead
dog. Then felt around, thinking I
had killed the bear, but he was not in
the cave.
II was very sore, but managed to
crawl outside, and a few rods away
I saw my bear sitting on the ice and
heard his means and knew he was in
trouble. 1 grasped my spear and crept
toward him and came near enough to
see that his breast was covered with
blood and that had driven my knife
straight through his snout and 1t was
still in the wound
MY right arm was not hurt, and I
got up on my feet and drove my spear
through his heart"
1t is the custom in Danish West
Greenland, where Rasmussen was
born, for the young native women to
gather around q newcomer and help
him off with his overlooking. He for
got that the Smith Sound natives
might no be acquainted with this act
of courtesy and hospitality, and when
he first reached them on his sledge he