North-Pole Voyages Part 12

Such was the state of things when one of the sailors went on deck. There was hanging in the rigging an old seal-skin bag containing the remnant of the ship's furs. Its ghostly appearance in ordinary darkness had been the occasion of much jesting. Now, to the excited imagination of the sailor, it pounded the mast like the gloved fist of a giant boxer, glowed with a ghastly light, and muttered to him an unearthly story. He did not stop to converse with it, but hastened below with the expression of his fears. His messmates laughed and jeered at his tale, but their merriment was but the whistling to inspire their own courage.

The morning came and so did Goodfellow, none the worse for his night's experience. The storm subsided, Hans killed three rabbits, they all tasted a little and felt better, and the seal-skin bag was never known from that time to utter a word. _Fears_ may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning! Dr. Kane devoutly remarks: "See how often relief has come at the moment of extremity; see, still more, how the back has been strengthened to its increasing burden, and the heart cheered by some unconscious influence of an unseen POWER."

CHAPTER XX.

DESERTERS.

HANS had been for some time promising the hungry company a deer. He had seen their tracks, and he was watching for them with a good rifle, a keen eye, and a steady hand. He came in on the evening of February twenty-second with the good news that he had lodged a ball in one at a long range, and that he went hobbling away. He was sure he should find him dead in the morning. The morning came and the game was found, having staggered, bleeding, only two miles. He was a n.o.ble fellow, measuring in length six feet and two inches, and five feet in girth. He weighed about one hundred and eighty pounds when dressed. The enfeebled men with difficulty drew him on board. His presence caused a thrill of joy, and his luscious flesh sent its invigoration through their emaciated frames.

The following Sunday, as Dr. Kane was standing on deck thinking of their situation, he lifted up his eyes toward a familiar berg, for many months shrouded in darkness, and saw it sparkling in the sunlight. The King of Day was not yet above the intervening hills, but he had sent his sheen to proclaim his coming. Glad as a boy whom the full mid-winter moon invites to a coasting frolic, he started on a run, climbed the elevations, and bathed in his refreshing rays.

During the month of February, Petersen, Hans, and G.o.dfrey had been sent out on the track of the Esquimo, but they returned and declared that Etah could not be reached. Their commander said, "Nay, it can!"

By the sixth of March the brig was again without fresh meat. The sick were once more suffering for it, and the well growing feeble. Hans, the resort in such emergencies, was given a light sledge, the two surviving dogs, and to him was committed the forlorn hope. His departure called forth from his commander a "G.o.d bless you!" and prayers followed him.

His story is simple and touching. He lodged the first night in the "wind-loved," forsaken, desolate, yet friendly hut of Anoatok. He slept as well as he could in a temperature fifty-three degrees below zero. The next night he slept in a friendly hut at Etah. The oft-tried feat was accomplished. But he found the Etahites lean and hungry. Hollow cheeks and sunken eyes spoke of famine. The skin of a young sea-unicorn, their last game, was all of food which remained to the settlement. They had even eaten their light and fire blubber, and were seated in darkness, gloomily waiting for the sun and the hunt. They had eaten, too, all but four of their ample supply of dogs.

They hailed the coming of Hans with a shout. He proposed to join them in a hunt, but they shook their heads. They had lost a harpoon and line in the attempt to take a walrus the day before. The ice was yet thick, and the huge monster in his struggles had broken the line over its sharp edge. Hans showed them his "boom," and bidding them come on, started for the hunting-grounds. Metek--Mr. Eider Duck--speared a fair-sized walrus, and Hans gave him five conical b.a.l.l.s in quick succession from a Marston rifle, and he surrendered at discretion.

The return of the hunters caused great joy in the city of Etah, whose two huts poured out their inhabitants to greet their coming, and aid in rendering due honors to the game itself. As usual they laughed, feasted, and slept, to awake, laugh, eat, and sleep again. Hans and his boom were great in their eyes, but the Kablunah, whose representative he was, rose before their vision as the glorious sun which scatters the long winter darkness.

Hans obtained a hunter's share, and his appearance on the deck of the "Advance," heralded by the yelping of the dogs, sent a thrill of joy through every heart. As Dr. Kane grasped his hand on the deck, and began to listen to his story, he exclaimed: "Speak louder, Hans, that they may hear in the bunks!" The bunks did hear, and feel too, as the good news came home to their hunger-wasted bodies in refreshing food.

As the commander had requested, Hans brought Myouk with him to a.s.sist in hunting. The smart young hunter was delighted to be with the white men, though his itching fingers would secrete cups, spoons, and other valuables, which were made to come back to their proper places by sundry cuffs and kicks, which, though perhaps not altogether pleasant of themselves, caused him to cuddle down in his buffalo at his master's feet like a whipped spaniel, and their relations grew daily more enjoyable.

