Fast in the Ice: Adventures in the Polar Regions

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TEN.

  THE TALE OF A KITE--A GREAT BEAR-FIGHT.

  When Mr Mansell was left in charge of the brig a heavy weight lay onhis heart, and he could by no means take part in the preparations forthe theatricals which occupied the rest of the crew. He felt that lifeor death depended on the success of the captain in his search for freshmeat. Already most of the men were ill with scurvy, and some of themwere alarmingly low. Nothing could save them but fresh meat, and whenthe first mate thought of the difficulties and dangers of a journey onthe floes in such weather, and the uncertainty of the Eskimos beingdiscovered, his heart misgave him.

  About an hour after the departure of Captain Harvey on the Mondaymorning he took Davy Butts aside.

  "Davy," said he, "you've been at work on these kites a long time. Arethey nearly finished?"

  "Quite finished, sir," answered Butts.

  "Then get them up, for there is a good breeze. I shall try them on oursmall sledges. It will at least stir up and amuse the men."

  Ten minutes after this the crew were summoned on deck to witness anexperiment. A small dog sledge lay on the hard snow beside the vessel,and near to this Davy Butts and Mr Dicey were holding on to a stoutline, at the end of which an enormous kite was pulling.

  This kite was square in shape, made of the thickest brown paper, andnearly six feet across. That its power was great was evident from thedifficulty with which the two men held it. The end of the line wasfastened to the sledge.

  "Now, boys, ease off line till it is taut, and then wait for the word,"said Davy Butts, jumping on to the sledge. "Now! Let go!"

  Away went the sledge over the hard snow at the rate of three miles anhour, which soon increased to double that rate. Davy cheered and wavedhis arms. The men gave one loud "hurrah" of surprise and delight, andset off in mad pursuit. They were soon left behind. "Hold on, Davy!""Good-bye, Butts." "Look out, mind the ridge!"

  The last warning was needful. The sledge was rushing furiously toward along ridge of ice which rose in a sharp slope to a height of three feet,and descended on the other side to an equal depth, but without anyslope. Davy saw his danger, but he did not dare to put out foot or handto check his progress. Even if he had it would have been of no use. Upthe slope he went as a sea-gull skims over a wave; for one moment he wasin the air--the next, he came down with a crash that nearly dislocatedall his joints, and his teeth came together with a loud snap. (By goodfortune his tongue was not between them!) The sledge was a strong one,and the thing was done so quickly and neatly that it did not upset. Butnow a large and rugged hummock lay right before him. To go against thatwould have been certain death, so Davy made up his mind at once, andjumped off at the smoothest part of the floe he could find. Thelightened sledge sprang away like a rocket, and was brought up with asudden jerk by the hummock.

  Of course the line broke, and the kite commenced to descend. It twirledand circled violently round, and at last went crash into an ice-berg,where it was broken to pieces!

  "Not so bad for a beginning," said Mansell, as poor Davy came back,looking very crest-fallen. "Now, Butts, come below. You have provedthat the thing will do. Mr Dicey, get yourself ready for a trip overthe ice. Let three men prepare to accompany you. I shall send you offto-morrow."

  Dicey, much surprised, went off to obey these orders; and Mansell, withthe assistance of Butts, fitted the second kite for the intendedjourney. He made a rough guess at the strength of its pull, and loadedthe sledge accordingly. Two tail ropes were fastened to the last bar ofthe sledge for the men to hold on by and check its speed. A sort ofanchor was made by which it could be stopped at any moment, and twostout poles, with iron claws at the end of them, were prepared forscraping over the snow and checking the pace.

  Next day all was ready. A trial was made and the thing found to workadmirably. The trial trip over, they bade their comrades farewell, andaway they went due south, in the direction where the native village wassupposed to be.

  It was this remarkable tow-horse that had filled Captain Harvey and hiscompanions with so much surprise. The appearance of the sledgeimmediately after, with a shout and a cheer from Dicey and the men,explained the mystery.

  Being so near the Eskimo camp they at once returned to it, in order toallow the newly arrived party to rest, as well as to load their sledgewith as much fresh meat as it could carry; for which supplies thecaptain took care to pay the natives with a few knives and a largequantity of hoop-iron--articles that were much more valuable to themthan gold. As the wind could not be made to turn about to suit theirconvenience, the kite was brought down and given to Davy to carry, and ateam of native dogs were harnessed to the sledge instead. On thefollowing day the united party set out on their return to the brig,which they reached in safety.

