The World of Ice

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

  STRANGERS APPEAR ON THE SCENE--THE ESQUIMAUX ARE HOSPITABLY ENTERTAINEDBY THE SAILORS--A SPIRITED TRAFFIC--THIEVING PROPENSITIES AND SUMMARYJUSTICE.

  Dumps sat on the top of a hummock, about quarter of a mile from theship, with an expression of subdued melancholy on his countenance, andthinking, evidently, about nothing at all. Poker sat in front of him,gazing earnestly and solemnly right into his eyes with a look that said,as plain as if he had spoken: "What a tremendously stupid old fellow youare, to be sure!" Having sat thus for full five minutes Dumps waggedhis tail. Poker, observing the action, returned the compliment with hisstump. Then Poker sprang up and barked savagely, as much as to say:"Play, won't you!" but Dumps wouldn't; so Poker endeavoured to relievehis mind by gambolling violently round him.

  We would not have drawn your attention, reader, to the antics of ourcanine friends, were it not for the fact that these antics attracted thenotice of a personage who merits particular description. This was noother than one of the Esquimaux inhabitants of the land--a woman, and_such_ a woman! Most people would have pronounced her a man, for shewore precisely the same dress--fur jumper and long boots--that was wornby the men of the _Dolphin_. Her lips were thick and her nose wasblunt; she wore her hair turned up, and twisted into a knot on the topof her head; her hood was thrown back, and inside of this hood there wasa baby--a small and a very fat baby! It was, so to speak, aconglomerate of dumplings. Its cheeks were two dumplings, and its armswere four dumplings--one above each elbow and one below. Its hands,also, were two smaller dumplings, with ten extremely little dumplings atthe end of them. This baby had a nose, of course, but it was so smallthat it might as well have had none; and it had a mouth, too, but thatwas so capacious that the half of it would have been more than enoughfor a baby double the size. As for its eyes, they were large andblack--black as two coals--and devoid of all expression save that ofastonishment.

  Such were the pair that stood on the edge of the ice-belt gazing downupon Dumps and Poker. And no sooner did Dumps and Poker catch sight ofthem than they sprang hastily towards them, wagging their tails--or,more correctly speaking, their tail and a quarter. But on a nearerapproach those sagacious animals discovered that the woman and her childwere strangers, whereupon they set up a dismal howl, and fled towardsthe ship as fast as they could run.

  Now it so happened that, at this very time, the howl of the dogs fellupon the ears of two separate parties of travellers--the one was a bandof Esquimaux who were moving about in search of seals and walrus, towhich band this woman and her baby belonged; the other was a party ofmen under command of Buzzby, who were returning to the ship after anunsuccessful hunt. Neither party saw the other, for one approached fromthe east, the other from the west, and the ice-belt, on the point ofwhich the woman stood, rose up between them.

  "Hallo! what's yon," exclaimed Peter Grim, who was first to observe thewoman.

  "Dunno," said Buzzby, halting; "it looks like a bear."

  "Faix an it is, then, it's got a young wan on its back," cried O'Riley.

  "We had better advance and find out," remarked West, as he led the way,while several of the men threw up their arms in token of their friendlyintentions. O'Riley capered somewhat extravagantly as he drew near,partly with the intention of expressing his feelings of good-willtowards the unknown, and partly in order to relieve the excitementcaused by the unexpected apparition.

  These demonstrations, however, had the effect of terrifying the woman,who wheeled suddenly round and made off.

  "Och! it _is_ a man. Hooray, boys! give chase."

  "Men don't usually carry babies on their backs and tie their hair upinto top-knots," remarked Grim, as he darted past in pursuit.

  A few seconds sufficed to enable Grim to overtake the woman, who fell onher knees the instant she felt the sailor's heavy hand on her shoulder.

  "Don't be afeard; we won't hurt ye," said Buzzby in a soothing tone,patting the woman on the head and raising her up.

  "No, avic, we's yer frinds; we'll not harm a hair o' yer beautiful head,we won't. Ah, then, it's a swate child, it is, bless its fat face!"said O'Riley, stroking the baby's head tenderly with his big hand.

