The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1920-12-10
fsCArT. JOHN >. BERr0NCcrNI


man endurance against the pitt
eess testing OF the North which had
crnved was not long in coming.
At tho close OF my first whaling
scAson In the Arctic. our vessel. the
BONANZA, battered by ice. was stove
In and had 10 be abandoned In the
van os winter on the delta OF the
Mackenzie river.
The whaling ficet was ready for
the winter at Herschei island. oaly a
few days journey away. and most OF
our crew elected To east In their lot
with the other whalers. but five of "a.
started OFT afoot for Point Barrow.
5si miles to westward
POLAR DEMONS CHuCKLED
AT -siERRY MARCH"
Carrying each packlcad OF provi-
! SONS. And depending on our rifles for
neat In n land teeminx with game.
Nj set out with laughter and iibes
Or what we looked forward TO as
rather merry march. And the polar
demons. riding Ice and snow. must
have .chuckied. too,
For The FIRST few days we pressed
ahead in high spirits Then. with
t only two or three meals In our packs.
-. decided 20 shoot sons meat.
|X arm not supcrstitious- Nothing
Sad ever experienced on the polar Ice
or In wild tropical islands had ever
lncllned me 10 belief in the superuat.
srnI. But doxglng our footsteps on
Mat CHASTITY march there certainly
vas hoodoo.
I would stalk fat. basking seal.
4 oud make brazn shot. only TO SOC
5SAat seal aide Into open watcre aitho
1tone dead. and nnh i1Sennxlv When
- Killed seals In shallow patches Of
&ater. tricky currents swept them
nut~r the Ice. We followed bear
1xacks SO fresh that we could almost
nneil them. and never saw bear.
a small band Of carbon passed us In
nc fog. Ike wralths. and we never
not a rhot.
nARED NOT VENTURE
On SIDE TRIPS
we dared not venture on side trips.
hut forged ahead day by day with
Al cur strength. rationed the re-
4 maining scraps OF food. and We kept
4 Going on q few rnorthfuls of meat
and biscuit and quarts Of weak tea.
n Presently our last rnouthfuf was
\ zone. We piodded ahead Always.
Z A seemed. we bucked & head wind
tAt night. mocking campfire and
ohired. restless slumber for a few
hsurs-
As read OF MacSwiney's fasting.
wondered how many could under
stand vssrat he went thru Miss
breakfast and luncheon and you
think that the gnawing feeling Of
hunger. multiplied hundrsdfod. Is
the sensation Of starving.
You are wrong. A starving man
. Is not hungry. In the sense comfort
n able stay homes understand hun
4 GER. He has. instead. the symptoms
81 sickness. There ss a harsh. metal
4 Tic taste In his mouth. He Is drowsy
and niled with strange dreams and
visions.
We cut strips from our partas and
mukluks. scraped of The hair. boiled
the leather and gulped IL
SIGHT A sCAFFOLD-
s NATIVES FOOD CACHE
r Then we sighted a scaffoId on the
beach--a native cachel We had been
seven days without food. We tore
it open and feasted on polar bear
meat.
For the FIRST time. harsh words
were called forth. I had to threaten
the boys ITO keep them from stufing
themselves. They crouched like
~sxolyes while ] made soup and then
,sdosed II out in spoonfuls.
& The human animal certainly In
tough. Within n few hours We were
transformed from tottering wrecks to
fulfilled. grinning. greasy-faced Opt.
ulists.
A few more miles Of travel and we
were among the most hospitable folk
fn the worId-the Eskimo. We were
20 spend a winter with them and be-
hold further workings Of the Bonan-
za's hoodoo.