became colder and the ice thicker. One day a heavy gale arose, and the
ship tossed about so among the icebergs and the floating cakes that
her escape from being crushed was marvelous. Captain Kane, who was
a very ingenious man, devised a method of avoiding this danger from
ice crushing. His plan was to attach the vessel to an iceberg and let
her float after it, for there is always open water around a berg. The
plan sounded very simple, but Kane had not reckoned on the nature of
icebergs. After eight hours of hard work the anchors were fastened, but
before the men had time to breathe freely, a few crackling sounds were
heard and pieces of ice the size of walnuts fell on the deck like hail.
The sailors had just time to cast off from the berg when it fell, with
a crash, into the water around them.
Not long after this the _Advance_ became so firmly fastened in the ice
that they could not push her in any direction. The party then left the
brig and explored the country around, traveling forty miles, and at
last climbing to the top of an iceberg, a height of eleven hundred feet
above the sea. On every side, as far as the eye could reach from this
great elevation, spread out a solid sea of ice.
It was now September, and the temperature fell below freezing. It
seemed certain that the _Advance_ could not be freed from the ice until
the next summer, and the explorers accordingly prepared to pass the
winter there. They succeeded in dragging the vessel and wedging it
in between two islands. In this harbor, known as Rensselaer bay, the
stanch little _Advance_ was frozen solidly in, never to be released.
VII. WINTER IN RENSSELAER HARBOR
1853–1854
The Arctic winter had set in. By the middle of September the
thermometer had fallen to 14° and the ice was thickening fast. The
long Arctic night was upon the explorers. During that first winter in
Rensselaer harbor, the sun was below the horizon one hundred and twenty
days, and ninety of these days were totally dark; for the remaining
thirty days a faint light like our twilight glimmered during a part of
every twenty-four hours.
During the time of darkness little exploring can be done. Explorers are
obliged to stay on or near their ship and amuse themselves as best they
may until the sun shines again.
Can you fancy a night which lasts as long as ninety of our days? Think
of not seeing the sun for more than three months! These men on the
_Advance_ suffered from a cold such as we know nothing about, and were
often hungry too. Many of them became ill.
Dr. Kane did everything in his power to buoy up their spirits. He was
wise enough to know that, if his men had nothing to do, they would
become homesick and despairing; so he planned work for all. Some made
clothing and boots of the furs and skins they had collected; others
made sledges and rope out of hides, or patched up corners of the brig
with moss to prevent the cold from entering.
Dr. Kane himself trained the dogs for the sledge journeys. He had
ten beautiful Newfoundland dogs which he harnessed to a low, light
sled called the “Little Willie.” In a short time these gentle, strong,
intelligent animals carried Kane on journeys around the ship with
ease. He drove them two abreast, in teams of four or six, guiding them
entirely by his voice.
With the Eskimo dogs, Kane was obliged to use other means. Eskimo dogs
are not easily managed. They are near relatives of the wolf, and share
the wolf’s nature. They are driven in teams of ten or twelve, and must
be guided mainly by the whip. Dr. Kane had to use a whip with a lash
six yards long, and a handle only sixteen inches in length. It required
a sort of “sleight of hand” movement to swing this long lash and hit
the right dog with it. Dr. Kane found this driving very lively exercise.
[Illustration: AN ESKIMO DOG TEAM.]
Sometimes Kane wanted to travel with a heavier load than the dogs could
draw. For this purpose he used a larger sledge, thirteen feet long and
four feet wide, upon which he could carry fourteen hundred pounds of
baggage. This sledge was called the “Faith,” and nine men were often
harnessed to it. Each man wore a shoulder belt or, as it was called, a
“rue-raddy.” A walrus-skin trace attached this rue-raddy to the sledge.
In this way heavy loads of provisions were drawn over the ice. Kane
stored these supplies along the route that he intended to take as soon
as the sun should shine again. By thus sending provisions ahead and
burying them, Kane hoped to be able to make the journey without fear of
starving; for his whole party could never have carried enough at once
to last during the time he expected to be gone.
On long expeditions where the men were obliged to remain away from the
ship all night, each man carried his bed with him. An Arctic bed is a
bag made of fur, into which one crawls, covering up all save one’s nose.