  It was with difficulty that the poor creature's fears were calmed atfirst, but the genuine tenderness displayed by the men towards the baby,and the perfect complacency with which that conglomerate of dumplingsreceived their caresses, soon relieved her mind, and she began to regardher captors with much curiosity, while they endeavoured by signs andwords to converse with her. Unfortunately Meetuck was not with theparty, he having been left on board ship to assist in a general cleaningof the cabin that had been instituted that day.

  "Sure, now, ye don't know how to talk with a girl at all, ye don't; let_me_ try," cried O'Riley, after several of the party had made numerousineffectual attempts to convey their meaning. "Listen to _me_, darlint,and don't mind them stupid grampusses. Where have ye comed from, now;tell me, dear, _doo_ now?"

  O'Riley accompanied the question with a smile of ineffable sweetness anda great deal of energetic pantomime, which, doubtless, explained much ofhis meaning to himself, but certainly to no one else.

  "Ah, then, ye don't onderstand me? Well, well, now, isn't that strange?Look you, avic, have ye seen a brig or a brig's crew anywhere betunethis and the north pole--try, now, an' remimber." He illustrated thisquestion by holding up both arms straight above his head to representthe masts of a brig, and sticking his right leg straight out in front ofhim, to represent the bowsprit; but the woman gazed at him with an airof obtuse gravity that might have damped the hopes even of an Irishman.O'Riley prided himself, however, on not being easily beat, and despitehis repeated failure, and the laughter of his messmates, was proceedingto make a third effort, when a loud shout from the cliffs caused thewhole party to start and turn their eyes in that direction. The cry hadbeen uttered by a figure whose costume bore so close a resemblance tothat which they themselves wore that they thought for a moment it wasone of their own shipmates, but a second glance proved that they weremistaken, for the individual in question carried a spear which hebrandished with exceedingly fierce and warlike intentions.

  "Faix, it must be her husband," said O'Riley.

  "Hallo, lads, there's more on 'em!" cried Grim, as ten or twelveEsquimaux emerged from the rents and caverns of the ice-belt, and,scrambling to the top of surrounding hummocks and eminences, gazedtowards the party of white men, while they threw about their arms andlegs, and accompanied their uncouth and violent gesticulations withloud, excited cries. "I've a notion," he added, "that it was the scento' them chaps set the dogs off after yon strange fashion t'other_night_."

  It was evident that the Esquimaux were not only filled with unboundedastonishment at this unexpected meeting with strangers, but were alsogreatly alarmed to see one of their own women in their power.

  "Let's send the woman over to them," suggested one of the men.

  "No, no; keep her as a hostage," said another.

  "Look out, lads," cried Buzzby, hastily examining the priming of hismusket, as additional numbers of the wild inhabitants of the northappeared on the scene, and crowned the ice-belt and the hummocks aroundthem.

  "Let's show a bold front. Draw up in single line and hold on to thewoman. West, put her in front."

  The men instantly drew up in battle array, and threw forward theirmuskets; but as there was only a dozen of them, they presented a veryinsignificant group compared with the crowds of Esquimaux who appearedon the ice in front of them.

  "Now, then, stand fast, men, and I'll show ye wot's the way to managethem chaps. Keep yer weather-eyes open, and don't let them git in rearo' ye."

  So saying, Buzzby took the woman by the arm and led her out a few yardsin front of his party, while the Esquimaux drew closer together, toprepare either to receive or make an attack, as the case might be. Hethen laid his musket down on the ice, and, still holding the woman bythe arm, advanced boldly towards the natives unarmed. On ap
proaching towithin about twenty yards of them he halted, and raised both arms abovehis head as a sign of friendship. The signal was instantly understood,and one big fellow leaped boldly from his elevated position on a lump ofice, threw down his spear, and ran to meet the stranger.

  In a few minutes Buzzby and the Esquimaux leader came to a mutualunderstanding as to the friendly disposition of their respectiveparties, and the woman was delivered up to this big fellow, who turnedout to be her husband after all, as O'Riley had correctly guessed. Theother Esquimaux, seeing the amicable terms on which the leaders met,crowded in and surrounded them.

  "Leave the half o' ye to guard the arms, and come on the rest of yewithout 'em," shouted Buzzby.

