Native Costume.
Native Costume.
In this instance of cordial reception by thenatives, the hand of a good and merciful Providence can be easily discovered. What if, at this time of our need, the natives had thrust us away from their dwellings, and refused us shelter for the night, or a protection from the storm? or if they had exhibited towards us the spirit of hostility and war? Augmented sufferings would have been added to our otherwise unhappy lot. There would have been no escape for us from the arctic region. But we found friends when we most needed them.
We were distributed among the natives in the following manner: four men and one officer were to constitute a company; and in this proportion we occupied our respective huts, lived with the families, and shared in their accommodations.
Compared with the first settlement, where we stopped for the first night in our travel, this one was quite respectable, numbering twenty or more huts.
We had no intention of making this settlement a permanent resting place for the winter, if by any means we could find a more southern locality. We cherished strong hope of being able to reach East Cape, and thus being taken off by some ship passing through the straits, before the approach of winter. Nor was there anytime to be lost towards completing such an arrangement as this.
One of the first things which we did, was to make known our wants to the head man of the settlement. So far as we were able, we conversed with him by signs, and thus endeavored to explain to him what we wished to do. He gave us to understand that it was impossible for us to travel down to East Cape this season of the year, and that the distance to the cape was very great, and it was therefore impossible to get there.
Not knowing our precise locality upon the coast, we could not tell whether the cape was three or five hundred miles from us. We concluded it would be safer to remain where we were than to venture upon such an uncertainty. It was afterwards ascertained that we were distant from East Cape about two hundred and fifty miles.
The head man gave us to understand, in his way, that there was a very great river to cross before we could get to East Cape, and that it could not be crossed now; and still further, if we should perish on the way, great ships (laloutoutlines) would come, kill him, and destroy all their huts.
On the whole, we judged that it was the desireof the head man that we should remain with him and his people, and live among them for the present; and nothing occurred in all our subsequent acquaintance with the natives in this settlement to remove this impression from our minds. It may be, however, that they anticipated some remuneration for their attention to us, which, by the way, they had a right to expect. This was not unlikely a motive which induced them to desire that we might live with them.
We sincerely hope the time may speedily come, when they shall be amply recompensed by our government for their kindness towardsthirty-three American seamen, whom they protected, clothed, and fed, during three quarters of a year.
No Prospect of reaching East Cape.—Painful Conviction.—The Province of Christian Faith.—The Wreck visited.—The Natives.—Hope unexpectedly revived.—Ship in Sight.—Comes near.—Signals from the Land.—No Assistance offered.—Sails down the Coast.—Indescribable State of our Minds.—Card in The Polynesian.
No Prospect of reaching East Cape.—Painful Conviction.—The Province of Christian Faith.—The Wreck visited.—The Natives.—Hope unexpectedly revived.—Ship in Sight.—Comes near.—Signals from the Land.—No Assistance offered.—Sails down the Coast.—Indescribable State of our Minds.—Card in The Polynesian.
The prospect of reaching East Cape for the present was at length abandoned. A conclusion was arrived at, from the necessity of our condition, which was full of disappointed hope, and which required an unusual degree of patient courage to sustain our minds under the painful conviction that we must, after all, spend the next three quarters of a year, if we should live, in the northern regions. How the mind of man becomes shaped and adjusted to meet certain conditions of his being! If viewed in the light of unavoidable necessity, we see the force and independence of mind grappling with adverse circumstances, thus proving its original superiority over all outward disadvantages. It is, however, the province ofChristianfaith in the providences of an all-wise God, which secures to the mindtrue reconciliation, imparts hope in adversity, and awakens unearthly joy in seasons of sorrow and disappointment.
The next day after our arrival at our new habitations, the whole company rested, and got somewhat recruited as to our bodies, and, not the least in our circumstances of anticipated captivity for months, our minds became partially settled that we must make the best of a common disaster and a common destiny.
The day following, preparations were made by ourselves, in connection with the natives and their dog teams, to visit the wreck. One of the first questions asked, and the principal one in which the natives were more interested than in any other, was, whether there was any rum at the wreck. A keg of spirits had been washed ashore, as before stated, and a part of it had been used, and the remainder was in the keg in the tent, stowed away with other articles from the wreck.
A difficulty was now apprehended. If the natives should find the keg of rum, and become intoxicated, as they probably would, serious and perhaps fatal consequences might take place. To avoid any fears of this sort, and remove all grounds of contention, the captain sent two of his men ahead, with orders to knock in the headof the rum keg. It was done as commanded; no further difficulty, therefore, could arise from this source.
