Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1910-04-08
FSf2iHeEzHEdE POLE
@F~BY JULES VERNE.


and that will cost nothing, and be far
brighter"
Fine" said Johnson; '1et us set to
work at once"
All went to work and soon erected
ten-foot ice column. The lantern
was put on top. The conducting wires
were properly adjusted within 1t, and
as soon as 1t grew dark the experiment
was made. 1t was a complete success.
An intense, brilliant light streamed
from the lantern and illumined the en-
tire plateau and the plains beneath.
johnson could not help clapping his
hands, half beside himself with delight.
A regular course of life commenced
now, and the Saturday after the install
lation hunting excursion was organ
lied.
AS they tramped along over the ice
the doctor talked about the hibits of
the Eskimos
MY good Bell, your voracity would
never equal the Greenlanders." for they
devour from ten to fifteen pounds of
meat day."
Fifteen pounds!" said Bell. What
stomachs."
Arctic stomachs." replid the doctor,
are prodigious; they can expand at
will. and may add. contract at will;
so that they can endure starvation
quite es well as abundance. When an
Eskimo sits down to dinner he Is quite
thin. and by the time he has finished
he is 80 fat you would hardly recog-
nize him. But then we must remem-
hnx NIak
whole day."
This voracity must be peculiar to
the inhabitants Of cold countries" said
Altamont
Il think It Is" replied the doctor. TN
the arctic regions people must eat
enormously; 1t is not only one of the
conditions Of strength, but of exist
ence. The Hudson Bay Co. always
reckoned on this account: Eight
pounds Of meat to each man a day, or
twelve pounds Of fish, or two pounds
Of pemmican."
Must be Strengthening" said Bell.
Not so much as you imagine. An
Indian who guzzles like that can't do
whit better days work than an En-
glishman, who has has pound of beef
ana pint or beer.
Things are best as they are, then, 1
suppose"
mo doubt of it, and yet an Eskimo
meal may well astonish u.s. In Sir
John Ross narrative, he states his sur
| prise at the appetites of his guides.
He tells US that two of them-just two,
mind-devoured quarter of buffalo
in one morning. They cut the meat In
long strips, and the mode of eating was
either for the one to bite off as much
| as his mouth could hold, and then pass
1t on to the other, or to leave the long
| ribbons of meat dangling from the
| mouth. and devour them gradually,
like boa constructors, lying at full
length on the ground"
'Ughl" exclaimed Bell, what dis
gusting brutes!"
Every man has his own fashion of
dining" remarked the philosophical
| American.
Soon walrus was sighted. It was
of huge dimensions. and not more than
200 yards away. The hunters surround
ed the animal, crept along cautiously
till within few PAGES of him. Then
| they fired simultaneously.
The walrus rolled over. but speedily
got up again. and tried to make his es-
cape. But Altamont fell upon him with
his hatchet, and cut off his dorsal fin.
He made a desperate resistance, but
was overpowered by his enemies, and
soon lay dead, reddening the ice field
with his blood.
1t was a fine animal, measuring
more than fifteen feet in length, and
would have been worth a good deal for
the oil. But the hunters contented
themselves with cutting off the most
savory parts, and left the rest to the
ravens, who had just begun to make
heir appearance.
Night was drawing on, and II was
time to return to Fort Providence.