68 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 26, 1893. 



HUNTING IN GREENLAND.-l. 

 With the Peary Relief Expedition. 



BY WM. E. MEEHAK (BONIFACIUS), 

 Member of the Expedition. 



During- the summer G-reenland is a paradise for the 

 hunter. In tlie valleys torn out of the tremendous blocks 

 of solid rock by great glaciers, now extinct, thousands of 

 reindeer roam, spending most of their time in browsing 

 on that handsome hcheu known as the reindeer moss, and 

 such other vegetation as they may chance to find. Among 

 the rocks and boulders polished and worn by the mighty 

 action of moving ice, are arctic hares in countless num- 

 bers, dozens sometimes l ieiug in sight at one timer With 

 them, but not so plentifully, are arctic foxes, smaller, but 

 just as shy and cunning as their more showy southern 

 relatives. The ice-dotted waters of the Arctic Sea teem 

 With seals, walrus, white whales and narwhales, and fre- 

 quently polar, or properly speaking water, bears, may be 

 met with, lumbering over the ' floes of a great ice pack, 

 themselves on hunting bent. On the water, in the air and 

 on the rocky shores are birds— eider ducks, little a.uks, 

 geese and other edible birds — in flocks of such vast size 

 that any one of them would seemingly contain more birds 

 than the average sportsman would meet with in a year at 

 his usual hunting groimds. To crown all, the sport of 

 hunting this plenitude of animal life may be had in a 

 climate which for several months is at once a delight and 

 a source of liealth. 



This last statement may cause some surprise, for there 

 is a general impression "that Greenland is perpetually a 

 place of almost unbearable cold. In the imagination of 

 many j^eople the warmest day in summer Avould be of a 

 zero teniperatm-e. Greenland explorers are in the minds 

 of such people fools or heroes: and the natives objects of 

 pity, as supposed to be dragging out a miserable existence 

 so muffled in fur garments to keep out the bitter cold as to 

 make locomotion difficult. Others firmly- believe that 

 there is scarcely a piece of land or rock visible anywhere; 

 that the whole country is perfectly buried deep under 

 mountains of snow and ice. 



It seems almost a pitj'' to attempt to shatter these 

 fancies, for it appears to dim much of the glory which 

 has hitherto surrounded the members of the three last 

 Philadelphia expeditions to the polar regions, and dis- 

 gust future wotild-be explorers who think that onty in 

 great danger the path of glory lies. The tmtli is, never- 

 theless, that for nearly four months eveiy year, namely, 

 the greater parts of May and Augtist, and the whole of 

 June and Julv, the weather is either delightfully pleas- 

 ant or almost" hot. much like the May weather in the 

 Middle States. 



During that whole period it is perpetual day. The smi 

 never sinks below the horizon, casting, except when 

 obscured by clouds, a steadj' warmth upon the whole 

 country. Under his genial rays vegetation flouiishes, 

 oufcterflies and moths in multitudes flutter from one 

 pretty flower to another, while swai-ms of mosquitoes in 

 swampy places- attack defenseless explorers with a fero- 

 city that would put to shame tlieir New Jersey relatives. 



It cannot be denied that the little over seven remain- 

 ing months are for the most part bitter cold, and that 

 from Nov. 8 until the middle of February there is no day- 

 light, but the cold is described as being not as great as 

 usually believed, or the night as dreadful or tiresome as 

 imagined. It is true also that the -whole interior of Green- 

 land, from its southern termination to its northern limit, is 

 buried thousands of feet deep by a vast sheet of ice, and 

 that at frequent intervals, portions of this great frozen 

 mass, under the name of glaciers, flow into the sea 

 through wide, deep valleys; hixt the coast line itself, 

 many vallej'S, and much of edges of the tablelands axe 

 almost perpetually free from snow and ice. 



