LIFE IN THE ARCTIC.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3499, 23 September 1882, Page 4

LIFE IN THE ARCTIC.

The following extracts from the dairies of the officers and crew of the Rodgers throw some light on the customs of the natives in the vicinity of St. Lawrence Bay. They were given to the Herald correspondent soon after the rescue by the Corwin. Ensign Stoney and Master Waring reported as follows :—' We remained at Noonamoo after the burning of the Rodgers, making that village our "headquarters. December 10th, finding that food had become extremely scarcer Captain Berry, after consulting with the natives, determined to distribute the men among the villages on St. Lawrence Bay. Previous to that our food consisted of walrus hide, and sometimes wo had nothing to eat for two days. Our clothing saved from the ship was scant. Despite the gloomy aspect of affairs the men preserved their good spirits, and behaved in a commendable manner. It was simply impossible to perform our ablutions, partly owi.g to lack of utensils and also to the fact that water would freeze immediately. Our clothes were covered with vermin and dirt, and our meals were taken out of a common trousrh, used by natives and crew alike. The inner huts were uncomfortably warm. Upon retiring to the inner hut we had to strip of all our clothing with the exception of a small cloth round the loins. This was done by men and women alike. None of us could imagine how the natives could bear the intense cold without clothing. They would do thencooking in the outer hut without the slightest covering, and that with the thermometer below zero. Our life was extremely monotonous —no books nor even a card to amuse ourselves in the long nights. Meep was the panacea for all evils. On the 21st December the upper limb of the sun was visible for barely two hours above the horizon and then sank into the sea, giving us twenty-two hours of darkness.' William Grace and Frederick Bush, petty officers, told of a memorable reception they met with at tho hands of a party of natives belonging to a neighboring village:—'Wo left Noonamoo on the 10th of December willi a party of natives. After seven hour 3 over heavy snow we reached Newtapanman. Messrs Zane and Burke started for Yandangie at 2 p.m. from tho before-mentioned village, while Grace and Bush left for Ak-kun-neer, and after considerable difficulty in getting over the snow, arrived there at halfpast six p.m , bitterly cold, exhausted and hungry. Grace and Bush and all the party who went over to the south of the bay were received by the natives in the following manner :—As they arrived afc the entrance to their hut their male conductor would not allow them to enter, shouting out in a loud voice, " Atkeen " (no good). He then said to some one inside the hut, " Wiki wild pennen" (give me a lighted stick), and a woman came out having a lighted stick in her hand. The man seized it and shook ifc in their faces, over their clothes and the sledge, and then exclaimed, " jVamalkee" (good.) They were then permitted to enter the huts, and were stripped of all their clothing in the outer compartment of the hut (yarar). When they came into the interior of thp hut they were given some frozen walrus meat and a few roots called meme, somewhat resembling parsnips, and also a small piece of frozen rotten seal flesh. What happened to Grace is thus related by hiii :—After eat ing I was surrounded by a group of natives, who came into tho hut to see the white man {tannetan). 'J hey examined my body, feet, and hands, and also every portion of my clothing, which was hanging up. The woman of the hut put an nnuilet made of seal gut, with a largo bead afc the end, around my wrist. When I made as to its meaning, they replied, ' Namallice' (no die). I slept on the ground that night, with a deerskin under me and over inc. The vermin which covered my body and covering prevented me sleeping all night. December 12. —I walked over to Is'ewteekan and visited Louden, and found a pack of cards, which proved a boon, affording us great amusement. The natives

crowded around to see ns play cribbage. We had managed to make a board from a piece of drift wood. They exhibited great curiosity at our playing. On the 12th of March natives returned from East Cape and reported open water in that direction, and the ice going north (noone). Two natives had been out sledging catching seals and got carried out on the ice to sea and were never heard of. We heard from Yandangie that one of our men and a native had been carried out by the ice also but had returned to shore. The white man proved to be Louden. There was great excitement at A kuncen, owing to the fact that the natives who had been lost on the ice belonged to families there. The natives assembled in one of the huts and commenced the ceremonies of mourning by sending for the medicine man (Lan»lan), wiio lives at Yandangie. He soon arrived, and opened the services by swallowing a large portion of raw walrus meat. He then began beating his tom-tom with a thick stick, and kept up a noise for six or seven hours resembling the bellowing of a calf. One of the men lost had a wife. She was sent for and eat down on the floor of the hut. The medicine man tied a seal rope round her head and tied a large club to the end of it. He made her lay down on the floor, and proceeded to lift her up and down for nearly half an hour, exclaiming at the came time, 'Hi yang, hi yang ; men namalkec' (no die, by and by come back). 'J hese ceremonies were repeated the following day and night. Early in the morning of the 14th sledges coming from Yandangie were seen. Upon arrival thair occupants proved to be tho natives who had been carried away on the ice. The medicine man then got a drum made of sealskin, with tail, attached, beating it with his hands and making noises like a crow. Some dried grass wa3 burnt and the ashes shaken over the men, and they were allowed to enter their huts. They had killed a seal for subsistence during their stay on the ice.' The following incident was related by Dr. Costello : —'While visiting Neshkan, a village about twenty-five miles west of Cape Serdze, I had the opportunity to see some of the crockery of tho Vega —a cup and saucer with pictures of the ship burnt on them. I tried to secure the relics, but tiie natives would not part with them, partly because of a superstitions idea that their parting with presents would be followed by some death in the family, and partly because they prized these articles as a souvenir from the white man.