  The men obeyed, and in a few minutes the two parties mingled togetherwith the utmost confidence. The sailors, however, deemed it prudent toget possession of their arms again as soon as possible, and, afterexplaining as well as they could by signs that their home was only at ashort distance, the whole band started off for the ship. The nativeswere in a most uproarious state of hilarity, and danced and yelled asthey ambled along in their hairy dresses, evidently filled with delightat the prospect of forming a friendship with the white strangers, asthey afterwards termed the crew of the _Dolphin_, although some of thesaid crew were, from exposure, only a few shades lighter thanthemselves.

  Captain Guy was busily engaged with Fred Ellice and Tom Singleton inmeasuring and registering the state of the tide when this riotous bandturned the point of the ice-belt to the northward, and came suddenlyinto view.

  "Jump down below, Fred, and fetch my rifle and sword; there are thenatives," cried the captain, seizing his telescope. "Call all hands,Mivins, and let them arm; look alive!"

  "All 'ands, _ahoy_!" shouted the steward, looking down the hatchway;"tumble up there, tumble up, 'ere come the Heskimows. Bring your harmswith ye. Look alive!"

  "Ay, ay," shouted the men from below; and in a few minutes they crowdedup the hatchway, pulling up their hoods and hauling on their mittens,for it was intensely cold.

  "Why, Captain, there are some of our men with them," exclaimed TomSingleton, as he looked through his pocket-glass at them.

  "So there are--I see Buzzby and Grim; come, that's fortunate, for theymust have made friends with them, which it is not always easy to do.Hide your muskets, men, but keep on your cutlasses; it's as well to beprepared, though I don't expect to find those people troublesome. Isthe soup in the coppers, David Mizzle?"

  "Yes, sir, it is."

  "Then put in an extra junk of pork, and fill it up to the brim."

  While the cook went below to obey this order, the captain and half ofthe crew descended to the ice, and advanced unarmed to meet the natives.The remainder of the men stayed behind to guard the ship, and be readyto afford succour if need be; but the precaution was unnecessary, forthe Esquimaux met the sailors in the most frank and confiding manner,and seemed quite to understand Captain Guy when he drew a line round theship, and stationed sentries along it to prevent them from crossing.The natives had their dogs and sledges with them, and the former theypicketed to the ice, while a few of their number, and the woman, whosename was Aninga, were taken on board and hospitably entertained.

  It was exceedingly interesting and amusing to observe the feelings ofamazement and delight expressed by those barbarous but good-humoured andintelligent people at everything they saw. While food was preparing forthem, they were taken round the ship, on deck and below, and the sailorsexplained, in pantomime, the uses of everything. They laughed, andexclaimed, and shouted, and even roared with delight, and touchedeverything with their fingers, just as monkeys are wont to do when letloose. Captain Guy took Aninga and her tall husband, Awatok, to thecabin, where, through the medium of Meetuck, he explained the object oftheir expedition, and questioned the chief as to his knowledge of thecountry. Unfortunately Awatok and his band had travelled from theinterior to the coast, and, never having been more than twenty or thirtymiles to the north of the Bay of Mercy, could give no information eitherin regard to the formation of the coast or the possibility of Europeanshaving wintered there. In fact, neither he nor his countrymen had everseen Europeans before; and they were so much excited that it wasdifficult to obtain coherent answers to questions. The captain,therefore, postponed further enquiries until they had become somewhataccustomed to the novelty of their position.

  Meanwhile, David Mizzle furnished them with a large supply of pea-soup,which they seemed to relish amazingly. Not so, however, the salt porkwith which it had been made. They did, indeed, condescend to eat it,but they infinitely preferred a portion of raw walrus flesh, which hadbeen reserved as food for the dogs, and which they would speedily haveconsumed had it not been removed out of their reach. Having finishedthis, they were ordered to return to their camp on the ice beside theship, and a vigorous barter was speedily begun.

