AN ADVENTURE TO THE ARCTIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 76, 30 March 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

AN ADVENTURE TO THE ARCTIC.

Five tako pleasure in publishing to- > !' day tho opening chapters of a story ! j! written by Vera Semplo, of Glad- | l stone School, iYlount Albert. Vera's . »; work was Judged by Peter Pan to | g be the best submitted by her school, i j, cn d won for her a well deserved ! t< reward. t , : Sunrise. The full moon had already sunk in ■the distant west, and tiny stars had faded, leaving the sky like a greyish bine blanket.

Dawn was stealing gently over the earth, the western sky was streaked •with red, and the large blaclc-looking trees became silhouetted against a fiery background. Cutting the grey sky into streaks were long narrow pinlc lingers. The silver furnace had already began to give light to the earth, as It slowly made its appearance above the horizon, and by this time the sky had changed from xcd to a deep orange. Gradually the sky began to wear out its brightness, and when tho sun was Jrigh up in the heavens only a few streaks of dull red remained visible.

Soon wo realised it was about time ■we, were getting ready for our adventure to the Arctic. 1 Setting Out.. It was now eight o'clock. Our large ship, the Toucan, which was to take us on our expedition to Penguin Island, lay at tho wharf ready to sail at two (dock that day. Large cranes had been busy loading the vessel for the voyage. Her bunkers bad been filled with coal, and enough provisions had been taken aboard to la3t several weeks. Clearing and sweepin" tho decks were some members of the crew, and busily more men hurried m •preparing the cabins in readiness for the passengers who were to accompany ns on our trip.

When we had finished our lunch, the passengers began to arrive, and were helped up the gangway by the stewards, ■who carried their luggage to the cabins allotted to them. Having bid good-bye to our friends, seamen quickly hoisted the gangway and drew in the rope which had held the ship fast to the wharf. Slowly she moved off, gradually gathering speed as she went, and soon the city began to look smaller, and our friends familiar faces were lost from view. Out At Sea. How quickly the time went. About a fortnight had already elapsed and the weather had been perfect. The capUin, a tall, dark-haired man of about 55 years of age, strolled with slow steps up and down the deck, giving the men orders, and now and again he •would have a short chat with some of his officers. With a broad smile he looked very jolly and handsome for his ageIt was now 5 o'clock in the evening. The ball of silver had left tlie orange-tinted sky like a deep crimson shawl, and soon the bright colour had faded perceptibly to a very pale lemon, colour.

Having finished our daily work, we were soon enjoying a tasty evening meal, and in a few minutes' time, when the tiny stars had made their appearance, the young moon, like a silver boat, gazed down on a scene of peace and tranquillity as it floated slowly over the grey sky. The sea was calm. Every now and then a seagull, which had been standing on the wireless pole, or perhaps 011 the rail of the ship, gave a loud squawk, and dived into the water, as these feathered friends always do Le * ld " the pulls, the only noises which could "bo heard were the thud, thud of the engine and the lapping of the water against the side. _ The hours of darkness crept on interminably. Suddenly we heard one of the men on watch call out that a ship was m sight, and quickly rushing up on to the deck, ■we soon noticed by the numerous lights that it was a large liner, perhaps bound for Auckland. What a pretty sight it was to us, as we had not seen a vessel jsince we had left home, and this one was of special interest. It was now 12 o'clock. Having watched She large liner until it was out pf sight, yre returned to our cabins, hoping that £oon another ship would come our way. An Iceberg. Next morning, taking the place of large fiery sun were dark, angrylooking D clouds which had gathered soon after the silver moon had faded, and the rain fell miserably over the ship and the wide ocean as far as we could see.