Hans and Myouk made soon after an unsuccessful hunt. This made the fresh meat question come up again with its emphatic importance. The fuel question, too, was becoming more and more a cause of concern. The manilla cable had been chopped up and burned, and such portions of the brig as could be spared, and not destroy her sea-going value, had gone in the same way. Now the nine feet of solid ice in which she was imbedded seemed to say that she would never float again, so she might as well yield her planks to the fire. But to see her thus used went to the hearts of her gallant men.

On the nineteenth of March Hans was dispatched to the Esquimo, well supplied with the first quality of cord for their harpoons, and such other prompters to, and helps in, the walrus hunt as occurred to his commander. He would bless thereby and please these starving people, hoping that the blessing would return in the form of fresh walrus to him and his suffering men.

During the absence of Hans there were unusual and painful developments at the brig. William G.o.dfrey and John Blake had given Dr. Kane much trouble from the first. They were now evidently bent on mischief, and made constant watchfulness over them a necessity. Just as Hans left they feigned sickness, and were suspected of desiring rest and recruited strength for desertion. Their plan was believed to be to waylay Hans and get his sledge and dogs. Dr. Kane contrived so shrewdly to keep one of them at work under his eye, and the other in some other place, that they did not perceive his suspicions of them. One night Bill was heard to say that some time during the following day he should leave, and this was reported to the commander by a faithful listener. He was, of course watched, and at six o'clock was called to prepare breakfast. This he commenced doing uneasily, stealing whispers with John. Finally he seemed at his ease, and cooked and served the breakfast. Dr. Kane believed he meant to slip out the first opportunity, meet John on deck, and desert; he therefore armed himself, threw on his furs, made Bonsall and Morton acquainted with his plans, and crept out of the dark avenue and hid near its entrance. After an hour of cold waiting John crept out, grunting and limping, for he had been feigning lameness, looked quickly round, and seeing no one, mounted nimbly the stairs to the deck. Ten minutes later G.o.dfrey came out, booted and fur-clad for a journey. As he emerged from the tossut his commander confronted him, pistol in hand. He was ordered back to the cabin, while Morton compelled John's return, and Bonsall guarded the door preventing any one pa.s.sing out. In a few moments John came creeping into the cabin, awful lame and terribly exhausted in his effort to breathe a little fresh air on deck. He looked amazed as by the glare of the light he saw the situation.

The commander then explained to the company the offenses of the culprits, giving from the log-book the details of their plotting. He had prepared himself for the occasion, and Bill, the princ.i.p.al, was punished on the spot. He confessed his guiltiness, promised good behavior, and in view of the few men able to work, his hand-cuffs were removed and he was sent about his customary business. In an hour after he deserted. Dr.

Kane was at the moment away hunting, and his escape was not noticed until he was beyond the reach of a rifle ball.

The next two weeks were weary, anxious weeks, though the ever-watchful Hand tendered in good time occasion for hope. Six sea-fowl and three hares were shot by Petersen, and gave indispensable refreshment to the sick.

On the second of April, just before noon, a man was seen, with a dog-sledge, lurking behind the hummocks near the brig. Dr. Kane went out armed to meet him. It proved to be G.o.dfrey the deserter, who, seeing his old comrades, left the sledge and run. Leaving Bonsall with his rifle to make sure of the sledge, the doctor gave chase, and the fugitive, seeing but one following, stopped and turned around. He said he had made up his mind to spend the rest of his life with Kalutunah and the Esquimo, and that no persuasion nor force should prevent him. A loaded pistol presented at his head did, though, persuade him to return to the brig.

When he reached the gangway he refused to budge another step. Petersen was away hunting, Bonsall and Dr. Kane were so weak that they could barely stand, and all the other men, thirteen, were prostrated with the scurvy, so that they could not compel him by physical force. As the doctor was desirous not to hurt him, he left him under the guardianship of Bonsall's weapons while he went below for irons. Just as he returned to the deck G.o.dfrey turned and fled. Bonsall presented his pistol, which exploded the cap only. Kane seized a rifle, but being affected by the cold, it went off in the act of c.o.c.king. A second gun, fired in haste at a long range, missed its mark. So the rebel made good his retreat.

He had come back with Hans' sledge and dogs, and reported him sick at Etah from over exhaustion. But there was one consolation in the affair--the sledge was loaded with walrus-meat. The feast that followed revived the drooping men wonderfully. They ate, were thankful, and looked hopefully on the future.

G.o.dfrey was suspected of having come back to get John. The desertion of two well men when so many were sick would imperil the lives of all. The commander felt that the safety of the whole required the faithfulness of each man, he therefore explained the situation to the men and declared his determination to punish desertion, or the attempt to desert, by the "sternest penalty."

