Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-10-15

Eskimos must not only gather the
Gates humber possible, but must
prepare the skins and make them into
properly fitting garments.
In other places reindeer were abun-
dant. This skin was very much In
demand for sleeping bags. while the
ainew was required for thread. IN
still other places seal was the luck Of
the chase, and its skin was n OF our
most important needs. OF 1t boots
were ordered. and an immense amount
of line and lashings vas prepared.
Thus In one way or another every
man, woman and most Of the children
of this tribe of $50 people were kept
busy In the service of the expedition.
The work wal well done and with
much better knowledge of the fitness
of things than could be done by any
possible gathering OF white men.
Use o. the Narwhai.
The quest of the walrus and the mar
whal came In orr own immediate plan
of adventure. The unicorn. or mar
whal, does not often come under the
eye of the white man, though n Of
the first animals to leave our shores.
1t gave for a brief spell good results
IN sport and useful material. The
blubber Is the pride of every house
keeper, for 1t gives a long, hot flame
to the lamp, with no smoke to spot
the igloo fnery. The skin Is regarded
as quite a delicacy. Cut into squares,
It looks and tastes like scallops. with
only a slight aroma of train oil.
The meat dries easily and is thus
priced as On appetizer or as a lunch
to he eaten en- route In sled or kayak.
In this shape it was an extremely use
full thing for us, for it took the place
of pemmican for our less urgent jour
news.
The narwhal, which. apart from its
usefulness. Is most interesting to den
izens of the arctic deeD. Mayed IN
schools far off shore. usually along the
edge of large ice. Its long ivory tusks
rose under spouts of breath and spray.
When this glad sight was noted every
kayak abont camp was manned, and
the Eskimos' skin canoes went ike
birds over the water. Some OF the
Eskimos rose to the Ice fields and de-
livered harpoons from a secure foot
ing. Others hid behind floating frag-
ments Of heavy ice and made a sudden
rush as the animals passed
Still others came up In the rear, for
the narwhal cannot easily see back
ward and does not often turn to watch
its enemies, fits speed being so fast
that II can easily keep ahead of other
troublesome creatures.
Hunting the Narwhai.
The harpoon is always delivered at
close range. When the dragging float
marked the end of the line In tow of
the frightened creature the line OF
skin canoes followed. The narwhal IL
timid by nature Fearing to rise for
breath, he plunged along until nearly
strangulated. When 1t did come up.
there were several Eskimos near with
drawn lances, which inflicted deep.
gashes.
Again the narwhal plunged deep'
down with but one breath and hurried
along as best 1t could. But its speed
slackened. and a line of crimson mark
ed Its hidden path. Loss OF blood and
want of air did not give 1t a chance
to fight. Again 1t came up with a
spout: again the lances were hurled.
The battle continued for several
hours. with many exciting adventures.
but In the end the narwhal always sue
cumbed. offering a prize of several
thousand pounds of meat and blubber.
Victory. as n rule. was not gained until
the hunters we're far from home. also
far from the shore line. But the Es-
kimo is a courageous hunter and an
intelligent seaman
Towing the Carcass.
To the huge carcass frail kayaks
were hitched In a long line. Towing
is slow, wind and sea combining to
make the ask difficult and dangerous