On one occasion some of the men delayed in returning from their trip,
and it was feared that they were lost. After waiting twenty days for
them to return, Kane harnessed four of his best Newfoundland dogs
to the “Little Willie” and started out to search for his missing
companions. He took but one man with him. The ice was full of cracks
and very dangerous. The dogs galloped swiftly along; whenever they came
to a fissure, over it they leaped and over flew the sledge also, simply
by reason of its rapid movement. At length the party came to a fissure
so wide that the dogs could not leap across it. They were going too
fast to stop or turn aside, and dogs and sledge were thrown into the
water. The two men, who had been running beside the sledge, quickly
cut the harness from the dogs. The faithful animals, freed from the
traces, sprang to the ice, and with their intelligent help the sledge
was dragged out.
Kane and his companion were wet to the skin with icy cold water, and
the temperature was below zero. What could prevent men and dogs from
freezing? But not a moment was wasted in thinking about what might
happen. They all started on a run for solid ice, and they ran so fast
that by the time a safe place was reached, they were quite warm.
Several days later they came upon the friends they were seeking. The
return to the ship was made more easily, although, while leaping a
fissure, one unlucky man was thrown into the water. The rest pulled him
out, none the worse for his cold bath.
The men on the _Advance_ were delighted to see Kane and their lost
comrades again. They rejoiced because every one was safe. They had also
another reason for happiness, for the dreary night was passing away,
the twilight was growing longer and brighter, and day――a day as long as
the night――was coming. Soon after this Dr. Kane climbed to the top of a
high hill to see the sun. It was a hard climb, but who would not have
taken it for a first sight of the sun, after a night so long?
Each day the sun came and stayed longer, and with the sun came warmer
weather. At last the sun rose so high in the heavens that it could not
sink below the horizon at all. Then it shone, not only all day, but
also all night.
VIII. THE ESKIMOS
1854
One morning in the spring, the deck watch ran into Dr. Kane’s cabin,
crying, “People hallooing ashore!” Dr. Kane hurried to the deck, and
through the gloom saw strange figures all around the harbor. Though
it was April, the sun had not yet risen high in the sky, and in the
twilight these odd figures seemed to be waving weapons.
Kane soon found that these people were the native Eskimos, and that
they were tossing their arms wildly about, as if in great excitement.
It is no wonder that they were excited, for they had never seen a white
man before; yet they showed no fear, and one of them came close to Kane.
This Eskimo was named Metek. He stood a head taller than Dr. Kane, and
was well built and strong, with a dark skin and black, piercing eyes.
Metek wore booted trousers of white bearskin. At the toe the boot ended
with the claw of the animal. His coat, or jumper, was of white and blue
fox fur, and a hood of the same fur was on his head. Around his neck
was tied a dirty, greasy strip of deerskin. At first the white men
thought this an ornament, Metek was so careful of it. Later, Dr. Kane
found that it was tied closely around his neck to keep out the air.
When an Eskimo is fully dressed in his furs, and his deerskin is tied
closely around the neck so that no air can enter, he is, as it were, in
a bag of fur. The heat from his body keeps him warm. As long as he is
incased in air-tight clothing, he is safe from the most severe weather.
All of the Eskimo party were invited to come aboard the _Advance_. They
were large, strong men, and many of them could hunt the white bear and
the walrus single-handed.
The Eskimos had with them fifty-six fine dogs, tied by deerskin traces
to their sledges, which were made of bone and lashed together by
leather strips. The runners were of polished ivory, from the tusks of
the walrus, and glistened like steel. The Eskimos’ weapons were knives,
which they carried in their boots, and lances, which were lashed on
their sledges. They had no wood for the handles of these weapons,
because no trees grow in this cold country. All of the handles were
made of bone. You would have thought these natives very rude indeed,
could you have seen how they behaved on Dr. Kane’s ship. They opened
all the doors and rummaged around in the dark corners. They opened
boxes, handling everything they saw, and putting all they could inside
their jumpers and boots. In fact, they stole so much that Dr. Kane and
his companions had to follow them continually and take the things out
of their hands.
[Illustration: ESKIMOS AND THEIR DOGS.]
At last the Eskimos became tired, and when the white men spread a
buffalo skin on the floor near the fire, they threw themselves upon it.