Hans became now the subject of anxiety. Some unfair dealing toward him on the part of G.o.dfrey was feared. It was thought but just that he should be sought, and, if in trouble, relieved. But who should go? Dr.

Kane finally resolved to go after him himself. Besides, the question of more walrus was again pressing.

April tenth the doctor was off. The first eleven hours the dogs carried him sixty-four miles, a most remarkable speed for their short rations.

While thus speeding along, far out on the floe, he spied a black speck in-sh.o.r.e away to the south. Was it some cheat of refraction? He paused, took his gun, and sighted the object, a device of old Arctic travelers to baffle refraction. It is an animal--yes, a man! Away went the dogs, ten miles an hour, while the rider cheated them with the shout, "Nannook! nannook!"--a bear! a bear! In a few moments Hans and the doctor were in grateful, earnest talk. He had really been sick. He had been down five days, and, as he expressed it, still felt "a little weak." He took his commander's place on the sledge and both went to the friendly hut at Anoatok, where hot tea and rest prepared both for the return to the brig.

CHAPTER XXI.

CLOSING INCIDENTS OF THE IMPRISONMENT.

HANS had his story of adventure while at Etah. But the most important item in his estimation, and that which might prove far reaching in its results, was the fact that a young daughter of Sunghu appointed herself his nurse during his sickness, bestowing upon him care, sympathy, and bewitching smiles. She had evidently done what G.o.dfrey tried in vain to do--she had entrapped him, at the expense, too, of a young Esquimo lady at Upernavik.

Hans had been successful in the hunt, and, besides what he had sent by G.o.dfrey, had deposited some walrus at Littleton Island. He was at once sent after this, and intrusted at the same time with an important commission. Dr. Kane had been for some time meditating another trip toward the polar sea. To do this he desired more dogs. The Esquimo had been reducing their stock to keep away starvation, but Kalutunah had retained four. These, and such others as he could find, Hans was authorized to buy or hire, at almost any price. This northern trip made, the next move might be toward the abandonment of the "Advance." She could never float, it was plain, for now, late in April, the open water was eighty miles south.

While Hans was gone, the sick, yet numbering two thirds of the whole, and in a measure all of the other third, except the commander, were without fresh food, as they had been for several days. Yet the sunshine and the occasional supplies had put them all on the improving list. They could sit up, sew or job a little, making themselves useful, and keeping up good spirits. But, hark! what sound is that breaking on the still, clear air. It comes nearer. Bim, bim, bim, sounds upon the deck. It is Hans, whose coming is ever like the coming of the morning. A rabbit-stew and walrus liver follow his arrival, and over such royal dainties good cheer pervades the family circle.

Hans brought Metek with him, and Metek's young nephew, Paulik, a boy of fourteen. Metek and Hans spoke sadly of the condition of the Esquimo settlements. We have seen that the escaping party found those of the south flying northward from starvation. The report now was that they had huddled together at Northumberland Island until that yielded to the famine, and now they had come farther north. It was a sad sight to see men, women, and children fleeing over the icy desert before their relentless foe. Yet, says Hans, they sung as they went, careless of present want, and thoughtless of the morrow. Many had died, and thus year by year these few, scattered, improvident people decline, giving earnest that in a few years all will be gone.

Though light-hearted, death did bring its sorrows to these benighted heathen. Kalutunah lost a sister; her body was sewed up in skins, not in a sitting posture but extended, and her husband, unattended, carried it out to burial, and, with his own hand, placed upon it stone after stone, making at once a grave and a monument. A blubber lamp was burning outside the hut while he was gone, and when he returned his friends were waiting to listen to his rehearsal of the praises of the dead, and to hear the expressions of his sorrow, while they showed their grief by dismal chantings.

If sorrow did not keep the deceased in the memory of the living, imposed self-denials did. The Angekok, or medicine man, as our Indians would call him, determines the penance of the mourner, who is sometimes forbidden to eat the meat of a certain bird or beast, under the idea that the spirit of the departed has entered into it; at another time the mourner must not draw on his hood, but go with uncovered head; or he may be forbidden to go on the bear or walrus hunt. The length of time of these penances may be a few months or a year. The reader will recollect the widow with her birds, who appeared so often in the narrative of the escaping party.

Though thus mourning for the dead, these Esquimo do not hold life as a very sacred trust. The drones and the useless are sometimes harpooned in the back merely to get rid of them. Infants are put out of the way when they greatly annoy their parents. Hans, on one of his returns from Etah, had a story to tell ill.u.s.trative of this. Awahtok, a young man of twenty-two, had a pretty wife--_pretty_ as Esquimo beauty goes--sister of Kalutunah, and about eighteen years old. Dr. Kane had regarded this couple with some interest, and the husband "stuck to him as a plaster."