Self-preservation prompted to this; but in a multitude of instances no less striking, where property, reputation, and even life itself are concerned, a like decision, to knock in the head of the rum keg, or break jugs and bottles, and pour the source of evil upon the ground, would be highly commendable, and fraught with the most happy results.
In due time we reached the wreck, and, as was expected, the natives began to search for spirits; but for their advantage, as well as ours, they found none. They sought every where for it, ransacked every nook and corner, hauled over wreck stuff, looked into barrels, knocked to pieces oil casks, &c., to find it, but all in vain.
It appeared, furthermore, as if the natives supposed they had arightto whatever they could lay their hands upon, and what they found among the wreck, or on shore, was a lawful prize. Several pieces of white and blue cotton cloth had washed ashore since the wreck was last visited; these the natives appropriated to their own use. A slate was found, and upon it we wrote the name of the ship, her captain, and where the crew could be found, and placed it in a prominentposition near the wreck, hoping that it might possibly meet the eye of some deliverer, though an event so much desired could now hardly be expected.
The company remained in the vicinity of the wreck until towards night, and then each man took with him a bag of bread, and, with the natives and their dog teams, we left for the settlement, which was about fifteen miles distant.
It was exceedingly hard to visit the scene of our recent disaster, and behold the desolation and end of the noble ship that had withstood so many storms and weathered so many gales, but now a promiscuous mass of broken timbers, planks, and spars; besides, her cargo thrown upon the beach. If possible, it was even harder to leave what remained of her behind, and to carry away a small quantity of provisions to eke out an existence which, under the most favorable circumstances, among the natives, must be most trying and painful. And then, again, all the provisions we expected to obtain from the wreck could last us but a few months, at the longest. If our lives, therefore, should be prolonged, we saw before us the only alternative of living as the natives did, being constant spectators of their extreme filthiness in person and habits, andsharing with them in the peculiarly offensive and disgusting character and preparation of their food.
The next day, the company remained in the settlement, wearied with the labor of the preceding day, and, the greatest calamity of all, oppressed in our minds, as we contemplated the future; and as we began to realize more and more what would probably be our destination for many long months to come.
"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick;" but hope revived—when well nigh abandoned and ready to expire, like the last flickerings of the lamp—hope revived imparts new life, and sends a thrill of joy through languishing minds. Thus the weak become strong, and the disheartened are animated and encouraged to put forth more earnest efforts. Hope revived under the circumstances in which these shipwrecked mariners were placed was like the introduction of light, comfort, and home into their wintry habitations. What intelligence more to be desired and sincerely asked for than the announcement of a sail in sight?
Think of them, as brooding over their anticipated doom; settling it, or having settled it in their minds, that their abode was doubtless fixed for the present; thoughts of home now and thenrushing into their minds with overwhelming force, or, it may be, with the only exception of their sleeping moments, never out of their minds; indeed, their very dreams shaded, colored, and made treacherously illusive with joyous meetings of companions, parents, relatives, and friends! Think of them at such a time as this, when the hope of deliverance had taken its lowest dip, like the wintry sun of the Arctic passing below the horizon, its light and comfort quite departing; so hope in the minds of this company of wrecked mariners had fallen beyond any reasonable expectation of deliverance.
Severe and terrific storms of wind, rain, hail, and snow had swept over the northern ocean, and ere this it was supposed that every ship had sought a more southern and genial clime.
What, then, was our unexpected and glad surprise, on the following day, when, amid the tumult and confusion, as well as the excitement of the natives, both in and around the huts, it was announced that asailwas in sight!
With all possible speed we hastened to a high cliff bordering the sea shore, and there we saw, indeed, what our eyes delighted to behold, and our bosoms swelled with grateful emotions to contemplate—a ship under sail, some ten or twelve miles distant, and standing in directlyfor the shore. As we looked, never before with more exhilarated spirits and reviving hope, on, on the vessel came, approaching nearer and nearer, until her davits were plainly seen, and men walking to and fro on deck. The ship now was not more than two miles distant. She came to, main yard hauled back, and lay in that position a quarter of an hour or more.