Rocking like a cork on the tossing ■waves, which splashed over the deck, nvas the large ship seemed to be rather small. The height of the waves were about 12ft 01* 13ft. The captain had already ordered us to stay in our cabins, which were below the deck, until the storm had ceased a little. In a few hours he came down and told us that if we liked we could go up on deck for a short time. It was very hot in our small cabins, and i m mediately we rushed up where the fresh air was very welcome to us. The storm had ceased a little, but a •heavy mist still lay low before us and the rain still fell miserably. In two or three hours the mist began to lift, and soon the rain ceased. The fiery sun, which had sunk in the west the day before the storm, did not peep from behind the clouds again until two days later, and when it did appear its (beautiful reflection was cast over the glistening sea in the east. Suddenly, from one. of the sailors who was busj steering the ship, came a sliout that an iceberg was in sight. How pretty it seemed to be, as we had never befoie seen one of these large mountains of ice. The side which was facing the brilliant king of the heavens seemed to be pale pink, and the opposite s«ide was dark purple. Slowly we were getting nearer, to it,, and soon we noticed that it was only a small one of about 12ft or l_3f in height. When we had passed this ice-: berg we did not see another one until a week later. A Bear. After we had crossed the Arctic Circle,--we often saw an iceberg floating in the distance, and once we nearly touched <011 e. Early one morning the ship was ■itmable to move very fast, 011 account <of the ice, which, in the dimness of the light, looked pale blue, with white ;inuslin spread over it. Later on, during -the day the fiery sun melted the ice a jittlQ, and at nightfall it was only about half an inch thick.

During the night, which was quite cool, the Toucan slowly made its way! through tho thin ice, which was like j glass, with a sound like the tearing of j old linen.

How interesting the next morning was. Here and there were large piles of ice, and it was from behind one of these that a large polar bear made its appearance. It was not white, as some people think, but a deep cream coat covered his body, His nose and claws were very black, and, having sighted the ship, the monster came straight towards us, and almost immediately we noticed that his large eyes were dark brown and his mouth, which was set grimly in a smooth face, was a grey slate colour.

He seemed to have his dark eyes on one of the crew, a tall, stout, dark man of about 40 years of age, and who had a jolly face. The white deck, which had just been scrubbed, was steaming under the silvery beams of the sun, and in a few minutes the large "king of the Arctic" slowly trotted off in another direction. Our Arrival. How cold it was. For some time the enow fell miserably, and when it ccased the Arctic was in darkness. At the break of the next day we soon noticed, by the colour of the western ■sky, which was tinted with orange and crimson streaks, that the sun' was going to shine brightly.

Slowly the thin ice was melted by the silver disc's warm beams, and in the distance was a large island which was covered with snow. It was Penguin Island. At mid-day we arrived, and almost immediately tho dogs, which had been well cared for on our voyage, were set loose, and, with a few barks of delight, they were harnessed to the sledges, which they were to pull along. Having raced along the shore for a short time, we stopped suddenly. On a slight slope were situated a number jof Eskimo huts, and walking around I were fat Eskimos, who were clothed !in thick furs. In a short time, to our [ surprise, from one of the dome-shaped I houses appeared a man whom we noticed |to be much fairer than the others. He was a white man.

I Having sighted us, lie called out to some of his friends inside the igloo to conio out, and immediately they rushed down to greet us. In a few minutes they had told us their story. Tliey had been shipwrecked between two icebergs some time ago, and with luck thfey had met the kind Eskimos, who had kept tliem, had given them clothing, and had let them live in their cold homes. < The Eskimos. In a short time we had been introduced. to the dark-skinned Eskimos, who beckoned to us in their own way to enter their igloo out of the cold. Inside the dome-shaped house was very warm. On the floor a small oil lamp which was burning brightly stood casting its long shadow across the room. On the walls, furs, for which the polar bears had been killed, hung, and a brown skin, which had once belonged to a seal, lay by the doorway. Another brown skin hung over the hole which was meant for the door. Having spent most or our time inside the igloo, we set out two days after our arrival for a walk along to the ship. Here and there were small clusters of flowers which grow just in the Arctic. They were a pale cream colour, with stems like straight green sticks which had been rubbed with a little white chalk. Accompanying us were a few of the Eskimos, one of them being a small child of about four years of age. He was very plump and short, his hair was nearly black and very straight, and two small, dal-k blue eyes peered forth. The day was very warm and the beautiful king of the heavens had melted the snow and ice. For quite a long dis- : tance, sand lay, and towards the east ' glistening water stretched as far as 1 the eye could see. At mid-day we arrived at the ship, | and in a few moments our new friends . the Eskimos were inspecting all the r small things oil board. (To be continued.)