  First of all, however, a number of presents were made to them, and itwould really have done your heart good, reader, to have witnessed theextravagant joy displayed by them on receiving such trifles as bits ofhoop--iron, beads, knives, scissors, needles, etcetera. Iron is asprecious among them as gold is among civilised people. The smallquantities they possessed of it had been obtained from the few portionsof wrecks that had drifted ashore in their ice-bound land. They used itfor pointing their spear-heads and harpoons, which, in default of iron,were ingeniously made of ivory from the tusks of the walrus and the hornof the narwal. A bit of iron, therefore, was received with immenseglee, and a penny looking-glass with shouts of delight.

  But the present which drew forth the most uproarious applause was aUnion Jack, which the captain gave to their chief, Awatok. He was inthe cabin when it was presented to him. On seeing its gaudy coloursunrolled, and being told that it was a gift to himself and his wife, hecaught his breath, and stared, as if in doubt, alternately at the flagand the captain, then he gave vent to a tremendous shout, seized theflag, hugged it in his arms, and darted up on deck literally _roaring_with delight. The sympathetic hearts of the natives on the ice echoedthe cry before they knew the cause of it; but when they beheld theprize, they yelled, and screamed, and danced, and tossed their arms inthe air in the most violent manner.

  "They're all mad, ivery mother's son o' them," exclaimed O'Riley, whofor some time had been endeavouring to barter an old, rusty knife for apair of sealskin boots.

  "They looks like it," said Grim, who stood looking on with his legsapart and his arms crossed, and grinning from ear to ear.

  To add to the confusion, the dogs became affected with the spirit ofexcitement that filled their masters, and gave vent to their feelings inloud and continuous howling, which nothing could check. The imitativepropensity of these singular people was brought rather oddly into playduring the progress of traffic. Busby had produced a large roll oftobacco--which they knew the use of, having already been shown how touse a pipe--and cut off portions of it, which he gave in exchange forfox-skins, and deer-skins, and seal-skin boots. Observing this, a verysly old Esquimaux began to slice up a deer-skin into little pieces,which he intended to offer for the small pieces of tobacco! He waschecked, however, before doing much harm to the skin, and the principlesof exchange were more perfectly explained to him.

  The skins and boots, besides walrus and seals' flesh, which the crewwere enabled to barter at this time, were of the utmost importance, fortheir fresh provisions had begun to get low, and their boots were almostworn out, so that the scene of barter was exceedingly animated. DavieSummers and his master, Mivins, shone conspicuous as bargain-makers, andcarried to their respective bunks a large assortment of native articles.Fred and Tom Singleton, too, were extremely successful, and in a fewhours a sufficient amount of skins were bartered to provide them withclothing for the winter. The quantity of fresh meat obtained, however,was not enough to last them a week, for the Esquimaux lived from hand tomouth, and the crew felt that they must depend on their own exertions inthe hunt for this indispensable article of food, without
which theycould not hope to escape the assaults of the sailors' dread enemy,scurvy.

  Meetuck's duties were not light upon this occasion, as you may suppose.

  "Arrah, then, _don't_ ye onderstand me?" cried O'Riley in an excitedtone to a particularly obtuse and remarkably fat Esquimaux, who wasabout as sharp at a bargain as himself. "Hallo! Meetuck, come here,do, and tell this pork-faced spalpeen what I'm sayin'. Sure I couldn'tspake it plainer av I was to try."

  "I'll never get this fellow to understand," said Fred. "Meetuck, myboy, come here and explain to him."

  "Ho, Meetuck!" shouted Peter Grim, "give this old blockhead a taste o'your lingo. I never met his match for stupidity."

  "I do believe that this rascal wants the 'ole of this ball o' twine forthe tusk of a sea-'oss. Meetuck! w'ere's Meetuck! I say, give us a'and 'ere like a good fellow," cried Mivins; but Mivins cried in vain,for at that moment Saunders had violently collared the interpreter, anddragged him towards an old Esquimaux woman, whose knowledge of Scotchhad not proved sufficient to enable her to understand theenergetically-expressed words of the second mate.

  During all this time the stars had been twinkling brightly in the sky,and the aurora shed a clear light upon the scene, while the air wasstill calm and cold; but a cloud or two now began to darken the horizonto the north-east, and a puff of wind blew occasionally over the icyplain, and struck with such chilling influence on the frames of thetraffickers that with one consent they closed their business for thatday, and the Esquimaux prepared to return to their snow village, whichwas about ten miles to the southward, and which village had been erectedby them only three days previous to their discovery of the ship.

