River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1911-03-23

I afterward placed it. 1t was useless to try U
get nearer, as there was no cover, and L nre'
at the bull and could see he was hit by the wa!
he staggered as he jumped up and tried TO run
The COW jumped up also and stood STILL broad
side on, and when 1 fired at her l could hear
the bullet strike very plainly Though it dlo
not knock her down, she seemed unable to run
and another shot put her out of her misery
While still at this pond the two Eskimo hunt
ers with whom Whitney started out chased a
COW and calf on the run right past u.s. hit the
COW in the side at the third shot and the call
stopped and was killed by one Of the Eskimo
We now had six caribou-a fair supply OF
meat-and two extra men to help carry it in,
as the other party had had no luck. So left
them to bring in what they could and started
for camp alone. On the way [ killed the biggest
bull OF ALL He alone on hillside and ]
got within range without much difficulty. whit
ney was in camp and said he had seen no carl
bou and Norton came in a couple OF hours later,
tired and disguised, having shot calf.
Our second attempt at walrus hunting in
Whale sound was practically a failure, the
weather being unfavorable. The Erik was head
ed for Etah, where we found the Roosevelt. AT
Etah the shore rises abruptly on both sides OF
the harbor and the sharp, rocky hills were dot
ted with Arctic hares They are white with
black-tipped ears all the year around and have
extremely long and powerful hind legs, often
running along almost upright for considerable
distances. They were very shy when we ar
rived having been hunted for some days by
men from the Roosevelt
During the ten days spent at Etah the Roose
welt was making ready for her dash northward
The two ships dashed together, transferred sup
plies, coal and the vile-smelling whale meat
which we had carried for SO long aboard the
Erik. Coal and provisions were landed and the
day before the Roosevelt sailed spent in
transferring some ESQ dogs from an island
where they had been put ashore, to the Roose
velts deck.
Early in the afternoon Of the eighteenth OF
August the Roosevelt showed by signal that she
was ready to start north At the time the Erik
was tied to the rocks, landing coal, and the
Roosevelt was anchored further up the bay. The
captain, Norton, Whitney and I rowed over to
her and Commander Peary invited US into his
cabin, where we drank glass Of brandy to the
health of all on board and to the success of the
expedition, shook hands with everyone we could
find amid the hustle and preparation of starting
and rowed back to the Erik. Whitney had de
cided to winter at Etah and we left him there
on the twenty-frst, dropping him astern in his
rowboat about hours run out.
Here were homeward bound and not
sight had we had of the greatest and most de-
sired arctic game the white bear. 1t was near
ly month later before we did see one We
killed a few more Walrus, arctic hares and
birds on our way south, visited the Greenland
Danish settlements at Upernavik, Disco and
Holstenberg and crossed Davis strait, striking
the coast on the west side near the mouth OF
Cumberland gulf.
On the twenty-second of September off the
Labrador coast, we ran into iceberg, the
shock breaking open the old Erik pretty well
back to the pavement. Fortunately the damage
was about two feet above the water line; very
fortunately, of the boats happened to
be in a condition that would permit quick
launching The crash came abOut eight O'Clock
on bright, starlight evening, with the northern
lights shifting across the sky and probably blot
ting out the berg until it was too late to escape
collision. This accident seemed to take the life
right out of the old ship, though she had with
stood many dangers in the past, and it was
a crippled old Erik with a badly smashed nose
that finally dropped anchor in Brigus harbor.