1 came to know of these things in this wise. Early last 

 '' sprmg it was determined by the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia, on account of widespread im- 

 easiness in the public mind, to send an expedition to 

 Greenland to the relief of Lieut, and Mrs. Peary and five 

 companions who had been left at McConuick Bay in 77" 

 43' north latitude the previous summer. I was fortunate 

 enough to be one of eight selected to form that expedi- 

 tion. The others were: Prof. Angelo Heilprin, leader; 

 Henry G. Bryant, F. W. Stokes, Philadelphia; Samuel 

 W. Entrikin. West Chester; Charles E. Hite, Burlington, 

 N. J., taxidermist; Albert White Vorse, Boston, and Dr; 

 Jackson M. Mills, New York, surgeon. 



All save Prof. Heilprin and Mr. Stokes were enthusi- 

 astic hunters and all started on their great jouriiey well 

 armed. As a consequence the steamer Kite, which was 

 chartered for the voyage, as she bore the party away 

 from St. Johns, Newfoundland, on the afternoon of 

 July 5, presented rather the appearance of a filibtister 

 than tiiat of a peaceful vessel carrying a partj^ of intelli- 

 gent gentlemen on a humane and scientific mission. 



Until a few weeks before departtire most of the mem- 

 bers of this party were unknown to each other, but the 

 close companionship which their common purpose 

 afforded, and restricted size of the vessel rendered neces- 

 sary, speedily revealed the character of eacli man, and 

 each formed for the other respect and friendship, which 

 were not only unbroken throughout the voyage, but still 

 continues. 



Nine days' steaming, three of which were vexatiously 

 spent in a great field of ice which had floated around 

 from the eastern shores of Greenland, brought the Kite to 

 Godhavn. a Danish settlement on the Island of Disco. 

 Here we took on board Daniel— faithful Daniel— who 

 formed such an attachment for us that when six weeks 

 later, on our retnrn to his home, we bade him good bye, 

 he carried out to the letter his oft-repeated threat to 

 "much cry when ship go way." 



Daniel was engaged as an interpreter, and is one of 

 the few full-blooded Eskimos yet remaining in South 

 Greenland. He was recommended to us by Governor 

 Carsteus, of Godhavn, not so mtich for his English 

 speaking qualities as for his great good nature, willing- 

 ness to oblige, strict honesty and hunting qualities. To 

 these Daniel himself modestly added one other, that he 

 "much wash," which last, in view of the love of filth the 

 Eskimos generally exhibit, was a virtue not to be des- 

 pised. We foimd, by subsequent experience, the recom* 

 vii%^d%iiom at the Governor, as well as the one by 



Daniel himself, were honestly given and we became much 

 attached to him, and he rapidly acquned undei- our tuition 

 the one qualification he was deficient in— a knowledge of 

 English. 



We did not remain long at.Godhaven, we had little 

 business there, and game, beyond a few ptarmigan, scarce. 

 As soon as possible our voyage was resumed and on the 

 morning of July 20, stoppmgin the meantime a few hours 

 at Upernavik. we arrived off Duck Pslands, three small 

 rocky bits of land not far from the dread Melville Bay. 

 These are famous as one of the chief nesting plaoes of 

 the eider duck and generally visited by whalers every 

 year. 



As soon as the Kite was brought to in their vicinity, 

 two boats were lowered and every member of the relief 

 expedition and stich of the ship's crew as could get leave 

 tiunbled in, and all armed to the teeth, Avere rowed to the 

 la,rgest of the group. When the boats touched the low, 

 rocky shores there was not a, sound to indicate that there 

 was "an eider duck within miles of the place, and only a 

 few guillemots were swimming about in the water. We 

 had, however, scarcely clambered over the rooks a. short 

 distance inland before a plump eider flew up from directly 

 in front of the feet of one of the hunters. At least a 

 dozen shotguns were discharged at the unhappy bird, 

 which fell about 50yds. away with a heavy thud, a shat- 

 tered and useless mass of flesh, feathers and broken bones, 

 chiefly through the fact that the shells used by the ship's 

 crew Vere all loaded with buckshot. 



If up to that time there had been a fear in the minds of 

 any of us that there were no birds abotit, the simultaneous 

 discharge of all our guns showed us our mistake. Scarcely 

 had the soimds echoed back to us from the huge botilders 

 and rocks before the air became darkened by thousands 

 of eider ducks, which flew hither and thither with af- 

 frighted cries. Some hurried toward the saf etj^ of the 

 sea, others to the fancied security of a small lake which 

 occtqDied the center of the island. 



