Cast Away in the Cold Part 20

"After this we fell again into conversation about the _Oomeaksuaks_, or ships, as I have explained before; and, having learned more and more of the language which Eatum spoke, we got to comprehend him better, so we fixed clearly in our minds where the place was that the ships came to, and were fully satisfied that Eatum told the truth about it. We now offered to give him everything we had if he would take us there, and stay with us until the ships should come along and take us off his hands. About this we had several conversations; but just when we thought the treaty was complete, and Eatum was going to carry out the plan we had fixed upon, this singular savage disappeared very suddenly,--dogs, sledge, and all,--without saying a single word to us about it.

"When we made the discovery that he was gone, we were filled with astonishment and dismay. We hoped, at first, that he had gone off hunting; but, finding that he did not return, we tried to follow the tracks of his sledge, but the wind had drifted snow over them, and we could not.

"We now made up our minds that Eatum was nothing more than a treacherous savage; and we were afraid that he would come back with more savages and murder us, in order that he might get the furs and other things that we had; so for a while we were much alarmed, and were more heartbroken I believe, than ever before, for our hopes of rescue had been raised very high by hearing of Eatum's people and the ships. The suddenness with which all our expectations were thus dashed to the ground quite overcame us, and we pa.s.sed the next five days very miserably, hardly stirring out of the hut during all that time. But at length we saw the folly of giving way to despair.

"One thing we quickly determined upon, and that was to leave the island, one way or another; for now we were so afraid of the savages coming to murder us, that we would suffer any risk and hardship rather than remain there longer. So once more we began to devise means for our safety.

"It was no longer what we should do for food and fuel, or clothing, but how we should escape. The ships we had given up long ago, and with the ships had vanished every hope of rescue. But now a wild man had come to us out of the ice-desert, and had told us that ships came in the summer not far from where we were, and through this intelligence we had obtained a glimpse of home and our native country, as it were; and this too at the very time when we had become most reconciled to our condition, and had made up our minds to live as best we could on the Rock of Good Hope for the remainder of our days.

"But now our minds were wholly changed. 'We are worse off than ever,'

said the Dean, 'for this little hope the savage gave us, and the fear, besides, that he has put into us,'--which was true enough.

"Stimulated now by the memory of that hope and the presence of that fear, we prepared to undertake the bold task of rescuing ourselves. The savage had pointed out to us the direction of the place where the ships pa.s.sed, 'And now,' we thought, 'if we can only reach the land there before the summer comes we shall be all right.' But if we should not get to the proper place, or if the ships did not come along, then the chances were that we might starve or freeze to death. Nothing daunted, however, by the contemplation of that gloomy side of the picture, we went earnestly to work, and very soon had contrived a plan.

"Of course we must have a sledge, as we were obliged to travel a long distance, and must carry not only food to eat by the way, but blubber for a lamp with which to melt water from the snow, and furs to keep us warm while we slept. Eatum had taught us how to construct a snow hut, so that we felt sure of being able to shelter ourselves from the storms.

"But the sledge was the great difficulty. How should we make a sledge?

was the question which most occupied our thoughts, and taxed our ingenuity. Apparently we had nothing to make it of, nor tools to make it with. To fasten together pieces of bone in the manner that Eatum had done, and thus construct a runner, was not possible, as we had no drill to make holes with,--and besides, if we had, the work would have required too long a time for our present necessities. Our purpose was to get away from the island with all possible haste.

"We made a sledge, however, at last, and in a very ingenious way as we thought, though not a particularly good way as we afterwards discovered.

First we cut two strips of seal-skin, and sewed them into tubes. Then we filled the tubes with hair, and pieces of meat chopped very fine, and also bits of moss. Then we poured water into the tubes, and flattened them down by stamping upon them. Very soon the whole froze together, solid as a board, and these we soon fashioned into the proper shape for runners. We found no difficulty in fastening the two together with cross-ties of bone, which we lashed firmly to the runners. Thus, in seven days from the time of beginning to work upon it, our sledge was complete.

"Very much rejoiced over this triumph, we put a load on the sledge, and set out to give it a trial. But one runner gave way before we had gone a dozen fathoms, and we were in a state of great perplexity. We resolved now to bundle up everything we needed in a bear-skin, and drag that over the snow after us, so great was our haste to get away. We would drag the bear-skin head-foremost, so that the fur would slip more easily over the snow. But when we had done this, we discovered that, to say nothing of dragging the load, we could not even start it. Our united efforts were wholly unequal to the task of moving it even so much as an inch; and, like Robinson Crusoe with his boat, we had wholly miscalculated the means, thinking only of the end. And so it is sometimes, even with wiser heads than ours.

"We were now in even greater trouble than ever; but being at length fully satisfied of the utter hopelessness of proceeding in this manner, we went back next day to the sledge, and began to work upon it again; all the while looking out for the savages, and expecting them every minute to come and murder us."

CHAPTER XVIII.

A Number of Peculiar People appear, and the Castaways disappear from the Rock of Good Hope.

