Evening star., 1925-10-04
BY FRANK f. KLEINSCHMIDT.

Win gas auXll1ary, is thread
i ing her way through the open
lanes of water amid the Ice
foes in Bering Strait. We are making
about six knots, with due acknowledg-
ments to the friendly current, and
everybody's spirits are high.
My Eskimos are aboard ship.
1pnorak and his sons and nephews, to
accompany me on search for Arctic
motion pictures. We are out some
days from King Island and on our way
to hunt Nanook. the polar bear
All at once there is an outhurst of
excited chatter among those aloft. And
now my fellows are all sCramblinG
down the rigging with one accord.
What can it be? Evidently no bear.
We should have heard more about It.
BUT here comes young Putunuk, the
chief Of King Island and valiant man
of the chase withal. "Chukchi 6.
Chukchi skin boat 20. 25
Chukchi :. big skin boat" says Pu
tunuk.
So that's the excitement. A big
skin boat with maybe 25 Chukchi in it.
They enter our waterway at tan
gent a little ahead. Down comes the
dilapidated sail. and the big skin boat
makes toward us with powerful, rhyth
mic paddle impulses. Yes. indeed
they are Chukchi. Arctic dwellers from
the Siberian side, fully 25 of them. in
cluding woman and small boy.
And they board my vessel with
about as much hesitation or ceremony
as you or l would have in scrambling
upon a casual rock on a moor or in
a desert. 1t is the unwritten rule of
the Arctic to dispense hospitality to
friend and stranger alike, and I had
no disposition to infringe upon that
excellent tradition.
1t is an open question who had the
better time on this occasion. the Chuk
chi, swallowing scalding tea and hot
mush, or we who watched them. But
there was a problem before us. 1t
was getting dark, and with % Chuk-
chi on deck there was little likelihood
Of sleep for any of us. So | tipped
off my helmsman to keep edging more
and more toward the coast and when
he came to a good open expanse of
water to heaVe to.
I suppose the Chukchi come about
as close as anybody to the type of ira
ditional cavemen. They are primitive
to the point of cohesion with the soil
If soil one can call the ice-bound snow
clad, iron region they inhabit.
They are far less civilized than the
Eskimo who with his scarce paipable
touch of sophistication. himself turns
UP his nose at the Chukchi, calling
him dirty, untruthful, pilfering-and
verminous, which last epithet is ap-
piled by one we'll qualified to judge of
such matters.
And yet the Eskimo has percepti-
BILE neutrality-suspicious. an envy-for
the Chukchi, seeing in this tall. well
knit native of Arctic Asia better
hunter than himself and paying in
stinctive respect to his skill.
r x = x
A WHISTLE from my steersman aids
- i'm 70 signal
from me the engines stop and soon the
vessel loses headway, only moving
gently with the current.
The Chukchi are on their feet all
talking among themselves and no
doubt wondering what is afoot. Putu-
nuk is appointed a subcommittee of
one, with full powers to treat and exc.
cute.
The King Island chief is now the
center of a group of eager and atten-
tive Chukchi. Negotiat tions are being
carried on entirely by signs. with am
pie mods and grins by way of trim
mings.
Putunuk appears to have put it
over. He points to the sun. Then he
swings drama tically round on his
heels the open-mouthed Chukchi do
ing the seame, and points to the spot
where the sun will appear on his next
rising This action seems to be clear
enough 10 all concerned. 1t simply
means tomorrow.
Putunuk then steps back a space
and with both hands goes through mo-
tions similar to those OF farmer
wife shooing a clutch of broilers off
the back porch. Splendid. For the
Chukchi have cottoned to the sugges-
ton en- masse and are even now scram-
bling over the taffrail and dropping
down into their big skin boat.
The woman waves her hand at part
ing. Tomorrow, when the sun has
climbed to the pitch of his arc. We
may expect another visit from these
wild people.
"Nanook NanoOk!' 1t Is Il cry from
aloft | curtail a perfectly good yawn
and instantly tumble out of my bunk.
| have just awaked. 1t is broad day
light, of course. Darkness holds for
only three hours or so up in these
parts at this season.
| begin to pile on clothes; for. il l
am behindhand l may get left. These
Arctic folk wait for no leadership
when hunting is afoot. / scramble up
the companionway pell-mell. Where is
this Nanook that all this fuss is
about?
l mount the rigging a little way and
look in the direction all too eagerly in
dicated. There about 500 yards to
ii
acres in area I catch sight of large
polar bear. He seems to have his
muzzle down, probably breakfasting
off a seal
Hurriedly I scan the battlefield.
How many leads, or lanes of open wa
ter, are there between the bear and
us, and where are they? But Putunuk
and Ipnorak have already figured out
this problem and have laid plan of
attack.
The plan of campaign was for the
two skin boats to work around the
f1anks of the foe and get to windward
of the bear. while l, with my camera,
and the trusty kitsenna, Ipnorak's
son, armed with gun and spear, would
make our way over the foe to lee
ward, approa ching up wind as close to
our quarry was compatible with
the stalking cover that the uneven
surface of the foe could afford.
An eminently simple plan, as BELTS
all true strategy. Mr.. Nanook, be it
known, trusts very largely to his nose
for security. My aim. therefore. was
TO establish myself and my moving
picture camera where the direction of
the wind would preclude any warning
to the bear of my presence.
\ X \
MEANWHILE those working to
A'A windward would serve much as
beaters in a Jungle hunt. driving the
game down wind toward the hunters
proper. For at the first scent of man
the polar bear leaves anything he
may be doing and makes off. He
simply does not want to be bothered
and will show no fight except on
provocation or when, because Of in
dolence or bad luck. the pangs of
hunger have got a hold upon him too