Seeina- the vantage to be gained by so doing- 1 stationed 

 rnvself at the head of tlie lake, and, immediately after as 

 several birds flew by, took aim , and fired at them; but to 

 mv amazement and disgust, the big birds flew heavily on 

 unharmed and quacking to the sea. My next shot, as 

 well as several succeeding ones, yielded no better restdts, 

 except occasionally to knock out a few feathers. 



As I was about to give up disheartened, one of the crew 

 came along, and noting my ill success said: ' 'Them birds 

 you're shootin' at are too far off." 



"Too far!" I exclaimed, "not one I have fired at has 

 been more than 20yds. away." 



"A hundred, if ah inch," he repfied sententiously. 

 ' 'This is a deceivm' country. Try agin but don't shoot till 

 ve kin see their eyes." 



I followed his advice and found the wisdorn of it, for m 

 the next hoiu* I had as much sport as the most enthusiastic 

 hunter could desire, and when at the expiration of that 

 time I stopped and the remamder of the partj- came up, 

 each bending under a burden of birds, I had more than 

 two dozen plump ducks in a heap at my feet, and with 

 the proud record of having twice killed three bnds from 

 two flocks passing at the same time, with four shots from 

 my Winchester repeating shotgun. 



'We might have kept up the hunting aU day and kiUed 

 ■innumerable birds, but between 150 and 200 were deemed 

 quite sufficient to sustain our craving for f o\a-1 through 

 the dangerous Melville Bay, even though we might be de^ 

 tained therem by the ice for a week or more. 



Returning on boaxd, therefore, after a little more than 

 an hour on shore, the Kite, which had been in the mean- 

 time slowly steaming about, took up again her journey, 

 and a few hours later, with some trepidation we found 

 ourselves opposite the famous Devil's Thumb, and in the 

 apparently iUimitable fields of ice of Melville Bay, with 

 the added danger of a dense fog surrounding us. 



Nevertheless, by carefully choosing his "leads" or lanes 

 of water, which during the smnmer months extend in 

 various directions through this ice, Captain Pike brought 

 us safely out of it 52 hours to Cape York, where we met 

 our first wild Eskimos, tlrat strange race of men, to Avhom 

 Sir John Ross gave the name of Arctic Highlanders. As 

 the Kite made fast to the shore ice which extended per- 

 haps Imlf a mile out to sea, mingled with the cries of 

 "Chimo. chimo" (welcome, welcome) of the natives, were 

 heard sounds from the lofty cliff's which toAvered from 

 three to five thousand feet above the Avater, and from the 

 air. These sounds bore a striking resemblance to those 

 made in summer time at home by multitudes of small 

 frogs, when heard from a distance. These were caused, 

 as Ave had learned during the pi-evious day or two, by mil- 

 lions upon millions of "little auks," a bird about the size 

 of a robin. We had read much in various works of Arctic 

 travel, of the tootlisome qualities of these birds, and were 

 eager to find out for ourselves -whether our palates Avould 

 agree with those of previous explorers. As the birds av ere 

 in such vast quantities, it Avas thought best in order tliat 

 there might not be useless slaughter, that only t\A-o should 

 take gun's ashore, and IVIr. Hite and I were detailed on the 

 ground that Ave Avere two of the best shots in the party. 



Filling otu- belts Avith shells loaded Avith No. 6 shot, Ave 

 sallied joyfully forth, promising the others the materials 

 for a savory feast on our return. We made our way 

 quickly over the broken ice floes to the shore, and with 

 infinite pains and labor clambered up the rough rocks 

 and clilfs to a sloping piece of table land, and thence to 

 the foot of a great mountain Avhose ragged peak was lost 

 in the clouds far above. In a f eAv moments a vast flock 

 of little auks came flying by, so closely packed together 

 that both Mr. Hite and I fired into it AAdth perfect confi- 

 dence that a shower of dead birds would tumble to the 

 earth. But nothing of the kind happened. The entire 

 flock fleAV screaming away, and settled in security 1,000ft.' 

 below on the few patches of \^^ater of the otherwise frozen 

 sea. The reports of the guns, hoAvever, frightened from 

 their rocky perches untold numbers of flock.? of the same 

 birds, which flew about us in great sweeps, and so thick 

 that at a short distance they resembled great and swiftly 

 moving black clouds. Into one of rhe-.e riocks with 

 duninished confidence we again firecl, eacli L-arefully 

 sighting a bird, but to our mortification neither of u^ did 

 niore tliau kill 1:1 lo birds wi-. aimed at. 