Their first-born was a fine little girl. Well, Hans reported with becoming disgust and indignation that they had buried it alive under a pile of stones! When Dr. Kane next visited Etah he inquired of his friends Awahtok and his wife after the health of the baby, affecting not to have heard about its hard fate. They pointed with both hands earthward, but did not even shed the cheap, customary tear. The only reason reported for this murder was, that certain of its habits, common to all infants, were disagreeable to them!

Such is the mildest heathenism without Christianity. These and other similar gross sins were common among the South Greenland Esquimo, but have disappeared before the teachings of the Moravian missionaries.

Hans returned with the walrus he had deposited at Littleton Island, but he had made no progress in getting dogs, so Dr. Kane resolved to go to Etah for that purpose himself. Besides, having learned that G.o.dfrey was playing a high game there and defying capture, and also fearing his influence over the friendly relations of the Esquimo, he resolved to bring him back to the brig. Metek was just starting for Etah, so he invited himself to return with him, while Paulik, his nephew, remained with Hans. This arrangement effected, Dr. Kane was soon approaching Etah, perfectly disguised in the hood and jumper of Paulik, whose place on the sledge he occupied. The whole city ran out to meet their chief, among whom was the deserter, who shouted, and then threw up his arms with the most savage of them. He did not perceive his commander until a certain well understood summons entered his ear, and a significant pistol barrel gleamed in the sunlight near his eyes. He surrendered to this "boom" argument without discussion, and trotting or walking, he kept his a.s.signed place ahead of the sledge through the eighty and more miles to the brig, halting only at Anoatok. We hear nothing of further attempt at desertion.

A little later Dr. Kane made another visit to Etah. The hunt had become successful, and the famine was broken; all was activity and good cheer.

The women were preparing the green hides for domestic use. Great piles of walrus tushes were preserved for various useful purposes; some of these the children had selected as bats, and were engaged in merry sport. Their game was to knock a ball made of walrus bone up the slanting side of a hummock, and then, in turn, hit it as it rolled down, and so keep it from reaching the floe. They shouted and laughed as the game went on, much as our boys do over their sports.

Dr. Kane observed on this trip a way of taking walrus which has not, we think, been noted before. The monster at this early season sometimes finds the ice open near a berg only. He comes on the ice to sun himself; finds the change from the cold sea very agreeable, stays too long, the water freezes solid, and he cannot return. As he is unable to break the ice from above, he either waits for the current about the berg to open the ice again, or works himself clumsily to some already open place. In this helpless state the dogs scent him afar off, and the hunters, following their lead, make him an easy prey.

Hans came in on the twenty-fourth of April, accompanied by Kalutunah, Shanghee, and Tatterat, each of the Esquimo having sledges, and sixteen dogs in all. Hans had been sent to Cape Alexander, where Kalutunah was sojourning, to invite him to the brig in order to secure his aid in the proposed northern trip. He was fed well, and propitiated by a present of a knife and needles. He said, "Thank you," and added, "I love you well,"

which might uncharitably be taken to mean, "I love your presents well."

The result of the presents, feasting, and flattery was a start north by the three Esquimo, with Dr. Kane and Hans, all the dog teams accompanying. The old route across Kennedy Channel to the west side, and so north-poleward, was attempted. First came a very fair progress; then came the hummocks, over which, by the aid of their dogs, they clambered until thirty miles from the brig had been made. Then Shanghee burrowed into a snow-bank and slept, the cold being thirty degrees below zero; the rest camped in the snow and lunched. Just as a fair start was again made, the party neared a huge male bear in the act of lunching on seal.

In vain the doctor attempted to control either dogs or drivers.

"Nannook! nannook!" shouted the Esquimo as they clung to their sledges, and the dogs flew over the ice in wild and reckless pursuit. After an exciting chase the bear was brought to a halt and to a fight, which the rifles and spears soon terminated against bruin. A feast by dogs and men, and a night's halt on the ice followed, to Dr. Kane, at least, both vexatious and comfortless.

The next day he would press on to the north. But bear tracks were every-where, and the savage chiefs preferred hunting to exploring; besides, they had, they said, their families to support, and there was no use trying to cross the channel so high up. The English of it was, we are "going in" for the bears, and you may help yourself. A day more was spent in a wild hunt among the bergs, and the party returned to the brig.

A little later still another attempt was made to unlock further the secrets of the extreme icy north, this time by only Kane and Morton with a six-dog sledge, the explorers walking. This, the last effort of the kind, ended in the usual way, excepting some additions to the surveys.