A WINTER WITHIN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2456, 10 April 1901, Page 64

A WINTER WITHIN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.

The following short account of a winter epsnt by the writer in the far North West .Territories of Canada, within the Arucle circle, and about 100 miles from the Arctic coast, may be of interest to some of yo'ir readers. We arrived at the last of the Hudson's Bay posts just before the ice set in, about the end of September. Having decided to spend the winter within T2ac!i of this post, we settled on a sheltered !-pot in the torest, and close to the river, and there thought we would build a house, 't J'shak." We set to work clearing a way the undergrowth and felling the tree?. These ,rtxees were cut into lengths of about 15ft, end placed one on top of the other in the iorm of a square, the back of the hcu-e toeing about oft higher than th«. fnnt ; the xoof was thin posts, laid aero--, ar.d 'covered with mud and moss; the lo & s r/eie notched at each end, in order to let the next one get a hold. There being an abundance of timber all round, this work was soon accomplished, the hardest part being the closing up of the crevices between the logs. This we 8 done with moss to keep out the extreme cold, which was just then beginning. As the mor-s had begun to get nozen it was very cold on the hands packing it in. When finished, we had a fine mansion lift iby 12ft, with two bunks. About the middle of October the river froze up, and we had to go down to the Tiver every morning with a pickaxe to cut out blocks of ice. which we melted on our etove in tin bucket:-. Generally one uses an ice chisel to bore through the ice till one reaches the water, but where we were the river was very low on account of a sandbank, and was frozen to the bottom, a depth of about sft. Life after a bit began to be very monotonous ; after having a lot of fun learning to use snow shoes, there iwas little to do.

-Just, about Christmas we heard a great deal from the Indians about the caribou rthat were then supposed to be passing. Two iyi our party started off one morning with four days' provisions, three Indians, and xhree dog sleighs, each drawn by four dogs. Ht was intensely cold ths day they left, the thermometer being more than 50deg below zero, with a strong wind bloAving. The ylace they had to make for was a distance of about 100 miles, the route laying through rthe mountain passes. They had some very iard experiences crossing the mountains. , On arrival the? were told by the Indians camped there that the deer had passed on and were about t>vo days' travel" ahead of them. It was decided not to follow them tip, as provisions were getting very low, 3onger time having beer spent on the journey than had been reckoned upon. During ■the 1 ist day on their way home they were reduced to the rind of the bacon, each taking a little bit and chewing it to keep away ,*he pangs of hunger. Fortunately they met ar Indiar out trapping who gave them ,-what he could, and this helped them out of ( lfcheir difficulties. Their dogs being quite -•worn out, travelling had been necessarily slow. Home was reached at last, but what •with frost bite and exposure, they were not very keer to try it again for some tnne.

When one does get into these herds of caribou any numbei can be shot. They are very good eating, especially so to us -when we got them, having been living on Jbacon and tinned meats foi about five months. ° It seems a pity the Indians and ■Tfche Esquimaux are allowed to shoot these animals indiscriminately. If they get into ja herd they will go or shooting as long as Hiheir ammunition lasts. They take away Ja certain amount of the meat and skins to «iry and tan, and leave the rest to rot. Shortly after, in all probability, they will jbe starving. I remember an Indian who /was camped by me for about a fortnight. (He and his family were always more or less (starving. I used to give him food occasionally. One day he shot a fine moo-e. Tnjtead of inching a "cache" and keeping a certain amount for future u,se, he &cut round

to evorv Indian be could iind to come and lit>li) hmi cat it They and their dogs goiyed tor about two day*. A week aiterward^ this man nnd his 'family were starving auam Srveral of the Indians who pirtook of his hospitality were m no want, but w ere only too pleased ta come and gorge Wi'iu">.t th" tiovble of hunting for the" food. However, the Indian, I found, was not a! dl bad if you ti cited him well, though very easily offended. I never sawone once do anything disho'i^t, and never but once heard' of one stealing. We used to so out and leave otn sliak dooi open all day" (we had no lock for it), and although ihcy knew we were out, and that thci? was* plenty of rice, bacon, etc . inside, they would rever toucli a thing however hungry they might be. The Indian in the far north is a very good shot at a short range, bat when it comes to using the sights he is not much good ; he does not understand the use of them properly.

The woist thing man Arctic winter is the Ic\ig, dark day. i cannot «ay we were ever in total dullness but for i-omu time we never saw the sun There would be_a sort of twilight from about 11 a.m. till I.^o pm. . sufficient to collect ice '"or water ar.d saw up firewood. We had very &e\ere fi'p'U. As long .is there is no wind, one doc 1 - net fe?l coM on i'ccounl o f the diy atmoiplicic. I Jio-ve many time& been colder in this country than ou l^ there with the thermometer standing as lev as 30deg below zero, but it must bs rcircmbcred that the clothing worn out there is very different fiom that worn at home. If th°re is a v.nd blowing one due- vik v, . ;it to be out much, even if the thermometer is o.ily 20deg below zero.

Money is practically unknown up theie (except," of course, at the Hudson Bay Company's post) ; the word ">kin ' (equivalent to half a, dollar) was alw"a\f> talked o" When engaging an Indian one pays hm so nio.ny "-kin^" % d % y; hn id-civc-tea, tobicco. bcm^. ' -' ho v^nt--, and you can give to the extent of hnlf a dollar for every ".kin."' The word ' v k n" originally ne.'Tit a bsaver skin, but now a beaver skin is worth a good numb°r of "'kins.*' H-ovses are unknown up them ; do^s r.re used for everything dm mg thr winter A team of lour do^-^, with ffigoing, will diaw a lord of 400 ib, m ice or .a. hard track considerably mr,iP. They get a lot of ill-treatment from their masters, plenty of hard work, and little to eat. A frozen fi«h is thrown at them at night, if the owner his any; if not, they have to jio without. I reu-r saw an Indian or an Esquimaux Kvse oue as a pot.

I tva.iii.ed to go to tLe Jlotiren Lands before the winter was over, after niu?k ox, but, not having time, could not manage it. I also must admit I was rather afraid of it. I behave it is easier to get into the Barren Lands from the coa-^t than from the usupl way farther south. I shall always look back w nh pleasure to wv trip in th-^ -Vertk Wi?^.t. Vi~e lir.d some very rough times, but it only made things feel ten tines better when we got hick to the old country. — A. R., in the Field.