With these indications, all doubt had nearly or quite left our minds that the intentions of those on board were to take us off. Still, no boat was lowered, nor was there any answering signal. This surely was mysterious, and betokened fear. And yet could it be that within so short a distance no deliverance would be extended? It was contrary to reason to believe so; the thought must not be cherished a single moment. We should soon tread a friendly deck, and share again a sailor's home on the deep. Thus whispered hope, suddenly revived in all our hearts.
But in order to make the case doubly sure, and remove all suspicion in the minds of those on board that those on shore were not all natives, two colors, one white and the other blue, were raised upon poles to the height of full thirty feet. It was plainly seen by those on board, as subsequent testimony from the officersabundantly proved. Besides, these were signals of civilization, of common brotherhood, of pressing emergency, and strongly excited hope. But, alas! they met with no response from that vessel's deck.
Lest there should be a lurking distrust in the minds of the captain and officers of the ship that these signals were a mere trickery or device of the natives to get on board of the ship, or for the ship to send a boat ashore, the company on shore separated themselves from the natives, so that with the aid of a glass, or even with the naked eye, a distinction in manner, movement, and dress could be easily seen by those on shipboard. This expedient also failed.
As another resort to attract attention, a fire was kindled; and yet the rising and curling smoke met with no cordial response, no friendly salutation; no boat came to our rescue. Shortly after, the ship filled away, passed down the coast, and was seen no more.
We felt, what no language can adequately express, that this was an instance of cold, deliberate, and even infamous neglect. Could it be they were ignorant of the ordinary laws of humanity, and wilfully misconstrued the most obvious signs of needy and suffering seamen? Instances have, indeed, occurred, in which vesselsat sea have been known to pass near shipwrecked mariners, and yet they were not discovered. They were upon a low raft, perhaps, or had no means of raising a signal, and were therefore passed. The imploring cries and stretched-out hands of the sufferers were alike unheeded; not from any intentional neglect, by any means, but simply because they were not seen from the vessel's deck.
It is sad to contemplate an oversight even like this, in which the hopes and lives of a number of unfortunate seamen were suspended upon the bare possibility of being recognized by the passing ship.
How many, many have doubtless perished in mid ocean, whose eyes beheld again and again the approaching and departing sail, whose hearts alternately rose in hope and sunk in despondency, and yet at last died without the precious boon of deliverance!
Other instances have, however, occurred, of a far different character. Suffering, exhausted, and dying mariners, either upon wrecks or rafts, have been left uncared for and abandoned by the passing ship.
If the records of the past did not furnish conclusive evidence of the truth of the foregoing statement, it would seem that the bare announcementof the fact would be sufficient not only to appall the hardest heart, and cover with deep and lasting shame the perpetrators of such a deed, but to place it in the frightful category of those events absolutely beyond both human experience and credulity.
Revelation informs us that "the sea shall give up its dead;" so will there be a resurrection both of the good and bad in human conduct. A virtuous and benevolent act performed upon the ocean will never be concealed. The winds, as they sweep over its surface, will declare it. And so, on the other hand, an act of inhumanity, capriciousness, cruelty, or turning a deaf ear to the expostulations and entreaties of the dependent and suffering, will never slumber. The mighty waves, as they traverse the great deep, will speak in thunder tones that the deed lives.
The hopes ofthirty-threepersons in the cold and dreary region of the north, in the province of perpetual ice and snow, were suddenly and unexpectedly revived by the near approach of a ship within trumpet hail; signals of wrecked mariners on shore, the ship remaining more than fifteen minutes with her yards back, and those on board beholding the demonstrations of intense anxiety of those on shore that deliverance might be sent to them, and yet not one motionmade for our rescue! The ship is soon on her way, and out of sight. If hope was ever suddenly and unexpectedly revived, it was then; if hope was ever suddenly cast down to its lowest depths, it was then.
Nor could our eyes hardly believe what we were beholding. Was it all illusion, dream, or magic? No; it was a reality. We had been tantalized. The cup of the greatest earthly blessing had been held to our lips, and yet we were not allowed to drink of it, but it was dashed to the earth in our very presence. The departure of that ship was the departure of mercies to us, to procure which we would have been willing to make the greatest earthly sacrifice.
What a day of joy and sorrow was that to us! How many hitherto downcast countenances were lighted up! What words of good cheer passed from one to another! How many hearts bounded with thankfulness and gratitude at the thought of so speedy a deliverance!
Our families and friends at home were thus far ignorant of the distressing scenes through which we had passed, and also of our present condition; but ere long, as we believed, on our arrival at the islands, we should communicate to them the wreck of our ship, the loss of the voyage, and the fortunate rescue of so many of our number from a watery grave.