For supper each man had a large piece of raw walrus meat, from which he
ate until he was tired. Then he went to sleep with the raw meat lying
beside him. When he awoke he would seize his meat, eat more of it, then
drop off to sleep again. Many slept in a sitting position, with their
heads falling forward low on their breasts.
Dr. Kane made a treaty with these people. He bought all the walrus meat
they had, giving them needles, beads, and old cask staves for it. They
promised to bring Kane more food very soon, and also to lend him their
dogs for his journey to the north. Then Metek said they must go, and
it did not take them long to get ready. They harnessed the dogs to the
sledges quickly, jumped on, cracked their long sealskin whips, and off
they went, dashing over the ice at a speed of twenty miles an hour.
Some time later Metek again visited Rensselaer Harbor. This time Dr.
Kane decided to go with him to his hut, and bring back a load of walrus
meat. Kane and Metek traveled eight miles by sledge, with Metek’s
excellent team of twelve wild Eskimo dogs. They rode very swiftly over
the ice and snow, until at last Kane saw what looked like two dark
spots on the pure white surface. These spots were the entrances to two
Eskimo huts.
The Eskimo huts are built of large stones and are heavily sodded with
turf or moss. They are shaped like half of an egg, and the entrance is
a tunnel, through which the dwellers creep on their hands and knees.
The door is a slab of slate or ice. At this time the huts were buried
under the snow.
The natives rushed out to meet the travelers. They seemed delighted to
see Kane, but the cold soon drove them inside again. Kane and Metek
followed, crawling through a tunnel twelve feet in length, which led
them into the hut of one room about six by fifteen feet. It was crowded
with persons and served for all purposes. The women were cooking large
pieces of walrus meat over small lamps, and men and children were lying
about half-clothed, calling to one another with uncouth sounds. Others
lay stretched upon the floor sleeping.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF AN ESKIMO HUT.
From a drawing by Dr. Kane.]
The thermometer outside registered 30° below zero. Inside the hut the
temperature stood at 90°, nor was there any place for fresh air to
enter. Poor Dr. Kane was obliged to take off all his fur clothes like
the rest. Being very tired, he soon fell asleep, with an Eskimo boy for
a pillow, and a little Eskimo baby under his arm.
Dr. Kane slept well. When he awoke he was offered some breakfast of
boiled blubber. But, unluckily, he had seen the women cooking this, and
they were so careless and dirty that he could not touch it. Instead he
ate some pieces of frozen liver which he had brought with him. After
breakfast he started on a walrus hunt.
IX. HUNTING IN THE ICY NORTH
The walrus has been called “the lion of the seas.” He is a huge
animal, often eighteen feet in length. His head is square, and his
cheeks and lips are covered with quills like bristles. From his face
also extend the tusks, which on the larger animals are often thirty
inches in length, and are prized as ivory. Altogether the walrus is a
fierce-looking creature, with a tough hide and an ugly temper.
Like the seal, the walrus has to come to the surface of the water to
breathe. So Dr. Kane and his Eskimo friends tried to find open water,
or, at least, a place where the ice was thin. The walrus has a habit
of bellowing as he lies on the ice, so that hunters are guided by this
strange and terrible sound. Every few minutes the hunters took off
their fur hoods to listen.
At last a large walrus rose through the ice, breaking it with a loud
crash. Just as the animal rose out of the water, Dr. Kane and the
Eskimos fell at full length, flat on the ice. As soon as the head of
the walrus sank below the water again, the hunters jumped up and ran
toward the hole, where they knew it would soon reappear. Every time the
head of the animal was seen coming to the surface, the hunters would
fall to the ice or hide themselves behind hummocks. In this way――now
running, now hiding――they at last came near enough to the walrus to
throw their harpoon into its body. Tied to the harpoon was a long rope
of walrus hide, which uncoiled rapidly as an Eskimo ran away to solid
ice with one end in his hand. When at a safe distance, he drove a spike
of bone into the ice and fastened the end of the rope to it.
[Illustration: A WALRUS HUNT.]
Meanwhile, the powerful walrus had been struggling in the water,
breaking up the ice around with a frightful noise. The Eskimos
tightened the rope whenever they could, and again the walrus rose and
threw his powerful body against the ice, breaking it away; now they had
to work fast. First one, and then another, would seize the spike and
run with it and the rope to a safe place. In this way they tired the
animal out, and were able to give him a second wound.
