It is usually considered
that those who encounter the perils of Arctic travel have enough to
contend with from the very nature of the undertaking, and not only
their own countrymen but all civilized nations have hastened to help
them when opportunity afforded. Even the savages with whom they come in
contact have pity for them.
Before resuming our march there was a painful scene at the sledges.
Toolooah heard of the death of his mother, in whose charge he had left
his little daughter when starting on the expedition, and a group of
relatives and friends stooped around the sledge weeping, the women
giving vent to their feelings in prolonged wails and moaning. This
lasted for about ten minutes, during which I learned from the other
natives that they had a very severe winter and much suffering for lack
of food. Several deaths had occurred in the tribes since we left. A
large portion was now at Wager River, but would be down in the spring
or early in the summer. We afterward learned that they, too, had
suffered for food. After shaking hands with other old friends at the
camp we went into Armow's igloo and ate some frozen walrus meat and
blubber that tasted delicious to us, the blubber especially, it having
been so long since we had eaten fat food, though so much requiring it.
They had but a short supply of meat on hand when we arrived, and the
advent of twenty-two hungry travellers and nineteen starving dogs soon
reduced their stores, so that, a storm at once setting in from the
north-west, making it a useless task to hunt walrus, there was a famine
in camp before the end of a week.
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