We felt that we had much for which to be thankful to God, and that soon we should be able to send to anxious ones at home the happy intelligence that we were among the saved.
Such is hope when strongly excited. It ennobles and invigorates the human soul; it adorns the horizon with the gorgeous drapery of morning clouds; it paints the evening with the glories of departing day; it forgets the past; it is the elixir of life itself; without it man lives only in the present, and anticipates no future good.
But that was a day of sorrow too! It seemed as if we should sink into the very earth, and that we were unable to stand, with such a load and pressure upon our spirits. We were crushed both in body and mind. Contending emotions of indignation, abandoned hope, unmitigated grief, and poignant sorrow, swayed and strongly agitated every bosom. The whole company wept like children.
It may be asked, "Why did not the officers and crew avail themselves of the canoes of the natives, and go off to the ship?" It is true there were several canoes near the shore, but the natives were unwilling they should be touched; from what cause we could not understand. Our acquaintance with them, and theirs with us, had thus far been very slight; and it may be theyhad serious suspicions in their minds that we designed some evil towards them. They were doubtless governed by some notions, in refusing us the aid of their canoes, in keeping with their half-civilized or barbarous natures.
The captain and others offered to hire the canoes, at the same time presenting to them some little articles they had with them, as a pocket or jack knife, but all to no purpose. They resisted every proposition.
The officers and some of the crew were so anxious to get to the ship that they proposed twice to the captain to take forcible possession of the canoes, and follow the ship; and they would have done it, and risked all the consequences, had the captain approved of it. He, however, opposed this plan, on the ground that though a few might succeed in reaching the ship, yet those who were left behind, being entirely unarmed, would probably be instantly killed, and, therefore, it was bad policy to expose the lives of a majority of the company for the safety of only a few. Or, it may be, in their first efforts to seize the canoes, and before they could even get them into the water, the natives would fall upon us, and massacre the whole company on the spot. And still farther, we were wholly in their power, both for the presentand for months to come, and without their kindness and good will we had no sort of chance for life; therefore the least misunderstanding or violent collision between the parties might lay the foundation for causes which would result, if not now, yet in some future time, in the destruction of the whole company. These considerations, suggested by the captain, dissuaded his men from attempting a forcible seizure of the canoes of the natives; and, therefore, for the good of the whole, that means whereby a few possibly might have reached the ship, was given up.
We leave this painful reminiscence of the past by copying fromThe Polynesian, published at Honolulu, November 19, 1853, the following
"The undersigned, late master of the whale ship Citizen, of New Bedford, feels it a duty he owes alike to the living and the dead to make known the following circumstances.
"On the 25th of September, 1852, in the Arctic Ocean, in lat. 68° 10´ N., the ship Citizen was wrecked, and five men were lost; himself and the balance of the crew reached the shore, without any thing but the clothes they stood in. It was very cold, and they kept alive by burning casks of oil that had floated ashore from the wreck;that they lived near the wreck until October 3, when the whale ship Citizen, of Nantucket, Captain Bailey, hove in sight; they immediately hoisted a flag upon a pole thirty feet high, and made every signal they could of distress; that the ship at first stood in as though she saw them, then hauled up and shivered in the wind, and afterwards filled away and left them. She was so close at one time that those on shore could see her davits. The feelings with which they saw the vessel leave them are indescribable, as no hope was left them but to endure the rigors of a winter's residence in that cold, bleak, and desolate region, if they should escape the tomahawk of the savage. That their signals were seen by Captain Bailey there can be no doubt, as Captain B. reported seeing his signals last fall. The mate of Captain Bailey's vessel reported to Captain B. that he could see sailors on shore, and requested a boat to go to their relief, which Captain B. refused.
"Through the inhumanity of Captain Bailey, we were compelled to remainnine monthsin that barren region, destitute of clothing and food, other than the natives could supply us from their scanty stores of blubber and furs. During this time, two of the crew perished from cold, and left their bones to bleach among the snows ofthe north, as a monument of 'man's inhumanity to man.'
"The natives were humane, kind, and hospitable to us, though wretchedly poor.
Thomas H. Norton."
Hunting the Polar Bear.
Hunting the Polar Bear.
