Evening star., 1923-02-11

(believed by the natives to be the
) most dangerously, for large males and
for mothers with young. We lay upon
our paddles and watched them for
} some time, but so massed was their
formation that no opportunity pre-
sented itself to sever any individual
} from the herd.
i After a long wait I discovered that
, one young bull had appeared twice
in exactly the same spot, isolated by
possibly ten yards. This was my op-
!, portunity. I padded a short dis
tance to the westward, so that l
could approach him from the rear.
AS luck would have it, he soon ap-
peared, headed from me, the fullness
of his back and sides preventing him
from seeing what was going on be-
hind. / Immediately started the
kayak directly toward him, endeavor-
ing to gather enough speed to carry
me we'll by and 10 his left after / had
thrown my harpoon.
inexperienced and a bit nervous, l
ceased padding too soon, and in
addition to this fumbled my harpoon
in trying to grasp it right at the
ivory button, which fits between the
fingers of the right hand. Before l
| COulQ regain II anu raise IL LOT IHe
throw my kayak had glided up along
side the walrus, SO near, in fact, that
might have placed my hand upon
his back.
I had made a bungling job of the
whole thing and in the presence of
my Eskimos felt ashamed, chagrined,
angry and everything else. Fortu-
nately, the walrus had his head low
! iy,t did INN n a al
detect me. The bow of my kayak
was already forging past his head
and 1 knew what would happen as
soon as he saw it. 1t was too late
to attempt a getaway. as the slightest
movement of my paddle would be
heard. What was to do? Only one
thing-strike! This 1 did with all
my strength, using the harpoon as
one would use a dagger. There was
a roar, followed by a dash Of water
and a flash of white tusks, all SO
uncomfortably near that ] felt like
crawling into my hole in the kayak
and yelling as the little boy did, "Oh,
mister, it wasn't me-
Why he didn't kill me ] do not
know. Needless TO state l didn't re-
main to argue the matter with him
for any length Of time. Twice the
right end of my paddle struck his
body in my efforts to get grip on
the water. With a plunge he dis
appeared. A glance over my shoulder
revealed my sealskin float, now half
submerged, going rapidly off shore. /
knew that the iron was fast and that
the young bull was ours.
DR.. Hunt, our surgeon, ran for the
-bottomed punt and within a few
minutes was in pursuit of the float,
which he grasped and fastened to the
seat. With every temperance of
the head and rounded back, crack
would resound the Winchester .33
special, plowing furrow at nearly
every shot. With the help OF Ee-
say-oo the walrus was finally killed
and towed to the shore.
yIIALRCS hunting at the edge of
w the ice in February and March
is fully as interesting and at times as
exciting as walrus hunting in kayaks.
Only a perfect knowledge Of ice tech
niQue, Of currents, Of wind and
weather prevents these hardy boys
of the northland from going to their
death every spring. Each spring I
visited the snow village at Peteravik,
for it is the custom of the polar
= Eskimos to journey hither when the
food caches are empty, which hap
:, pens only at the end of the long dark
period, the very coldest time of the
year.
Seeing these men return each day
= from far-off shore with their loose
black hair white with frost. their
cheeks often frostbitten and theil
dog traces coated with ice, / resolved
to see for myself just how these ma.
j.. tives fought for their living. Az
=. companions. I selected big Tung-we
= the largest man in the tribe and
= noted for his skill with the harpoon
/. genial Teddy-ling-wa, a former as.
y sistant of Peary. and New York
= Meme. a boy brought to this country
;, several years ago, who lately return
:, ed to Greenland.
:. No open water could be seen from
II the village. The ice fields extended
far beyond the horizon. When vel
:, out on the trail, Tung-we quickly
;. pulled the sealing iron out from un-
. der the sledge lashing and grabbed
:, the coil of rawhide line from the up
:, ISLANDERS OF the sledge and ran tc
the left knowing instantly the
= cause Of his action. we continued or
our course and called to his dogs to
|. follow US, thus removing them and
their scent from the immediate vi.
:, cinity of the tiny breathing hole Of
Il the seal which the native had dis.
Il covered. We saw him bending over
o the hole and listening intently fol
v some minutes. Then the uplifted arm
4 | with the harpoon lunged forward
"a We shipped the dogs around and gal
! loped back over the trail, but before
we reached the spot Tung-we hac
d captured the seal, which now la!
dead on the ice-a fortunate catch
Il for our dogs were in need Of meat
"a We travelled steadily outward owe
a the foes, winding in and out betweel
tbergs directing our course toward tn
8 black blanket OF vapor everything
: lead. The dogs were now tetheret
Ir to the ice and left to rest and L
y sleep cuddled up in a drift of loos
3 snow. while we plodded on with rifles
h harpoons, killing irons and coils o
le line from hole to hole. Not a thini
st was seen. When the sun, a. lurid
" distorted ball Of fire, appeared owe
,r the ice horizon we walked back t,
g our sledges for hot tea and biscuit
W then on again into the southwes,
Id gingerly passing over strips of thil
s. ice to the edge Of open water
ar AS the great field Of drift ic
,r moved slowly by, we described tw'
n walrus asleep upon pan. To m,
lie astonishment. Meme and Teddy-ling
e wa prepared at once to get them wit