"We worked away at the sledge as fast as possible, being bent upon having it finished and getting off from the island as quickly as we could.

"At last it was completed, and we dragged it down to the beach and out upon the ice. Finding that it went better than we had dared to expect, we returned to our hut, and, bundling together such of our furs and other things as we thought we should require on the long journey before us, carried them down and stowed them on the sledge. Among them were included one lamp, one pot, and one cup. We could not drag a very heavy load, even if the sledge would bear up under it, so we had to limit ourselves to the least possible allowance of everything. Food was, of course, more important to us than anything else, and of this we determined to take all that we could put upon the sledge with safety.

"All this time we felt very sad, and we worked in a very gloomy spirit.

Everything appeared so uncertain before us; the journey we were about to undertake, at first seeming to promise so hopefully, had become a very doubtful undertaking; and, since day after day pa.s.sed by without bringing the savages upon us, we got to be less afraid of them, and in this same proportion was reduced our confidence in the propriety of leaving the island in this manner for an unknown place, and in utter ignorance as to whether the savage had told us truth about the ships.

"However, as you have seen before, when the Dean and I got an idea in our heads we did not easily abandon it. Once determined to make the trial, we had persevered until we had obtained a sledge; and now, as I have told you, it was already half loaded.

"But we might have saved ourselves all this trouble, as you will soon see.

"While in the very midst of our packing, we were suddenly startled by a loud noise. Looking up from our work, and turning in the direction whence the sound proceeded, there, to our horror and dismay, were the very savages we had been for so long a time expecting. They were just rounding a point of the island, and were nearing us at a rapid pace.

"We soon discovered them to be five in number, each riding upon a sledge, drawn by wild and fierce-looking dogs, that made a great outcry as soon as they saw us, as did also the savages on the sledges.

"'At last,' thought I, 'our time has come. We shall be murdered now for certain, and then be given to the dogs for food.'

"'Oh!' exclaimed the Dean, 'if our poor mothers only knew where we were!'

"Dangerous as appeared to be our situation, I could still not help asking the Dean whether he did not think it would be quite as much to the purpose if we only knew where we were ourselves,--to which, however, he made no reply, for the savages were almost upon us. Seizing our weapons, we prepared to defend ourselves, since there was no use trying to run away, as the dogs would be atop of us before we could reach the hut.

"But there was not the least use of our being so much alarmed, for the savages soon convinced us that they meant no harm. They would not let their dogs come near us, but kept them off, and, stopping, tied them fast. Then, without any weapons in their hands, they came up to us in a most friendly manner, all _yeh-yeh_-ing at a wonderful rate. So we took the five of them right off up to the hut, and now our fears were turned into rejoicing and our sorrow into joy. One of them was Eatum, and they all proved to be just as singular-looking people, and were as curious about us and about everything we had as Eatum had been. Their faces were on a broad grin all the while.

"Having learned something of their language from Eatum, as I told you before, we contrived to make them understand, with the aid of a great many signs, how the ship had been wrecked, and how we got first to the ice and then to the land,--for this they were most curious about,--and they were greatly puzzled to know how we came to be there at all. After this they treated us quite affectionately, patting us on the back, and exclaiming, _Tyma, tyma_, which we knew to mean 'Good, good,' as Eatum had told us. Then Eatum wanted to show himself off in our language, and, pointing to us, he said, 'Hunter plenty good, plenty eat get. All same,'

(pointing to himself by way of ill.u.s.tration, and thus finishing it,) '_tyma? yeh-yeh, yeh!_' which was the way he had of laughing, as I told you before, and all the rest _yeh, yeh_-ed just like him. One of them we called at once 'Old Grim,' because he _yeh-yeh_-ed with his insides; but no laugh ever showed itself in his face.

"After their curiosity was satisfied, they imitated Eatum, and began to call loudly, _drink.u.m_ and then _eatum_,--_yeh-yeh_-ing as before in a very lively manner; so that, what with their _yeh-yeh_-ing and _eatum_ and _drink.u.m_, there was quite a merry time of it. Meanwhile, however, we were busying ourselves to satisfy their wants, and it was not long before the savages were as full as they could hold. It was a curious sight to see them eat. They would put one end of a great chunk of meat in the mouth, and, holding tight to the other end, they would cut it off close up to the lips. Our seal-blubber they treated in the same way. To this blubber they seemed to be very partial; and, indeed, all people living in cold climates soon grow fond of fat of every kind. It is such strong food, which people require there as much as they do warm clothing, and in great quant.i.ties too. The people living in the Arctic regions have little desire for vegetable food; and the savages there eat nothing but meat, fish, and fat.

"Our guests did not leave off eating until each had consumed a quant.i.ty of food equal at least to the size of his head; and then they grew drowsy, and wanted to _singikpok_, which we knew from Eatum meant sleep; and in _singikpok_ we were glad enough to indulge them, although greatly to our inconvenience, for they nearly filled our hut.