Our sad and desolate Feelings after the Departure of the Ship.—What we should soon witness of Arctic Winter.—The Wreck visited from Time to Time.—Provisions transported to the Settlement.—The Weather.—Whales near Shore.—Severe Gale of Wind.—Fall of Snow.—Ocean frozen over.—Sudden Introduction of Winter, and its Dreariness.—Not to be described.—The Sun falling, Nights lengthening.—Disappearance of the Sun.—Long Night.—How we passed our Time.—Confined to the Huts.—Singing.—Neither Book nor Chart, nor Writing Materials, except Pieces of Copper.—Hope of Liberation another Year.—Captain Norton's Method of keeping Time.—The Razor.—Our Clothing.—Provisions getting low.—Natives both eating and stealing ours.—A new Chapter.—Commenced living on Blubber with the Natives.—Native Stock diminishing.—Winters in the Arctic vary.—The native Manner of capturing the Whale.—Preparing their Food.—Native Bread.—Description of their Huts.—Their peculiar Locality.—Their Method of lighting and warming them.—The Filthiness of the Natives.
Our sad and desolate Feelings after the Departure of the Ship.—What we should soon witness of Arctic Winter.—The Wreck visited from Time to Time.—Provisions transported to the Settlement.—The Weather.—Whales near Shore.—Severe Gale of Wind.—Fall of Snow.—Ocean frozen over.—Sudden Introduction of Winter, and its Dreariness.—Not to be described.—The Sun falling, Nights lengthening.—Disappearance of the Sun.—Long Night.—How we passed our Time.—Confined to the Huts.—Singing.—Neither Book nor Chart, nor Writing Materials, except Pieces of Copper.—Hope of Liberation another Year.—Captain Norton's Method of keeping Time.—The Razor.—Our Clothing.—Provisions getting low.—Natives both eating and stealing ours.—A new Chapter.—Commenced living on Blubber with the Natives.—Native Stock diminishing.—Winters in the Arctic vary.—The native Manner of capturing the Whale.—Preparing their Food.—Native Bread.—Description of their Huts.—Their peculiar Locality.—Their Method of lighting and warming them.—The Filthiness of the Natives.
The next day after the departure of the ship, as well as the departure of our highest earthly hopes,—hopes which had been excited in us immeasurably beyond any former experience,—we remained principally in our huts, having neither desire nor energy, heart nor hope, to go abroad, but what was most fitting in our present condition, and future prospects, to indulge in sad and melancholy reflections upon the few past hours.There was a singular solitariness pervading all our minds, such as we never felt before. We were now painfully sensible that the ice, snow, and cold, peculiar to this region of the north, such as we never witnessed before, would ere long form around us an impassable barrier, frightful even to contemplate, and through which there would be to us no present egress.
What remained of provisions still at the wreck, and other articles which may have washed ashore, reason and the instinct of self-preservation taught us, it was our duty at once to secure. Accordingly, the day following, the whole company were again assembled, and went to the wreck. We made a division of the provisions, especially of bread, between the different parties occupying different huts, and each party transported its respective share to the settlement. The natives were present with the crew during the day, and ever ready to appropriate to their own benefit whatever they saw fit to take, or were disposed to lay hold of.
There were several casks of molasses which came ashore; and since these could not be very well divided at the wreck, it was resolved to construct a species of sled, upon which a whole cask could be drawn to the settlement at one time. This we did, though it required many tedioushours and severe labor. By the aid of ropes, and a combination of all our efforts, we succeeded in getting all the molasses to the huts. We managed in the same way with a number of barrels of flour which came ashore about this time. Several tin plates and basins were also found on the beach, and these answered an excellent purpose, as they afterwards proved; because in them we mixed our flour and molasses together, and thus made very luscious pancakes. We usually baked them outside of the huts, as no fire was allowed within, except very rarely; nor were we permitted to make any outside when the wind was in a northerly direction, lest the smoke should frighten away the seals from the shore and region. So reasoned the natives.
We continued to visit the wreck and obtain whatever we could, until the weather became so severe, and the traveling so bad, that it was no longer safe to expose ourselves.
After having gathered all the provisions we could find at the wreck, such as bread, flour, and molasses, we judged that with economy, and with ordinary allowance, it would last the ship's company three or four months. But the great drawback which we apprehended, and which we found to be true, was, the natives acted as if they had as good a right to our provisions as we hadourselves. They not only joined us in eating what belonged to us, but they took what they wanted, both openly and secretly.
The weather continued quite moderate, we should judge, for this region of the north, not intensely cold, still gradually increasing, until the 17th of November. While the sea was open, whales were very plenty. They came near the shore where our settlement was located, and sported among the breakers, and in some instances, would rest their huge heads upon the rocks, just on the surface of the water.
