The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1910-02-03
BILKINS NEAR POLE.
Continued from Page ID


danger, and but few persons will
ever witness hit even at a distance.
While the number who will attempt
to go to the North Pole. the hard
end" ov the journey, will never
blockade the lines ov travel In this
region, even though the facilities for
travel air. an ANYWAYS will be some
what limited.
While we air travellin' over Ice.
over what wuz once water, or hit
would not now be Ice. though hit
may hev bin thousands ov years
since hit first froze. we air in site
ov land. This land may be the west
coast, or hit may be an island. But
land hit liz. Hit appears to be COW
cred with hills or small mountains.
yet appearances in this region air SO
deceptive that I will not be positive.
Possibly the hills may be nothin' but
great snowdrifts which hev bin piled
up by the wind storms after the same
manner that the wind heaps up the
sand at some points along the At
hood ov Beaufort, N. c.. the sand
hills lookin' exactly like small noun
tains at distance ov two or three
miles. After goin' two or three miles
further we noticed that the coast
line had changed in form. The land
no longer slanted gradually to the
water line. but arose abruptly at the
edge ov the ice az though hit mite
be a great cliff ov rocks, several hun
dred-possibly thousand feet high.
But at the distance I could not be
sure az to the formation. Hit may
be rocky cliffs or hit may be an &C
emulation ov snow and ice. But hit
doesn't matter. I wouldn't give five
cents for a thousand acres ov hit
even if hit il land. fer the only crop
possible in this climate IL icebergs
an there hez awlready bin an over
production in that crop.
Late yesterday afternoon we had
the first axident ov the trip. MY
| man Friday" az I secretly term my
Eskimo driver, though I do not let
him know hit, fer hit would take too
long to tell him the story ov Robin
| son Crueso and Friday-an' time IL
extra precious here-fell az he wuz
gettin' out ov the sleigh to unhitch
an feed the deer. havin' slipped
upon a slantin' place in the ice. For
tunately he wuz not seriously hurt
though he fell so hard that / feared
that he mite jar the North Pole more
or less. l took one ov the whiskey
bottles out ov the medicine chest
an gave him a few drops az slim
ulant, an he wuz soon awl rite. Blu
must be nifty savin' ov my stock o.
medisin', fer they amt no "nea
: beer" places up this way, which, b.
the way, IL conclusive proof that Ian
the first an only man who hez trav
elled this far North.
I am glad to report that the ice 1
gettin' still better an but for tn
intense cold we could get along fine
lily. We see no signs ov animal
bird life, hev not fer several days.
This mornin' just after we starte
r afresh on our daily struggle fer tn
S Pole, noticed that Bob wuz exsite
y about somethin'. I wuz ridin' hin
+ az usual, an we wuk few yards
It advance ov the sleigh. Anvil at ont
y Bob stopped still, raised hiz head a.
IL snorted, an then he backed a re
W steps. 1 could see notin' to frighte
Ie him an began to scold him. But
u raisin my eyes an lookin' far to Il
north I saw the cause ov htz fr1gn
ST could see one ov them beautifl
s. fantastick mirages approachin'. !
a, distance they look like pref
lg cloud, but air neither white nor bla
lie like the ordinary clouds. Instea
they appear to be composed
clouds ov awl colors in mixed for
In another mint they will look II
a mass ov pea fowls, thousands
Is number, shown aw1 the colors
"a. the rainbow. An the frightnin' p'
,6 ov hit liz that the great mass loo
90 like hit IL in a few feet ov you
for that hit will roll rite over you
tol less than ten seconds. But hit do
urt MT, or, at any rate, hit IL az harml
ph az a bit ov fog an IL soon gone
Ids only to be repeated again, proba
de- in the space ov a few minits, or,
in may be hours. Bob IL gettin'
ing to them mirages now. He will
,rs. tryin' to eat them in another day
bv two, fer the green color in tt
on looks nifty like grass with the mt
,tv- in dew on hit. an fodder IL run
rev low on this expedition.
My Eskimo companion IL becol
discouraged. Last mite, after we
tucked the stock and ourselves a
3. fer the mite. he axed me IL tho'
we would or could reach the N
Pole before the next Sleep" the
arty kimo way ov dividin' time.
vaysl Impossible" SEE I. 1--WE are
sgan cordin' to my calculations, which
e at not certain, at least two hun
local miles from the Pole. With
Fear well-fed deer team. and guide
the that would not be serious ma
and But our team In shown sign
Sew bein' very tired an the china
mans tellin' on them, though the slei
lding now some lighter, az the suppl
n of food fer man an beast dimin
, As Can dread to see hit goin' Il
air now hundreds ov miles