B\ tlie time we liad used a dozen, or fifteen shells be- 

 t\veen us ANJthonlj litth iii"u ihm i lU.inA l)ii(U A\^e 



fers, who in turn tried their luck. Avere silenced, for they 

 met Avith no better results than we 



Like man A' other things in that wonderftil cotmtry of 

 the midnight .'^un, Ave found that the troul;>le rested not so 

 much in a lack of oi'dinary skill, but in not uuderstandiflg 

 the conditions Avhicli surrounded wliat v\-as undertaken. 



In regard to the little auks, in a feA\' days, by closely 

 studying them, we found wherein lay the difficulty. They 

 are A^ery erratic in flight, moAing right or left, up or down, 

 Avith indescribable swiftness, never holding the same posi- 

 tion with each other more than a second or tAVO. When 

 we learned that, we had no furthar trouble. We simply 

 let birds flying overhead alone, and contented ourselves 

 with shootmg at flocks which flew by on a level Avith our 

 own heights. When Ave did this two or three shots Avould 

 secure enough birds to give a royal feast to all hands at 

 the next meal. 



We found furthermore that hoAvever much former ex- 

 plorers might have drawn the long boAA^ in the relation oJ' 

 their experiences, they had told nothing but the tj-uth 

 when lauding the delicacy and dehcious flavor of the meat 

 of the "little auk." Spht and cooked Avith Ijutter by the 

 cook in his galley just before meal time, or by us in the 

 engine room, Avith a shovel for a frying pan, held over 

 the bright coals of the engine's furnaces about midnight 

 just before going to bed, it Avas equally an epicurean dish; 

 juicy, tender and toothsome, the most delightful of the 

 many appetizing meats of Greenland. 



After leaving Cape York the spirit of hunting passed 

 away from us for a time. Even with the sloAv-goiug craft 

 AA-e Avere in it Avas but a Iavo days' journey from McCor- 

 mick Bay, The knoAvledge that Ave Avere so close to the 

 chief objective point of our great journey drove eveiy- 

 thing else from our minds. Would we find the Peary 

 party? If Ave did, Avould they all be alive and well? Had 

 Mr. Peary's leg, Avhich AA^as broken in the upward journey 

 the preA'ious year, become sotmd again? Had he made 

 the great journey over the vast and mysterious forbidding 

 interior ice cap? ^ These and many other similar queries 

 filled us Avith such excitement that the gentle-eyed seals 

 sported Avith imptmitv about the vessel's side; ^ulls flew 

 overhead without having a chage of shot hurled after them, 

 and even schools of white whales gamboled in close pi'ox- 

 imity. Avithout running the risk of carry nag away in the 

 blub"ber beneath their skins several otrnces of rifle bullets. 



At length, abottt ten o'clock in the e\ eninp; ot July 38, 

 the Kite'entered Whale Sound, and came witliin siglit of 

 McCormiok Bay, Fifteen minutes later, across the lower 

 face of a great iceberg, shining and spa rkling in the bright 

 sunlight, about two ndles a-vay, there appeared a black 

 speck, which by-and-by becoming larger, we nmde out to 

 be a boat, in'Avhich Avere seA-era! wild loolcing- himian 

 'beings, some rowing Avith all their strength, and othei-s bjr 

 .their wildly waving arms seemed to be under the stres;^ of 

 great excitement. A quarter of an hour later tl-ie boat came 

 alongside, and Avith unchecked tears of gladness, three of 

 the heartv explorers, Messrs. Gibson. Cook and VerhoefF, 

 Avho had braved the cold of the high arctic winter, -vvere 

 Avelcomed on Ijoard, ami Ave learned that vur expedition 

 had not been in v.ain. tliat not a life had been lost, an 

 undue hardship experienced, or a plan of the gallant 

 leader, Mr. PearA\ miscarried. 



