It was no easy matter to get into this hut. The only opening was a hole close to the ground, and it was necessary to creep through a kind of passage three or four feet long, which is about the thickness of the walls of these snow-houses. But a traveller by profession, a laureate of the Royal Society, could not hesitate, and Mrs. Paulina Barnett did not hesitate! Followed by Madge, she bravely entered the narrow tunnel in imitation of her guide. Lieutenant Hobson and his men dispensed with paying their respects inside.
And Mrs. Barnett soon discovered that the chief difficulty was not getting into the but, but remaining in it when there. The room was heated by a fire, on which the bones of morses were burning; and the air was full of the smell of the fetid oil of a lamp, of greasy garments, and the flesh of the amphibious animals which form the chief article of an Eskimo’s diet. It was suffocating and sickening! Madge could not stand it, and hurried out at once, but Mrs. Barnett, rather than hurt the feelings of the young native, showed superhuman courage, and extended her visit over five long minutes!—five centuries! The two children and their mother were at home, but the men had gone to hunt morses four or five miles from their camp.
Once out of the hut, Mrs. Barnett drew a long sigh of relief, and the colour returned to her blanched cheeks.
“Well, madam,” inquired the Lieutenant, “what do you think of Eskimo houses?”
“The ventilation leaves something to be desired!” she replied simply.
The interesting native family remained encamped near Cape Eskimo for eight days. The men passed twelve hours out of every twenty-four hunting morses. With a patience which none but sportsmen could understand, they would watch for the amphibious animals near the holes through which they come up to the surface of the ice field to breathe. When the morse appears, a rope with a running noose is flung round its body a little below the head, and it is dragged on to the ice field, often with considerable difficulty, and killed with hatchets. It is really more like fishing than hunting. It is considered a great treat to drink the warm blood of the walrus, and the Eskimo often indulge in it to excess.
Kalumah came to the fort every day in spite of the severity of the weather. She was never tired of going through the different rooms, and watching Mrs. Joliffe at her cooking or sewing. She asked the English name of everything, and talked for hours together with Mrs. Barnett, if the term “talking” can be applied to an exchange of words after long deliberation on both sides. When Mrs. Barnett read aloud, Kalumah listened with great attention, although she probably understood nothing of what she heard.
The young native girl had a sweet voice, and sometimes sang some strange melancholy rhythmical songs with a peculiar metre, and, if we may so express it, a frosty ring about them, peculiarly characteristic of their origin.
Mrs. Barnett had the patience to translate one of these Greenland sagas, which was sung to a sad air, interspersed with long pauses, and filled with strange intervals, which produced an indescribable effect. We give an English rendering of Mrs. Barnett’s translation, which may give a faint idea of this strange hyperborean poetry.
Greenland Song
Dark is the sky,
The sun sinks wearily;
My trembling heart, with sorrow filled,
Aches drearily!
My sweet child at my songs is smiling still,
While at his tender heart the icicles lie chill.Child of my dreams!
Thy love doth cheer me;
The cruel biting frost I brave
But to be near thee!
Ah me, Ah me, could these hot tears of mine
But melt the icicles around that heart of thine!Could we once more
Meet heart to heart,
Thy little hands close clasped in mine,
No more to part.
Then on thy chill heart rays from heaven above
Should fall, and softly melt it with the warmth of love!
On the 20th December the Eskimo family came to take leave of the occupants of the fort. Kalumah was sorry to part with Mrs. Barnett, who would gladly have retained her in her service, but the young native could not be persuaded to leave her own people; she promised, however, to return to Fort Hope in the summer.
Her farewell was touching. She presented Mrs. Barnett with a copper ring, and received in exchange a necklace of black beads, which she immediately put on. Hobson gave the poor people a good stock of provisions, which they packed in their sledge; and after a few words of grateful acknowledgment from Kalumah, the whole party set out towards the west, quickly disappearing in the thick fogs on the shore.
XX
Mercury Freezes
A few days of dry calm weather favoured the operations of the hunters, but they did not venture far from the fort; the abundance of game rendered it unnecessary to do so, and Lieutenant Hobson could justly congratulate himself on having chosen so favourable a situation for the new settlement. A great number of furred animals of all kinds were taken in the traps, and Sabine and Marbre killed a good many Polar hares. Some twenty starving wolves were shot. Hunger rendered the latter animals aggressive, and bands of them gathered about the fort, filling the air with hoarse howls, and amongst the “hummocks” on the ice fields sometimes prowled huge bears, whose movements were watched with great interest.
On the 25th December all excursions had again to be given up. The wind veered suddenly to the north, and the cold became exceedingly severe. It was impossible to remain out of doors without being frostbitten. The Fahrenheit thermometer fell to 18°