  "I'm sorry to find," remarked the captain to those who were standingnear him, "that these poor creatures have stolen a few trifling articlesfrom below. I don't like to break the harmonious feeling which nowexists between us for the sake of a few worthless things, but I knowthat it does more harm than good to pass over an offence with thenatives of these regions, for they attribute our forbearance to fear."

  "Perhaps you had better tax them with the theft," suggested the surgeon;"they may confess it, if we don't look very angry."

  A few more remarks were made by several of those who stood on thequarter-deck, suggesting a treatment of the Esquimaux which was not ofthe gentlest nature, for they felt indignant that their hospitality hadbeen abused.

  "No, no," replied the captain to such suggestions, "we must exerciseforbearance. These poor fellows do not regard theft in the same lightthat we do; besides, it would be foolish to risk losing theirfriendship. Go down, Meetuck, and invite Awatok and his wife, and halfa dozen of the chief men, into the cabin. Say I wish to have a talkwith them."

  The interpreter obeyed, and in a few minutes the officers of the shipand the chiefs of the Esquimaux were assembled in solemn conclave roundthe cabin table.

  "Tell them, Meetuck," said the captain, "that I know they have stolentwo pieces of hoop iron and a tin kettle, and ask them why they were soungrateful as to do it."

  The Esquimaux, who were becoming rather alarmed at the stern looks ofthose around them, protested earnestly that they knew nothing about it,and that they had not taken the things referred to.

  "Say that I do not believe them," answered the captain sternly. "It isan exceedingly wicked thing to steal and to tell lies. White men thinkthose who are guilty of such conduct to be very bad."

  "Ah, ye villain!" cried Saunders, seizing one of the Esquimaux namedOosuck by the shoulder, and drawing forth an iron spoon which heobserved projecting from the end of his boot.

  An exclamation of surprise and displeasure burst from the officers, butthe Esquimaux gave vent to a loud laugh. They evidently thoughtstealing to be no sin, and were not the least ashamed of being detected.Awatok, however, was an exception. He looked grave and annoyed, butwhether this was at being found out, or at the ingratitude of hispeople, they could not decide.

  "Tell them," said the captain, "that I am much displeased. If theypromise to return the stolen goods immediately, I will pass over theiroffence this time, and we will trade together, and live like brothers,and do each other good; but if not, and if any more articles are taken,I will punish them."

  Having had this translated to them, the chiefs were dismissed, but theexpression of indifference on some of their faces proved that noimpression had been made upon them.

  In a quarter of an hour the articles that had been mentioned as missingwere returned; and, in order to restore harmony, several plugs oftobacco and a few additional trinkets were returned by the messenger.Soon after, the dogs were harnessed, the sledges packed, and, with manyprotestations of good-will on both sides, the parties separated. A fewcracks of their long whips--a few answering howls from the dogs--and theEsquimaux were off and out of sight, leaving the _Dolphin_ in her formersolitude under the shadow of the frowning cliffs.

  "Fetch me the telescope, Mivins," said the captain, calling down thehatchway.

  "Ay, ay, sir," answered the steward.

  "Where's my hatchet?" cried Peter Grim, striding about the deck, andlooking into every corner in search of his missing implement. "It's mybest one, and I can't get on without it, nohow."

  The captain bit his lip for he knew full well the cause of its absence.

  "Please, sir," said the steward, coming on deck with a very perturbedexpression of countenance, "the--the--a--"

  "Speak out, man; what's the matter with you?"

  "The glass ain't nowhere to be seen, sir."

  "Turn up all hands!" shouted the captain, jumping down the hatchway,"Arm the men, Mr Bolton, and order the largest sledge to be got readyinstantly. This will never do. Harness the whole team."

  Instantly the _Dolphin's_ deck was a scene of bustling activity.Muskets were loaded, jumpers and mittens put on, dogs caught andharnessed, and every preparation made for a sudden chase.