  Tom Gregory's account of the Eskimos who accompanied them to theirwooden home is amusing. His journal runs thus:

  "The amazement of our visitors is very great. Myouk, his wife and baby,and his son Meetek, are now our guests. When they first came in sightof the brig they uttered a wild shout--the men did so, at least--andtossed their arms and opened their eyes and mouths. They have nevershut them since. They go all round the vessel, staring and gaping withamazement. We have given them a number of useful presents, and intendto send them home loaded with gifts for their friends. It is necessaryto make a good impression on them. Our lives depend very much on thefriendship of these poor people. We find that they are terriblethieves. A number of knives and a hatchet were missed--they were foundhidden in Myouk's sledge. We tried to prevail on Oomia to sell her longboots. To our surprise she was quite willing to part with _one_, butnothing would induce her to give up the _other_. One of the menobserved her steal a knife out of the cabin and hide it in the leg ofher boot. The reason was now plain. We pulled off the boot withoutasking leave, and found there a large assortment of articles stolen fromus. Two or three knives, a spoon, a bit of hoop-iron, and a marlinespike. I have tried to make them understand, by signs, that this isvery wicked conduct, but they only laugh at me. They are not in theleast ashamed, and evidently regard stealing as no sin.

  "We have shot a musk ox. There are many of these creatures in otherparts of the Arctic regions, but this is the first we have seen here.He fell to my rifle, and is now being devoured by ourselves and our dogswith great relish. He is about the size of a very small cow; has alarge head and enormously thick horns, which cover the whole top of hishead, bend down toward his cheeks, and then curve up and outward at thepoint. He is covered with long, brown hair, which almost reaches theground, and has no tail worthy of the name. He seems to be an activeand an angry creature. When I wounded him he came at me furiously, buthad not pluck to charge home. As he turned away I gave him the shotthat killed him. The meat is not bad, but it smells strongly of musk.Walrus is better.

  "Myouk and his son Meetek and I have had a most exciting bear-hunt sincewe returned. I followed these men one day, as I thought them bold,active-looking fellows, who would be likely to show me good Eskimosport. And I was not disappointed.

  "About two miles from the brig we came on fresh bear tracks. A glow ofthe aurora gave us plenty of light. `What is yon round white lump?'thought I. `A bear? No, it must be a snow-wreath!' Myouk did notthink so, for he ran behind a lump of ice, and became excited. He madesigns to me to remain there while he and his son should go and attackthe bear. They were armed each with a long lance. I must say, when Iremembered the size and strength of the polar bear, that I was surprisedto find these men bold enough to attack him with such arms. I had myrifle, but determined not to use it except in case of necessity. Iwished to see how the natives were accustomed to act.

  "They were soon ready. Gliding swiftly from one lump of ice to another,they got near enough to make a rush. I was disobedient! I followed,and when the rush was made I was not far behind them. The bear was avery large one. It uttered an angry growl on seeing the men runningtoward it, and rose on its hind legs
to receive them. It stood nearlyeight feet high when in this position, and looked really a terriblemonster. I stood still behind a hummock at a distance of about fiftyyards, with my rifle ready.

  "On coming close up the father and son separated, and approached thebear one on each side. This divided his attention, and puzzled him verymuch; for, when he made a motion as if he were going to rush at Myouk,Meetek flourished his spear, and obliged him to turn--then Myouk made ademonstration, and turned him back again. Thus they were enabled to getclose to its side before it could make up its mind which to attack. Butthe natives soon settled the question for it. Myouk was on the bear'sright side, Meetek on its left. The father pricked it with the point ofhis lance. A tremendous roar followed, and the enraged animal turnedtowards him. This was just what he wanted, because it gave the son anopportunity of making a deadly thrust. Meetek was not slow to do it.He plunged his lance deep into the bear's heart, and it fell at once atfull length, while a crimson stream poured out of the wound upon thesnow.

  "While this fight was going on I might have shot the animal through theheart with great ease, for it was quite near to me, and when it got upon its hind legs its broad chest presented a fine target. It wasdifficult to resist the temptation to fire, but I wished to see thenative manner of doing the thing from beginning to end, so did notinterfere. I was rewarded for my self-denial.

  "Half an hour later, while we were dragging the carcass toward the brig,we came unexpectedly upon another bear. Myouk and Meetek at oncegrasped their lances and ran forward to attack him. I now resolved toplay them a trick. Besides my rifle I carried a large horse-pistol inmy belt. This I examined, and, finding it all right, I followed closeat the heels of the Eskimos. Bruin got up on his hind legs as before,and the two men advanced close to him. I stopped when within thirtyyards, cocked my rifle, and stood ready. Myouk was just going to thrustwith his lance when--_bang_! went my rifle. The bear fell. It was shotright through the heart, but it struggled for some time after that. Thenatives seemed inclined to run away when they heard the shot, but Ilaughed and made signs of friendship. Then I went close up and shot thebear through the head with my pistol. This affair has filled my savagecompanions with deep respect for me!"

  These two bears were the last they obtained that winter; but as a goodsupply of meat had been obtained from the Eskimos, they were relievedfrom anxiety for the time, and the health of the men began to improve alittle. But this happy state of things did not last till spring. Thesesorely tried men were destined to endure much suffering before the lightof the sun came back to cheer their drooping spirits.