About this time, a very severe gale of wind blew from the north, more furious and winterish than had occurred since our abode in this region, accompanied with a heavy fall of snow. The wind was so violent that it prostrated several native huts. This storm was doubtless a forerunner of winter indeed, and which brought from the remote wastes of the Northern Sea vast quantities of ice, which, in connection with that which had been forming along the coast, closed up the whole ocean as far as the eye could reach. Indeed, all water entirely disappeared.
This was an uncommon and singular feature in our experience of an arctic winter. It thus began in earnest to put on the sterner and more terrible attributes of dreariness and desolation.There was something profoundly dreadful and awe-inspiring in the giant march of a polar winter, prodigious in its increase of snow and the vast accumulation of ice. It was upon a scale of operation so sublime and awful as to baffle all human description, and throw wholly into the shade, as absolutely insignificant, the intensest winter ever experienced in our native country. It is utterly impossible to give to any one who has not shared somewhat in the tremendous reality of the scene a just conception of it.
The sun was now falling rapidly, and showing its bright disk only a few hours above the horizon. The nights were very long, and the days were becoming shorter and shorter. It seemed as if the luminary of day was indisposed to throw abroad his own rays upon a region of the earth's surface where either human or animal life could with so much difficulty exist. In a few weeks, the sun had wholly disappeared, though his track of light could be distinctly traced in his course below a section of the horizon; but still it was becoming fainter and fainter, until total darkness and a long night of nearly a month enveloped the outward world, as well as enshrouded our own minds in indescribable gloom and sadness.
Our readers may inquire how we passed ourtime during our detention among the natives, and especially during the coldest of the weather, or during the long night of polar darkness. When the thermometer, during the depth of winter, would doubtless have indicated scores of degrees less than zero, we rarely ventured forth out of the huts. But far otherwise with the natives. They would go out and travel from settlement to settlement, even in the coldest weather. At times, however, they would return from their winter excursions somewhat frost-bitten. We also became, in a measure, accustomed to the intense cold, and being clothed in the garments of the natives, consisting wholly of skins and furs, we could endure a great degree of cold.
If there was any outward relief to be found to our minds during the long nights of the arctic, and the entire absence of the sun for several weeks, it consisted in the peculiar and uncommon brilliancy which marked the course of the moon in those clear skies.
Nor was this all. The aurora borealis there is seen in all its native beauty and grandeur. It illumined the sky with a light but little inferior to that of moonlight. It would from time to time shoot up and spread itself over the whole northern horizon, and with its sparkling scintillations and brightly-colored coruscations, it wouldform a splendid arch over our heads. And then, again, as the advancing column of warriors rushes into battle, so the bright line above us, with its moving front and wheeling battalions, would seem to change its hue and position, and thus prepare for a fresh onset.
The aurora borealis of the arctic and polar region is one of nature's grandest and most sublime scenes ever beheld by mortals.
As we were confined within the huts of the natives during a greater part of our abode with them, and as nothing particular occurred demanding our exposure out of doors, we had sufficient time to sleep, if sleep we could. To pass away time was extremely hard and irksome. Its wheels rolled slowly and heavily along. Some of us would sing to the natives, which tended not only to divert and encourage our own minds, but to please them. We found, however, they were wonderfully pleased with our singing, and so much interested were they in it, that nothing would satisfy them unless some one of us was singing to them. Thus they laid an oppressive task upon us, which we were not able to perform. What we commenced, therefore, as a sort of pastime, in order to while away tedious hours, days, and months, finally became, through the constant importunity of the natives, a grievous burden to us.
We had neither book nor chart of any description in our possession, with which to divert or instruct our minds. We had nothing upon which to write any event or fact, except small pieces of copper, and a few stray leaves which we happened to find in the huts of the natives. Our time, as all must see, was spent comparatively in a most listless and unprofitable manner; it was simply the endurance of life, and the prolonged hope that another year, if we should live to see it, would bring to us the day of deliverance.
Captain Norton kept, by the aid of a piece of twine, in which he tied knots, an account of every day, from the time of the wreck until our rescue at East Cape, with the single exception of only one knot too many, which he supposed he must have added during the long night.