  "There, that will do," cried the captain, hurrying on deck with a braceof pistols and a cutlass in his belt, "six men are enough; let twelve ofthe remainder follow on foot. Jump on the sledge, Grim and Buzzby;O'Riley, you go too. Have a care, Fred; not too near the front! Now,Meetuck--"

  One crack of the long whip terminated the sentence as if with a fullstop, and in another moment the sledge was bounding over the snow like afeather at the tails of twelve dogs.

  It was a long chase, for it was a "stern" one, but the Esquimaux neverdreamed of pursuit, and, as their dogs were not too well fed, they hadprogressed rather slowly. In less than two hours they weredistinguished on the horizon, far off to the southward, winding theirway among the hummocks.

  "Now, Meetuck," said the captain, "drive like the wind, and lay mealongside of Awatok's sledge, and be ready, men, to act."

  "Ay, ay, sir!" was the prompt reply, as the heavy whip fell on theflanks of the leaders.

  A few minutes brought them up with Awatok's sledge, and Captain Guy,leaping upon it with a clasp-knife in his hand, cut the traces in atwinkling, set the dogs free, and, turning round, seized the Esquimauxby the collar. The big chief at first showed a disposition to resentthis unceremonious treatment, but before he could move, Grim seized hiselbows in his iron grasp, and tied them adroitly together behind hisback with a cord. At the same time poor Aninga and her baby wereswiftly transferred to the sailors' sledge.

  Seeing this, the whole band of natives turned back, and rushed in a bodyto the rescue, flourishing their lances and yelling fiercely.

  "Form line!" shouted the captain, handing Awatok and Aninga over to thecare of O'Riley. "Three of you on the right fire over their heads, andlet the rest reserve their fire. I will kill one of their dogs, for itwon't do to let them fancy that nothing but noise comes out of ourmuskets. Ready--present!"

  A rattling volley followed, and at the same moment one of the dogs fellwith a death-yell on the ice and dyed it with its blood.

  "Forward!" shouted the captain.

  The men advanced in a body at a smart run, but the terrified Esquima
ux,who had never heard the report of firearms before, did not wait forthem; they turned and fled precipitately, but not before Grim capturedOosuck and dragged him forcibly to the rear, where he was pinioned andplaced on the sledge with the others.

  "Now then, lads, that will do; get upon the sledge again. Away withyou, Meetuck. Look after Awatok, Grim; O'Riley will see that Aningadoes not jump off."

  "That he will, darlint," said the Irishman, patting the woman on theback.

  "And I shall look after the baby," said Fred, chucking that series ofdumplings under the chin--an act of familiarity that seemed to afford itimmense satisfaction, for, notwithstanding the melancholy position ofits father and mother as prisoners, it smiled on Fred benignly.

  In five minutes the party were far on their way back to the ship; and inless than five hours after the Esquimaux had closed their barter, andleft for their village, four of their number, including the baby, wereclose prisoners in the _Dolphin's_ hold. It was not Captain Guy'sintention, however, to use unnecessarily harsh means for the recovery ofthe missing articles. His object was to impress the Esquimaux with asalutary sense of the power, promptitude, and courage of Europeans, andto check at the outset their propensity for thieving. Having succeededin making two of their chief men prisoners, he felt assured that thelost telescope and hatchet would soon make their appearance; and in thishe was not mistaken. Going to the hold, where the prisoners sat withdowncast looks, he addressed to them a lengthened speech as to the sinand meanness of stealing in general, and of stealing from those who hadbeen kind to them in particular. He explained to them the utterhopelessness of their attempting to deceive or impose upon the white menin any way whatever, and assured them that if they tried that sort ofthing again he would punish them severely; but that if they behavedwell, and brought plenty of walrus flesh to the ship, he would give themhoop-iron, beads, looking-glasses, etcetera. These remarks seemed tomake a considerable impression on his uncouth hearers.

  "And now," said the captain in conclusion, "I shall keep Awatok and hiswife and child prisoners here until my telescope and hatchet arereturned (Awatok's visage fell, and his wife looked stolid), and I shallsend Oosuck to his tribe (Oosuck's face lit up amazingly) to tell themwhat I have said."

  In accordance with this resolve Oosuck was set free, and, making use ofhis opportunity, with prompt alacrity he sped away on foot over the iceto the southward, and was quickly lost to view.