During this battle the walrus roared hideously, using his tusks
fiercely. He rushed toward the men and tore away great pieces of ice
with his tusks, but though he received many lance wounds, he never
once showed fear or made any attempt to run away.
When the great beast was dead, the Eskimos drew it up on the ice, the
flesh was divided, and Dr. Kane packed his share upon his sledge. Then
with his own four dogs he set out to return to the brig. He himself
ran most of the way home, because the dogs had difficulty in drawing
the heavy load. The crew were glad to see Kane once more, and glad,
too, for what he had brought. During the winter fresh meat had been so
scarce that many of the men became sick with the terrible disease which
salt meat produces.
Toward spring Dr. Kane and Hans went hunting for seals. The seal comes
up under the ice where it is thinnest, and scratches a hole through it
with his sharp claws. Then he hollows out the snow above and makes an
opening just large enough to allow the air to pass through; this is his
breathing hole. It is so small that often one cannot see it, but the
seal makes a blowing noise in breathing, and the hunters have learned
to listen for this sound.
Kane and Hans often sat many hours on a block of ice beside a hole,
waiting for a seal. When the seal appeared, one of them quickly thrust
a spear into him and usually killed him. Then Hans would fasten a thong
of walrus hide about the neck of the seal and drag him away, across the
ice, to the ship. The meat of the seal is delicious, and great was the
rejoicing among the men when a hunting expedition was successful.
When the sun begins to shine, the Eskimos hunt in a different way.
They know that the seals like to creep out of the water and lie on the
ice in the sunshine. The hunters take with them a sledge with a white
screen fastened across it, which they push along in front of them,
the screen hiding their bodies from view. A hole in the middle of
the screen gives them a chance to see ahead, and provides an opening
through which they can point a rifle. When the hunter sees in the
distance the bodies of seals lying on the edge of the ice, he pushes
his sledge toward them. So quietly and so steadily does he move, that
the seals do not become alarmed. They lie still, watching the strange
object, until the hunter is near enough to shoot.
[Illustration: A HERD OF SEALS.]
When the summer comes it is still easier to hunt seals, for their eyes
are blinded by the bright sun shining on the snow and ice, and the
hunters can often walk within gunshot of them without using the screen.
Kane’s party had plenty of fresh seal meat to eat in the summer time.
From the fat of each animal they obtained about five gallons of oil,
which they used in their lamps. The fur made warm coats and trousers,
while the hides were used for covering the boats and for whiplashes.
Dr. Kane learned not to waste any part of the seal’s body; even the
bones could be used for hooks and for the handles of tools.
There is another animal in the cold regions which hunters are eager to
slay. This is the large, fierce polar bear. He has a flat head, a long
neck, and smooth, white fur. He is always found near the sea, where he
pursues seals both in the water and on ice, and preys upon fishes and
birds.
[Illustration: POLAR BEARS.]
Kane had many a chase over the ice after the bears. When a bear track
is seen on the ice or snow, the dogs are immediately set upon the
trail. The hunters follow the dogs quickly and silently. When they come
within sight of the bear, the hunter releases the dogs from their
harness, so that they may surround the bear and cut off his retreat.
The dogs are carefully trained not to fight the bear, but to annoy
him. They run around him in circles and prevent him from making his
escape. The bear, when brought to bay, rises on his haunches, seizes
the nearest dog in his teeth and tosses him to one side. The dogs
instinctively relax their muscles in falling, and are seldom hurt; they
usually rise immediately and return to the conflict. In this way the
bear is detained until the hunters arrive.
Sometimes two hunters engage one animal, striking at him with their
lances. Two men can easily kill a bear. As one man pretends to thrust
his lance into the right side, the animal turns, and tries to protect
himself with his fore paws. Then the other hunter gives him his death
wound in the left side.
A man must have a great deal of skill and courage to be able to kill a
polar bear single-handed. The single hunter provokes the bear to follow
him by running as if trying to escape. The bear comes down on all four
feet and prepares to pursue the man. With a rapid jump to the right,
the hunter runs back to his first position. The bear turns in the same
way to follow, when the hunter skillfully plunges his lance into the
left side just below the shoulder. Even then the most expert hunter
sometimes has to leave his spear in the animal’s side and run for his
life, though a wound given in that spot is usually fatal. The Eskimos
hold in highest esteem the hunter who can kill a bear single-handed.
