Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-07-18

and hardships cheerfully adds to theil
honor. They placed their affairs II
the hands of God" Two men died
scurvy attacked them and Barentz
succumbed when relief was in sight
DeVeer records:
Always cheerful and good temper
ed, the men bore equally we'll the en-.
nui of the long polar night and the Sc.
verify of the cold, which was so ex-
treme that during two or three days
when they had not been able to keeI
on so large a fire as usual on account
of the smoke being driven back again
by the wind, it froze SO hard in the
house that the walls and floor were
covered with ice to the depth of two
fingers, even in the cots where we were
sleeping. It was necessary to thaw the
sherry when 1t was served out, as was
done every two days at the rate oi
half a pint"
A surprising ignorance Of the needs
of fresh air came near causing the
death of the whole party once. Ar
unusually cold wind was blowing.
I'VE knew no means Of guarding
ourselves against 1t, and while we
were consulting together one Of our
men in this extreme necessity pro-
posed to make use Of the coal which
we had brought from the ship into ouI
house and to make fire of 1t, because
1t burns with great heat and lasts q
long time. In the evening we lighted
a large fire Of this coal, which threw
out a great heat, but we did not pro-
vide against what might happen, fol
as the heat revived us completely, we
tried to retain it for long time. TIC
this end we thought it we'll to stop uI
all the doors and the chimney, to keeE
in the delightful warmth.
And we also ourselves were sensible
of a great pain which attacked us, &c
that several of the bravest came ou,
Of their cots and began by unstoppine
the chimney and afterwards opening
the door. But the man who opened
the door tainted and fell senseless or
the snow"
On Christmas and the twelfth nigh,
they held parties. The snow fell sc
deep that they were forced to tunnel
out from the door, Polar bears and
foxes scrambled over the roof and
tried to break in. Many animals were
trapped or shot by one Of the men
who climbed up the chimney for that
purpose. Strange to say, the bear
meat was discarded as unfit, while the
fox meat was eaten. Had the Dutch
men used the many bears they killed
for food as we'll as clothing 1t Is prob
able that the scurvy would not have
weakened them. De Veer writes:
Each night we heard first the bears
and then the foxes, which walked upon
the top of the dwellings and tried to
tear off some planks from the roof
that they might get into the house. So
the sailors were accustomed to climb
into the chimney, whence, as from a
watch tower, they could shoot the an
imals and drive them off. We made
great number of snares. into which
fell numbers of blue foxes, the valu-
able fur Of which served as a protec-
ton against cold. while their flesh
enabled us to economiZe on provi-
sions." -
The Ice disabled their ship, so the
explorers were forced to leave Nova
Zembia in open boats. This they did
on May 20, 1897. After three weeks
of difficult sailing. during which time
Russian fishermen aided them many
times, they reached Kildin island. near
Lapland, and few days later joined
Captain RHO, who was up the Kola
river, which meets the sea at Kildin
island. The Dutch had supposed Cap
tain Heemsherki and his men dead
Kansas City Star.