The only razor, which was a great favorite with the company, and which we frequently used to the best of our ability, without either soap or brush, was an ordinary jackknife. It was necessary to keep our beards trimmed within proper limits; otherwise our breath, even in the huts, and especially when exposed to the air outside, would reduce them to a mass of solid ice.
These two articles, viz., the twine and the knife, were about all the significant and expressive mementoes which we brought with us fromour arctic quarters. These, however, were sufficient to bring most distinctly and vividly to our minds a painful episode in our ocean life.
The clothing with which we were furnished by the natives, and without which we must have perished, was composed of skins and furs. We dressed as the natives did. An observer could have seen no difference in this respect between us and them. Our shoes, pants, and a kind of jacket, and caps, were wholly of skins, with the hair inside, and then over these another dress, with the hair outside. Thus clothed, we were protected from the keen, piercing air—a protection secured to us which no other substitute could provide.
About the 1st of January, in the depth of winter, we began to perceive that nearly all the provisions we obtained from the wreck were about gone. The natives had shared with us in the several huts to a considerable extent in consuming what belonged to us. They were very fond of our flour, molasses, and bread. They wanted to eat what we ate, and when they could not get it by fair play, they would indulge in their natural propensity, and steal it.
What we greatly feared was now coming upon us. A new chapter in our history began to open. The food of the natives must henceforth be for our support. To their credit, however, be it said,there appeared no disposition on their part to confine us down to a mere pittance, while they themselves had their usual allowance. What they had was freely offered to us, and both parties fared about the same while food lasted. Their supply of provisions for the winter, so far as we could judge, was not large; but now the addition of thirty-three persons to their number soon diminished their usual stock.
Winters even in the arctic are variable, as we learned from the natives; some were very severe, and other less so. We ascertained that an entire settlement to the north of the one in which we lived, and north of the wreck, perished a few years before in consequence of the intense cold, and the want of provisions.
Some idea perhaps may be entertained by the reader of the principal kind of food the natives eat, and what we lived upon for months while with them.
As the whale approaches quite near the shore, the natives are not greatly exposed by following him to a great distance in their canoes. They take their own time and opportunity for killing the whale. Both men and women are in the canoes on such occasions. It is regarded by them as a family affair.
They go sufficiently near the whale to throw a harpoon into his body. Their harpoons are somewhat different from ours, yet in principle they are precisely the same. When they have thrown one or two irons into the whale, they cast overboard two air-tight and inflated seal skins attached to the lines. Every canoe in pursuit of whales has two skins of this sort. If the whale is disposed to turn flukes and go down, he must of course carry with him these full blown skins. The lines are very strong, being made of walrus skin. When the whale makes his appearance again, he is struck by another canoe, and two more seal skins are attached to his body. Thus they go on fastening irons into his body, and impeding his course by any number of seal skins, until he is wearied out, and then they go up to him and lance him. Whales have been picked up, by ships and boats, having several seal skins attached to them. One whale was found, several years since, which hadtwenty-eightfull-blown seal skins trailing after him.
Having captured the whale and drawn him ashore, they then proceed to the work of cutting him up, and stowing him away for future use. Both the blubber and entrails are deposited in aplace together, especially prepared for the purpose. The place is a circular cavity, in the form of a cellar under ground, from five to eight feet deep, and with varied diameter, from three to five feet. These depositories are placed along shore, some distance apart, most convenient for receiving the whale when taken. In this cellar they deposit not only the whale blubber and its intestines, but also the blubber of the walrus and seal, and occasionally a deer is thrown in, with all that appertains to it, except its skin and perhaps its feet. The whole is thus mingled together in due proportions, and eaten by the natives with no further change in the promiscuous and offensive elements than what time itself would produce.
It was from such storehouses as these that the natives drew out their chief support for the winter, and nearly for the whole year. It is quite impossible to define this compound, and even if we could it would answer no good purpose; for with us it is profoundly obnoxious even to think of it. Absolute necessity—the simple fact of an existence, compelled us to live upon such qualities of food, compared with which our hogs have dainties, and luxuriate upon the fat of the land.
There were, however, some exceptions. Now and then a fresh seal was caught, a bear, a walrus,or a deer brought in. But whatever other good qualities the food might have had, it was all eaten raw; at least this was the case with the more northern settlements, and particularly the one in which we spent most of the winter. The natives farther south exhibited some slight improvement in the manner of preparing their food; yet on the whole, the difference was very small, and not worth mentioning.