The flesh of the bear is used for food, and the fur for clothing. Dr.
Kane killed so many of these animals that he actually tired of the
sport.
X. HOME AGAIN
1855
Dr. Kane and his companions passed two winters in the ice regions,
living in a place farther north than any explorers had ever lived in
before. Few Arctic explorers at that time had passed two winter seasons
in the ice.
During the cold months the average temperature at Rensselaer harbor
stood at -29°, during the summer months at 33°. When you consider that
the summer was colder than the average winter in the vicinity of New
York City, you will understand in part what were the severities of the
climate that these men endured. The first winter, with the long, dark
night, was dismal and gloomy, and there was a great deal of sickness
and suffering among the men. When summer came, Kane hoped that his ship
might be released from the ice. He waited a long time, but the ice did
not thaw, and again winter came upon them suddenly. It was then too
late for the men to escape to the south; so a second winter was passed
on board the _Advance_. It was a sad time: many of the men died and
many suffered terribly from disease and want of food.
When the spring of 1855 came, Kane again hoped that the ice around the
brig would thaw and leave her free, for he was a good commander and
could not bear to desert his ship. At last it became certain that the
ice would not break away, and that the _Advance_ could not be released
that spring.
Then Kane decided to leave the ship and try to reach some settlement
on the Greenland coast. The men promised to follow him and to obey him
in all things. They knew the danger of the journey, but they also knew
that a third winter on the _Advance_ would probably cost them their
lives. At this time the company had provisions enough to last them
thirty-six days. These provisions were packed in small boats, ready to
be dragged over the ice to open water. All the baggage and the articles
necessary for use in cooking, eating, and sleeping, were at last ready
to be placed on the sledges. Four of the men were so ill that they also
had to be carried.
Each man in the party wore a woolen underdress and an Eskimo suit of
fur. The men’s boots were of their own make, fashioned of canvas and
lined with walrus hide. Inside of these boots each man wore another
pair, made of carpeting which had been taken from the cabin of the
_Advance_. To save themselves from becoming snow-blind, they wore large
goggles, made by cutting a small slit in a piece of wood. Some had
entire masks made of gutta percha.
It was May when Kane and his companions bade farewell to the brig and
set out to cover the thirteen hundred miles of ice and water which lay
between them and the place where they hoped to find a settlement. Yet
they did not despair. The men who were able to work, dragged sledges
and boats as far as the spot selected for a camp. Here they built a
hut or erected a tent for the sick, making them as comfortable as they
could. Then the workers went back over the same route and brought along
the baggage, which had been left behind because they could not carry it
all at one time. Thus they were obliged to travel back over each day’s
march, and each following day to bring ahead the baggage that could
not be carried the first time.
[Illustration: TRAVELING OVER THE ICE HUMMOCKS.]
It was slow progress, but they kept on bravely. Often they were delayed
by heavy snowstorms. As they could not drag the sledges through the
deep drifts, they crept into their tents and slept, waiting for the
storm to pass away. When it became possible for them to travel again,
they started out, plowing their way through the snow, often so tired
that they could hardly lift their feet. Sometimes they journeyed over
thin ice, and many a man fell through and just escaped drowning.
It was near the middle of June when the party reached the shores of
Baffin bay and began to launch the boats. The launching took a long
time, for the surf beat high along the shore, and great masses of
drifting ice were dashed about.
A severe gale arose, and the boats were nearly crushed in the ice, but
a day later they succeeded in putting off from the shore. The _Faith_
led the way, with Captain Kane aboard. Then followed the _Red Eric_,
with most of the provisions, and last of all, the _Hope_. These three
small boats were now embarked on a sea in which the hardiest whaling
vessel might easily founder.
The party were all hopeful until provisions were exhausted; then
the stoutest hearts failed. Even Kane despaired of ever reaching a
settlement, but he was too brave a leader to allow his men to know
this, and he encouraged them in every way possible. The men grew so
weak from want of food that they were scarcely able to guide the boats.