The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-01-03
TELLS Of HARDSHIP
TBE TERRITORY Of
DR.. Anderson Collected 900
Rare Specimens of AMI
NAL Life.
return to New York several
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| days ago or Dr. Rudolph An
derson, biologist and second in
command Of the Stefansson-An-
derson expedition sent to the arctic in
| the interests Of the American Museum
of Natural History and the Canadian
geological survey, marked the end Of
nearly four years and half Of obser-
vation and exploration undertaken by
him and Vilhjalmur Stefansson.
1t was DR.. Anderson's job to inves-
| tigate the conditions of animal life in
the region of Coronation gulf. a part
Of the body Of water separating Vic
toria island from the Mackenzie ter
ritory Of the mainland.
In his collection of 1000 specimens
are the skins and skeletons Of many
rnre animals and birds, of which the
nineteen Barren island bears are per-
hnps the most valuable. The bird col
lection includes specimens of the whis-
Ting swan, black brant, Hutchins'
goose, northern and red phalarope,
snowflake, Lapland longspur parasitic
jaeger, red throated loon and willow
ptarmigan, all from the vicinity of
Colvile delta.
DR.. Anderson said that the expedi-
ton had collected enough scientific
data Of value to make it worth the
four years and a half spent out of
reach Of civilization.
1--WE covered nearly the entire coast
from Coleville river to Coronation
gulf" said DR.. Anderson, making sew
eral trips inland along the Mackenzie.
Horton and Dease rivers and finding
in some regions. hitherto marked un-
Inhabited, tribes of Eskimos that had
never before seen white man.
Among the so called blond Eskimos
we found copper needles in use in
stead OF bone ones, and most Of their
other utensils were made of copper
also. The supply of this metal is
abundant in this region, great deal
Of it called copper float, being on the
surface and easily recognizable. OF
course the difficulty in making any use
Of this storehouse of riches lies I'm the
fact that there is no way of trans
porting it.
Blond Eskimos Poor Marksmen.
These Eskimos still use spears and
bows and arrows to kill game for
food, and they are amazingly poor
marksmen. A group of them shot more
than twenty arrows at single ptarmi-
gan one day before they killed it. Their
implements are all of the most primi-
tive variety.
There is an immense territory south
Of the Endicott mountains and north
of the Yukon which the white pros
pectors have not yet reached except in
a few places. The Rampant house and
Fort Yukon Indians do not range so
far north except in summer, and the
Eskimos seldom cross the mountains.
To the knowledge of the natives, no
white man had ever crossed the noun
tains in this region.
starting inland in December, 1908,
we decided that it would take too long
to return to Flaxman island for -four
and other supplies before crossing the
mountains, and, having as much NUT
ton as we could carry on our sleds, aft
er leaving a few carcasses cached to
ANii buNN Apoh iCtll lhC cuu VI Iut 1u-
lahula river, we crossed the divide on
Dec. 4. The week before we had haul
ed load Of meat to within a quarter
Of mile Of the summit and camped
one night above the willow line.
1--WE now took the sleds over singly
by putting ten dogs in harness with
six men boosting and pulling. Descend
ing rocky creek gorge, we reached
large willows before night. The Sec
ond day devoted to hunting brought in
one sheep out of eleven.
"The third days travel brought us to
green spruce trees. Ptarmigan were
scarce and hard to find, as the river
valley was wild. We were on pretty
short rations before we struck the carl
bou herds on the high foothills on Dec.
IS. The snow was very deep and soft
on the south side of the divide. Our
sleds were soon stalled, and we were
delayed three DAYS cutting trees, hew-
ing out boards and making toboggans.
Had Porcupine Dinner.
"a trail had to be snowshoed ahead,
and travel was slow, all hands slug
ging in harness with the dogs. Two
porcupines and great gray owl prov
ed welcome additions to our larder.
Canada jays were observed few miles
north Of the limit of spruce trees, and
ravens were often in sight.
During the latter part Of December
we saw many caribou, at one time
more than 1000 within rife range-a
magnificent spectacle. We lived in
tents until Dec. 27, when we built
hut of poles covered with blocks Of
moss, living in it until late in January,
occasionally seeing caribou, which
were always moving eastward.
1--WE had a rather thrilling expert
enca in tha fall of tho nax+ ,,oo, 1ooo