At the time of our meals, if they can be called such, all the members of the hut would gather around a large dish, or tray, or trough, as much like the ordinary hog's trough as it could well be, and then each one would either help himself to what there was in it, with his hands and fingers, or receive his piece of blubber from the head man of the hut. In this manner the natives took their meals. From the necessity of our condition we had to conform in a measure to this foul and disgusting custom, to say nothing of the filthy nature of the food; we were compelled to eat or starve.
The bread used among the natives was made by boiling a vine, which they find on the ground in those places where the snow melts off during summer. This vine is somewhat bitter. They make a practice of collecting it during the summer months. After it is thoroughly boiled, theypack it away in seal skins for future use. This is all the bread they have.
A brief description of the huts of the natives may not be out of place in this connection.
The huts are generally round, differing in size in proportion to the family, and averaging, perhaps, from twelve to thirty feet in diameter. The lower part of the hut, and to the height of four or five feet, is well secured with upright stakes, situated a few feet apart, and fastened to each other by cords of walrus skin. The huts, and especially those where we were located during the winter, were not made partly underground, as was the case with some we saw in the direction of East Cape, but so constructed on the surface of the ground as to be easily taken down and removed.
From the lower, or upright part, the roof extended in an oval form to the height of ten or twelve feet. At the termination of the top, or apex, there is an opening, which is closed or otherwise, according to the state of the weather. This opening affords about all the egress to the smoke of the lamps and fire, when made in the huts. It is very rarely, however, that fire is made in the huts.
The covering of the huts is usually of walrus skins, and impermeable to water. There is generally but one door to the hut, which is somewhat smaller than ordinary doorways.
The interior of the hut is divided into two principal rooms, or apartments, one of which may be called the eating room, and the other the sleeping room. The sleeping apartment is separated from the other by a temporary screen, which can be easily drawn aside or gathered up. The sleeping apartment is again subdivided into smaller sections, to suit the convenience of the family. The partitions are of walrus or deer skins, as a matter of course. These rooms are much warmer than one would naturally expect to find in this cold region of country.
The bedsteads (so to speak) are the skins of walruses, stretched upon and fastened to the tops of stakes about one foot from the ground, under which a bedding of coarse rushes is placed.
The pillow, or that upon which the head may rest, is made by drawing the walrus skin over one end of a stick, or log.
The peculiarlocalityof the huts or settlements is another consideration deserving a passing notice. The natives select the bleakest spot in the region for their settlements, where the wind blows without any obstruction. They, therefore,avoid all shelter behind hills, or cliffs, or in valleys. In placing their huts in such exposed localities, as for example, upon a plain, or level, near the sea shore, their purpose is to secure protection from the drifting snow, which otherwise, were they in the lee of some hill, or rising ground, or in a valley, would cover them up, and overwhelm them. Besides, the huts being circular, the wind and snow have opportunity of circulating in such a manner as generally to leave a clear space of several feet or more around the hut.
Notwithstanding all the precautions of the natives to avoid the drifting snow, still it was so deep at times upon a level, that when passing along, and even quite near the huts, we could not discern the tops of them, and should not have known that we were in their immediate vicinity, had it not been for tracks we discovered in the snow, or from the barking of the dogs.
The lamps are in the form of a hollow, circular dish, somewhat in the shape of a bowl, made of clay. This vessel is filled with seal's blubber, and around the edge of the lamps inside, is placed a row of moss of fine quality, obtained from the mountains. This moss is set on fire, and by its heat the blubber in the vessel is convertedinto oil, which in turn feeds the moss, and thus good light is obtained. Two or three such lamps in a hut would afford considerable heat.
The smoke, however, which proceeds from them is immense, and exceedingly offensive. It is so thick, that every article in the hut is covered and blackened with it. When one comes to clear air and breathes, there will be seen a volume of darkened vapor going forth from his nostrils and mouth.
These lamps are burning nearly all the time, and especially when the days are short, and during the long night of darkness in midwinter.
Neither the smoke from the lamps, nor the quality of food we had to eat, nor the manner of eating it, nor constantly observing the filthy habits of the natives, was all the degradation we felt and experienced.
With the strictest propriety it can be said the natives were loaded with vermin; and yet as indifferent, apparently, to such a condition, as if it were the most trivial circumstance in the world. Indeed, they appeared to enjoy the presence of the innumerable hosts that swarmed in all parts of their huts. Their persons, garments, skins in the huts, sleeping apartments, &c., were literally alive with them. The misery of such a state we have neither words nor heart to attempt to describe.