The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-11-11
THE MUSK OXEN OF JONES SOUND.

Is a typical phase Of our lives which cannot be illustrated otherwise. Seem- ing trivialities were seized upon as food for thought. Why has the dog a tail at all? The bear. the musk OK. the caribou and the hare each in its own way succeeds very we'll with but a dwarfed stub. Why does nature in the dog expend its best effort in grow ing the finest fur over a seemingly useless line of tail bones?- The thing Is distinctive, and one could hardly conceive of the creature without this accessory. but nature in the arctic does not often waste energy to display beau ties and temperament- This tail must have an important use. otherwise it would soon fall under the knife of frost and time. Yes. It was imported into the arctic by the wolf progenitor of the dog from warmer lands. where its swing terved useful purpose in ny time. A nose made to breathe warm air requires some protection fin the far north No animal feels this sLortcoming as much as man. The dog supplied the need with his tail At the time when I made this discovery a cold wind charged with cutting crys- tals brushed the pack Each dog had his back arched to the wind and his face yelled with an effective curl of his tail. He Fas comfortably shielded from icy torment by an appendage aoapted to that very purpose
 A Heavy snewstorm.
 On May we were stopped at 6 a. m. by the coming of the gloom of an un- usual gale. The wind had been steady and strong all night but we did not heed It's threatening increase of force until too late. It came from the west. as usual, driving coarse snow with needle points- The ice about was old and hummocky, oGerir- n difficult line of march. but some shelter. In the strongest blasts we threw ourselves over the sled behind hummocks and gathered new breath to force a few miles more
 Finally. when no longer able to force <ne dogs through the binding drift, we Ice. Here suitable snow was found for a snow house, and a few blocks were cut and set. but the wind swept them away like chips. The tent was tried. but 1t could not be made to stand in the rush of the roaring tumult In sheer despair we crept Into the tent without erecting the pole Creeping into the bags. we then allowed the Tapping silk to be buried by the drift ing snow Soon the noise and discom- fort of the storm were lost. and we enjoyed the comfort of an icy grave An efficient breathing hole was kept open, and the wind was strong enough to sweep of the weight of a dangerous drift A new lesson was thus learned in fighting the battle of life which was afterward useful.
 Several days of icy despair now fol- lowed each other In rapid succession. The wind did not rise to the full force of storm. but 1t was too strong and too cold to travel. The food supply was noticeabIy decreasing. The daily advance was reduced. With such weather starvation seemed inevitable
 Camp was moved nearly every day. but ambition sank to the lowest ebb. To the atmospheric unrest were added the instability of broken ice and the depressing mystery of an unknown po- sition- For many days no observa- lions had been possible. and our loca- ton could only be guessed at
 The maddening struggle was daily forced. while the spirits were pressed to the verge of extinction Now that the object of our trip had been accom- plished much of the incentive was gone. At times it seemed as if our llfe's work had been accomplished and to have lain down for the final sleep would have been easy. but the feeble