LIFE IN FROZEN NORTH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21467, 15 April 1933, Page 2 (Supplement)

LIFE IN FROZEN NORTH

YEAR AMONG THE SNOW CANADIAN ARCTIC REGION EXPLORER'S EXPEDITION Oho never catches cold in the Arctic. Tho traveller may hurl himself, in pyjamas and bare feet, out of his bunk into tho snow at 2 a.m. during tho Arctic night to quell a fight among his clogs and suirer no ill effects. He dresses like an Eskimo —inner and outer parkas and trousers, socks and mittens, all of caribou; boots of moose sole, legs ot deerskin shanks or canvas; fur clothing of minimum weight to keep tho body at an even temperature. Anomalously, the Eskimo masquerade as whites —to their disadvantage. Tho younger generation particularly clutter up their wardrobe with woollen underwear, socks, shirts, trousers and tho like, believing such things to be stylish, if impracticable. Civilised attire of a modified sort is appropriate in tho summer,'but for winter travel in the Arctic nothing will over equal furs in efficiency. Just returned from a year's one-man expedition in tho Western Canadian Arctic is Richard Finnie, F.R.G.S., of the North-West Territories Department, who was born in the Yukon in 1906. Ho wintered in Coronation Gulf among tho Coppermine Eskimos. On earlier tours ho accompanied Burwash on the first flight over tho North Magnetic Pole and in search of tho relics of Franklin. " Food on an Arctic sled journey," Mr. Finnic says, " comprises rice, raisins, oatmeal, chocolate and tinned meat. A favourite one for its nourishment and compactness is a boiled mixture of beans and meat, poured into shallow pans and allowed to freeze, afterwards being broken up and deposited in a bag. Heated as required, it makes a palatable dish. Dried or

frozen fish, carried primarily for dog feed, is looked upon by Eskimos and many white men as a great delicacy " au natural." A boon to the traveller is the thermos bo.ttle. Containing tea, coffee or oven water, it provides not only refreshment but a means of icing tho sled runners during the day's march, obviating the tedious melting of snow." Mr. Finnie accompanied the doctor from tho Government medical station at Coppermine, the farthest north clinic, on a tour to Kreusenstern trading post, on Coronation Gulf. They had two nine-dog sleds. In early afternoon, 180 miles north of the Arctic Circle, they came up with a small sled, hauled by three dogs and occupied by two boys, aged nine and twelve. Their father had died and the bovs took over his traplines and were keeping the homo together. Next day the party met three Eskimo teams, headed for the same settlement, where their families awaited them. Each of their sleds bore more than half a ton of salmon, trout and white fish, netted at the mouth of the Coppermine. Late in tho same day tho dogs in the leading team, which was breaking trail, persisted in swerving off to the left, despite tlie driver's shouts of " Gee! " The explanation appeared when tho moon rose over the horizon. The dogs liatl mistaken the moon for tho lighted ice window of an igloo marking tho end of tho trail. Last Day of the Journey On tho last day of the journey the travellers suddenly came across a tide crack, at right angles to their course, stretching in either direction as far as the eye could see. In some places 20ft. across, it seemed everywhere too great for tho dogs to lea]). Tho two white men were depressed at the prospect of a long trek to the shore to get across. The Eskimos quietly sat down and smoked their pipes. Then they walked along the crack, several hundred yards in the opposite direction to the shore, examining the crevice. Suddenly one gave an exultant cry, beckoning the others. The teams were driven to where lie stood, where the crack had narrowed to eight feet. The dogs were unhitched from one of the longest sleds and it was pushed across the gap to form a. bridge. The dogs, one at a. time, were led over, tho sleds being pulled across later. "The doctor and I," says Mr. Finnie, in describing the journey in the Canadian' Geographical Journal, " had been impatient at the delay, but not so the Eskimos. They were inclined to regard it as a game to test their ingenuity. Lightheadedness is an Eskimo characteristic. When confronted with a supposedly insoluble problem, oven though their lives be at stake, tliev will quietly sit down and smoke their pipes, in the belief that everything will eventually turn out all right."