"But before this we went down to the sledge and brought up the furs and other things we had stowed upon it for our journey, as we needed them for the accommodation of our visitors. The savages went with us, and when they saw what a sledge we had made, and understood what sort of journey we were going upon, they laughed.

"You must understand, however, that we did not give up the journey; but, on the contrary, were more than ever disposed to make it. For, although we could see no harm in the savages, yet we put no trust in them,--they appeared to have no serious side to them at all, but treated everything with such levity that we could not tell what to make of them. Sometimes we wished they would go away; and then again we wished they would stay; and then we wished they would take us with them, and then again we were afraid to trust them. Thus did our hopes and fears alternately get the better of us.

"The savages slept very soundly for a while; but one by one they woke up, and, as soon as their eyes were open, they fell to eating again until they were satisfied, and then in a minute afterwards they were fast asleep. This they kept up for about two days, and you may be sure they made way with a great deal of our provisions before they had finished.

"When they had thoroughly gorged themselves, and slept all they could, they were ready to start off again; and now we found that they had come to take us away,--a discovery which was both agreeable and disagreeable; for we could not tell what to make of the savages at all, we could understand so little of what they meant, or of what they said, or of what their designs might be respecting us.

"'However,' we thought, 'after all here is a possible chance of escape and rescue,' and, like a drowning man catching at a straw, we could not seriously think of allowing the opportunity to slip; besides, there proved in the end to be little chance of our having our own will in the matter, since the savages never once asked us if we would go with them, but began to bundle up our furs, food, and blubber, and everything else we had, as if resolved to take us whether or no.

"At first we felt a little alarm,--without expressing it, however; but, seeing how good-natured they were about it, and how considerate they appeared to be for us, we had no further fear, but trusted them entirely.

"The savages went to work with a hearty good-will to get us off. Not a thing escaped them,--not a piece of fur of any kind; fox-skins, bird-skins, bear-skins, pots, lamps, and everything else, were picked up and carried off just as if we had no right to them at all; and although there were, as I have said, five sledges, yet these were all quite heavily laden.

"As we pa.s.sed down by our sledge, the savages set up another laugh at it. It seemed to amuse them very much, but they showed no disposition to take it along.

"At last we were all ready. The sledges were all stowed, everything was tightly lashed down, and off we started,--I riding on the sledge with Eatum, while the Dean was on the sledge of 'Old Grim.'

"The Dean carried his 'Delight,' of course, while I held on to 'Old Crumply.' Nor were our 'palm and needle,' and jack-knife, that had done such good service, forgotten. Indeed, we brought away everything.

"Of course we were very much rejoiced to get away from the Rock of Good Hope, even although our fortunes were yet very uncertain; still, it had been our rock of refuge and safety, and, in our thankfulness, we could not fail to cast upon it a look of tender regret at parting from it.

Together there the Dean and I had achieved many triumphs which were to us a source of great pride, and would always continue to be as long as we lived; while, on the other hand, if we had suffered many discomforts and sorrows, these would not, we knew, linger long in the memory.

Besides, on the Rock of Good Hope, and in the hut we were leaving, we had learned to know each other, and to love each other, and to be bound together by a strong bond of friendship, which, as it was formed in adversity, was not likely to be broken.

"But then, on the other hand, the prospect that loomed up ahead of us was not of a very encouraging description. 'Where were the savages taking us? what would they do with us?' were questions which kept haunting us all the time. We could see nothing clearly; and no matter what might happen in the end for our advantage, we must, in any case, live among these wild people for an indefinite time, subject to their savage caprices and savage and lawless ways of life.

"But we soon had to give up speculating about the prospect ahead, and had to let the Rock of Good Hope, and the hut, and the life we had led there, with its struggles and trials and triumphs, pa.s.s away as some vaguely remembered dream; for on we sped, with our caravan of sledges, over the frozen sea,--the dogs all lively, and galloping away with their bushy tails curled over their backs, and their heads up; their savage drivers crying to them, now and then, '_Ka-ka! ka-ka!_' and snapping their whips to keep them at a brisker run, and all the while talking to each other in a loud voice,--sometimes, as we could clearly understand, about ourselves, sometimes whether they should go off on a bear-hunt.

Occasionally one of the teams would scent a seal-hole, and away the dogs would rush towards it as hard as they could go, all the other teams following after, pell-mell; and, when they reached the hole, it was all the hunters could do, by whipping and shouting and scolding, to keep the teams from coming atop of each other, and getting into a snarl. Once this happened with two of the teams. The dogs all became tangled in each other's traces, the sledges got locked together, and the animals fell to fighting, one team against the other, in a most vicious manner.

"This was such a novel mode of travelling that we enjoyed it immensely, even although it was pretty cold and the journey was very long. It seemed strange to us to be thus wandering, without chart or compa.s.s, over the great ice-desert on the sea; for all around us was nothing but a great plain of whiteness, only broken here and there by an iceberg, which glittered like a great diamond in the bright sunshine.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Children of the Frozen Sea.]

"We must have gone at least sixty or seventy miles before we made a single halt; and then we came to the village where these savages lived.