Among the Esquimaux; or, Adventures under the Arctic Circle

by Edward Sylvester Ellis

  CHAPTER XXXIII

  CONCLUSION

  No one can question that many animals have the propensity to fun andfrolic. It may be absent in some, but it certainly is not lacking inthe canine species.

  It didn't take three teams of dogs long to discover that theirpassengers belonged to the most verdant specimens of their kind, andwhen the brutes struck the smooth surface, where traveling was but apastime, they decided to have some sport at their expense.

  At the moment Jack Cosgrove was uttering his words to his youngfriends, he failed to notice a small hillock just ahead and at oneside of the course they were following. But the leading dogs saw it,and, veering off, they made straight for it with increased speed,heedless of the shouts and cracking of the driver's whip. Before hecould restrain them, the sleigh collided with the obstruction,overturned in a twinkling and Jack found, as he after described it,that his nose was plowing through the snow with the whole plaguey loadon top of him.

  He was dragged a hundred feet before extricating himself, and beforethe driver could check the animals, who looked so meek and sorrowfulthat he visited them with slight punishment. Matters, however, weresoon righted and the journey resumed, amid the laughter of the boys inwhich the sailor heartily joined.

  Within the next hour Rob's sleigh went over and he had an almostsimilar experience. But he was expecting something of the kind, andprepared for it, so that he emerged from underneath before beingdragged far.

  Fred got it, too, despite the apparent efforts of the drivers torestrain the dogs. By the time matters were once more righted andunder way, the suspicion was confirmed among the passengers that thewild men were in the plot and enjoyed the ludicrous turn of affairs asmuch as did the brutes themselves. But Jack and the lads were the lastto complain, and were quite willing that such good allies should havea little sport at their expense. It was noticeable that after all hadbeen capsized, nothing of the kind took place again.

  At noon an hour's halt was made. The Esquimaux produced their cookedvenison and all ate. The snow, although it seems to add to one'sthirst, when first used, served excellently in the place of water.

  As well as they could by signs, the passengers offered to walk andallow the Esquimaux to ride. Where the surface was so favorable thiswould have imposed no hard work, but the natives refused, evendeclining to ride alternately in the rear sleigh.

  The dogs were tired enough to give no trouble during the noon halt.They sat around on their haunches and eagerly devoured the bits of rawmeat tossed to them. When one or two showed a disposition to stir upmatters, an angry warning and snap of the whip from one of the driversbrought him to his senses, and he deferred the amusement to a moreconvenient season.

  The Esquimaux chatted volubly among themselves, and, although ourfriends could not catch the meaning of anything said, they were surethey had made good progress toward Ivigtut, which, barring accident,would be reached by nightfall.

  The journey was pressed with the same vigor through the afternoon, themen seeming as tireless as the dogs, who trotted along as they mighthave done over the bare ground without any load impeding theirmovements.

  The sun was still above the horizon when the party reached the crestof the mountains near the coast, and saw before them, nestling at thecurve of a fiord, a collection of low, weather-beaten houses,dispersed along the slope of the hills, with a wharf at the water'sedge, on which lay a large number of blocks of the peculiar white oreknown as cryolite.

  "Vee-tut, vee-tut!" exclaimed one of the drivers, addressing thepassengers with great animation. This was the nearest he was able tocome to pronouncing the name "Ivigtut."

  Yes, this was the mining town famous the world over as containing theonly cryolite mines so far discovered on the globe.

  Ivigtut is in latitude sixty-one degrees and twelve minutes north, itsclimate being severe at certain seasons, but comparatively moderateduring summer. Then there are one hundred and thirty picked men fromCopenhagen engaged in the quarries, the number being a little morethan one-half as great in winter. Only one or two Esquimaux are to befound about the place, and the only family that of the superintendent,who has his wife and her maid with him.

  The principal work of the employees is in quarrying the cryolite andpiling it on the wharf, ready for shipment both to the Old and NewWorld. And now how many of my readers can tell me what cryolite is?Shall I explain?

  Do you know that most of the sal-soda, the bicarbonate of soda, thealum, and the caustic soda used in your homes is dug out of a mountainin Greenland?

  In 1806, a German named Giesecke, believing that valuable mineralsmight be found in Greenland, applied to the Danish Government forpermission to prospect the mountains. He did so, all the way from CapeFarewell, living with the Danish governors or among the Esquimaux, ascircumstances required, until he reached Arsuk Fiord.