By midnight the Kite was safely anchored in MoCor- 

 mick BaA , opposite the "Reil Cliff House," Mr. Peary's 

 cozA inter quarters. 



mo t d ft 

 ai'd AV 

 -wLat 

 S the uT 



conclusion that little at 



111 ( '-m^ w-t the 



h 1 



t nT-] J, 1 - 



had ever betore attempted, 

 to the ahip ,tnd litii \\ith 







bareofctic cungrataJationa 





i leit Oai>e York these soof' 



AN ARCTIC ROVER. 



The musk ox (Ovibos inosohatus) is considered hj natur- 

 alists one of the rarest of our North American mammalia. 

 In a clime of almost perpetual Avinter, within the Arctic 

 Circle, this animal fives and thrives. In a land Avhich 

 has been so fascinating and so fatal to the many explorers 

 Avho liave sought to solve tlie mysteries of these desolate 

 rooky ice-bound fields, in which no animal, it AvoukI seem, 

 could exist, the hardy musk ox roams at Avill during the 

 entire year'. The ability to .stand the rigors of such a 

 climate is a striking feature of its interestmg life history. 



The musk oa- is at present i'oimd only in the most north- 

 ern parts of North America, where it ranges in small 

 bands on the barren grounds between tlie sixtieth parallel 

 and the shores of tiie Arctic Sea. Its southern range is 

 graduallA^ contracting, and it is no longer met with west of 

 the Mackenzie River. It is found thiough tl)e Pany 

 Islands and Grinnell Land to North Greenland, reaching 

 on the Avest coast as far south as Mellville Bay. It was 

 met Avith by all the Polar exploring expeditions, kicluding 

 tlie De Long, Hall and Greely ])arties. l .ieut. R. E. Peary 

 in his late Greenland journey secured se>-eral specimens 

 of various ages and reports it comparatis elj abundant. 

 The German Polar expedition of ISOy-Tft found it .at Sabine 

 Island on the east coast. In former ti toes the musk ox 

 roamed in other parts of the Avorld. Its fossil remains, or 

 those of an allied species, have been found m northern 

 Siberia and the plains of GermaiiA' and France. It has 

 also been found in the gravel beds in several parts of Eng- 

 land, as Bronilev . Bath and Freshfield, and also iu tlie 

 brick earth of tiie Thames Valley at Crayford. Kent. 



In -size the musk ox equals the smaller A-arieties Of 

 Scotch and Welsh cattle, but in structtu-e and habits it_is 

 more like the sheep: and the combination of characteris- 

 tics is AT ell expressed by its generic name, Ovihos. It is 

 gregarious in habit, going in herds of twenty or thirty 

 head, and sometimes ninet:^' or a hundred have been ob- 

 served. The bands contain one or two full-groAvn bulls. 

 NotAvithstandmg their short legs, they run -« ith consider- 

 erable speed. When frightened, they gather together like 

 a flock of sheep, and follow^ a leader a.s sheeii do an old 

 ram. This habit makes the total externiinatiuti of a lierd 

 an easy task, when it is the desire of its de^rrov ers to ac- 

 complish it. Whenthuroiighly alarmed they easiiv ascend 

 precipitous slopes, their curved, sliaip-edged hoofs greatly 

 aiding tliem in gaining a foothold. 



The naaie of musk ox is giA-eu on account of the musky 

 odor exhaled by the animal. The odor does not proceed 

 from any special gland, a.% in the caae of tlie musk deer 

 and other animals which secrete a, mnskj^ odor. The 

 cause of this peculiaT qdor has not been sat&iactorily ex- 

 p.lained. , . , 



AccouhngtoSn ' ' odson, -^When the animal 



is fat iia fle&h is i.-eseDibleB that of earibouj, 



]3Ut ha-s B oostiVfci i,. . irding to oth«¥ tiufchoriiiee 