  At this place he heard of a deposit of ice that never melted and whichwas on the edge of the fiord. It was powdered, was used by the nativesin tanning skins, and acted on a greasy hide like soap. The prospectorgathered a number of specimens and started with them for Germany, forthe substance was entirely new and required analysis.

  On the homeward voyage the Danish ship was captured by a Britishman-of-war and the specimens of cryolite went to an Englishinstitution, where they were analyzed for the first time. It wasinteresting of itself, but pronounced comparatively worthless.

  It remained for a distinguished chemist named Thomson to discover thatsal-soda and bicarbonate of soda can be made cheaply from thesubstance. It is free from all impurities, and steps were taken todevelop the quarry. The first attempt was in 1852, but regular workdid not begin until six years later, and more years passed before anymoney was made out of the mine.

  Up to 1864 the entire product of the quarry went to Europe. In thatyear the American firm known as the Pennsylvania Salt ManufacturingCompany, of Natrona and Philadelphia, began to import it. The shipsused are made as strongly as possible, for they have to force theirway through fields of floating ice, craunch into huge blocks, and keepa sharp lookout for icebergs.

  Small quantities of cryolite have been found in the Ural Mountains anda trace was discovered at Pike's Peak, in our own country, some yearsago, but it did not pan out. A genuine cryolite mine within easy reachwould prove a bonanza to the discoverer.

  Cryolite in appearance resembles white quartz or ice, with a mixtureof snow in it. Although generally white, it is not always so. It issometimes a light brown or a dark color, due either to vegetablematter that has soaked into it or the presence of iron.

  What I have related and considerably more, our friends learned duringtheir stay at Ivigtut.

  Finding themselves at the end of their journey, the three climbed outof the sleighs, their limbs considerably cramped from theirlong-constrained posture. They shook hands with the Esquimaux, whounderstood that form of salutation, and who grinned the delight theycould not form the words to speak.

  To one of them Jack presented his gun and Fred gave his to another.This quite overwhelmed them, but the whites divided nearly all themoney they had among them between the other two. The wild men werepaid triple what they expected for the inestimable service renderedthe party, who regretted that they could not do a good deal more forthem.

  They parted on the edge of the town, and, just as night began settlingover Ivigtut, the three came down the slope and showed themselvesamong the employees, where their appearance attracted considerablecuriosity.

  Rob's first inquiry was for the superintendent of the mines. He wasdirected to a one-story house painted blue, near the rear of whichrose a staff from which the flag of Denmark floated.

  At the eastern end of the settlement was a somewhat similar housepainted black, where the comptroller, or representative of the kinglived, while near the centre were two other structures, from whichpuffs of steam rose.

  The visitors received the kindest hospitality from the superintendent,whose name was G. E. Schmidt. He listened to their story with deepinteres
t, and insisted that they should make their home with him aslong as they could stay in Ivigtut. He brought in his wife andintroduced them to her.

  They found her a most pleasant lady, and the three soon felt entirelyat home.

  "By the way," he asked, as the preparations for supper progressed,"what did you say was the name of the ship on which you left London?"

  "The 'Nautilus,'" replied Rob; "we fear she foundered in the gale afew days ago which separated us from her."

  "I'm not so fearful about that," put in Jack; who felt that suchremarks were a slight upon the ship to which he was attached; "she hasrid out a good many tough storms, and I don't see why she couldn'tpull through that one."

  "Let us hope that she did," said the superintendent, kindly, and witha twinkle of his fine eyes which the others did not notice.

  "I was hopeful that she had possibly made her way to Ivigtut," addedFred, who continued, turning to the sailor, "we forgot to take a lookin the harbor."

  "No use of that," replied Jack; "she might have come in at some of theother ports, but not here."

  "I suppose, Mr. Schmidt, that we can go home by way of Denmark?"

  "There will be no trouble about that; the only inconvenience is thatit will extend the trip much longer than is pleasant, but I understandthat you contemplated a visit to one of the posts of the Hudson BayCompany."

  "Yes, the destination of the 'Nautilus' is York Factory."

  "Then your friends at home will feel no alarm, since you will be thefirst to carry the news there, unless possibly Captain McAlpine turnedimmediately about and started for England."

  It struck Rob Carrol as singular that the superintendent shouldmention the name of the skipper of the "Nautilus" when no one of thevisitors had yet done so. Where could he have learned it? Hiscompanions did not notice the odd fact and he was too polite to asktheir host to explain.

  "We rarely receive a visit from the English vessels," continued Mr.Schmidt, "though now and then one drops down on us, but there is anAmerican line, inasmuch as a good deal of cryolite goes to the UnitedStates. How would you like to make a voyage to that part of thecountry?"

  "It would be pleasant, but hardly practicable," replied Rob, who couldnot forget that the funds of the company were at a frightfully lowebb. "We shall have to defer that treat to some more convenientseason."

  "I cannot tell you how pleased I am to receive this visit," said thesuperintendent; "you must stay several weeks with me, and visit themines and see all there is to be seen. I hardly suppose you would careto make a hunting trip into the interior?" he added, with a smile.

  "No, we have had enough of that to last several lifetimes," repliedJack, uttering at the same time the sentiments of his friends.

  "I don't wonder; there is too much snow and cold weather for realsport, except at certain seasons. I must see the men who brought youin. The real wild Esquimaux live on the east coast, where the climateis so terrible that the whites rarely, if ever, visit them, and theyare beyond the control of all except their own. If these fellows ofyours make their homes in the interior, they are very different fromall the Esquimaux of which I know anything. I think there is somemistake about it."

  "We know nothing, of course, beyond what Docak told us."

  "He is an unusually intelligent native, and I know him very well. Heis a little morose at times, and I understand has caused some troubleat the other settlements, but he is a worthy fellow for all that. Bythe way, I have a friend who is expected to supper with me thisevening. It will be a pleasure, I am sure, for you to meet him."

  "It will be a pleasure to meet any of your friends," Rob hastened tosay, for his heart had already warmed to the genial and hospitablegentleman.

  "If I am not mistaken, he has arrived," added Mr. Schmidt, rising fromhis chair and stepping to the door.

  The next moment he admitted a stalwart, whiskered, sun-browned man, inmiddle life, and, shaking his hand, turned to his other guests.

  "Permit me, captain, to introduce you to Messrs. Cosgrove, Carrol, andWarburton."

  "Wal, by the great horned spoon!" exclaimed the sailor, springing tohis feet and striding across the room, "where did you come from,captain?"

  It was Captain McAlpine, of the "Nautilus," standing before them,smiling, bewildered, and happy, as he gazed into the faces of hisfriends whom he had mourned for days under the fear that they weredead.

  The laughing Rob and Fred were right behind Jack, and they shook thehands of the good old sailor, and felt like throwing their arms abouthis neck and hugging him.

  "I must apologize for this little joke," said Superintendent Schmidt,who enjoyed it fully, "but really I couldn't help it. Captain McAlpinearrived at Ivigtut yesterday, and came straight to me with news ofwhat had happened. He was driven far away from the iceberg, as youknow, and had searched for it in vain. At a loss what to do, he putinto Ivigtut to consult with me."

  By this time the excitement was about over, and all seated themselvesas the servant came in and lighted the lamps. Mr. Schmidt continued:

  "The occurrence was so extraordinary that I was at a loss how toadvise him, and his purpose in coming here this evening was that wemight discuss the question and decide it."

  "You see," observed the captain (and he thereby verified the words ofJack Cosgrove, uttered several days before), "I observed that thaticeberg wasn't sailing straight for the Equator, and I got the ideathat it was to be looked for further up north, though as likely as notit would change its course and head south again. The only thing for mewas to try to get another ship or two to jine me in a search for you.I was going to find out whether that could be done, but now thereisn't any need of it."

  "Thank Heaven, no!" fervently responded Rob Carrol; "we have had aclose call, and the only regret we shall feel in leaving Greenland isthat it will take us away from our friends."

  "It is I who feel that, but it is one of the sure penalties of ourexistence. Supper, I see, is ready; will you kindly walk out with me?"he asked, rising to his feet, and leading the way.

  And perhaps it is as well that we should say good-bye to the party,now that they are seated around the board with keen appetites,cheerful conversation, and happy hearts; for of the visit made to thecryolite mines the next day, the sailing of the "Nautilus" two dayslater, the voyage through Hudson Bay to York Factory, the visit there,the safe return to England, and the settling down of Rob Carrol andFred Warburton to the sober business of life--why, all these may becovered in a paragraph, and so we say, "Good-bye."

  THE END