1875 . 
24:7 
FOOJ) I\ THE ARCTIC REGIONS 
Perhaps it mii;ht be thouj'ht that waters in which 
ice is constantly floating would be the last place in 
which animal life would be easily sustained; but curi- 
ous as it may appear, ^he northeru seas literally swarm 
with flsh of all descriptions, for it must not be forgotten 
that water is a particularly bad conductor of cold or 
heat, and therefore that the lower depths of sea are 
probably not much influenced by the ice floating on the 
surface. Now as all fish are animals of prey, the higher 
orders living on those below them,’ we have only to trace 
down to the lowest orders and find out their means of 
subsistence in order to account for the whole system of 
fish life. In the northern seas this is supplied by means 
of sea-blubber, the soft gelatinofib substance which is 
sometimes seen on our own coasts, but which, in higher 
latitudes, increases to a surprising extent, living upon a 
minute green vegetable, from which the very water of 
the Greenland seas takes its olive green appearance. The 
greater part of this blubber consists of particles so 
minute that it can only be discovered with the aid of a 
microscope. On this, crabs, shrimps, and ether Crusta- 
cea feed, of which the shrimps abound to an enormous 
extent in the Greenland seas, and these a^e in their turn 
devoured by higher orders of fish, who, however, also 
get a living from numerous zoophytes, molluscs, and 
worms, which are to be found in the depths of the sea. 
The salmon, cod, and herrings are the principal fish 
proper of the northern wmters. The herrings, however, 
leave the Arctic seas in Januar}', and advancing in a 
large column appear oil the coasts of Scotland, Ireland, 
and France, evidently choosing the Southera waters for 
the purpose of spawning, as the female is generall}’ 
found full of roe when taken. In July they begin to 
return northwards, and in September, reach the Arctic 
regions again, where ihej' winter beneath the ice and 
recruit from the fatigue of spawning. That it is pos- 
sible to catch them, either with a net or with a hook 
and line, is evidenced bj the history of Dr. Rae’s winter 
in Repulse Bay, in lS4(i-7, and he himself was hopeful 
from this cause, for he wrote reg^ding the probable 
escapeof Sir John Franklin’s expedition: “If they had 
been providentially throwm on or near a part of the 
coast where reindeer and fish w-efe at all numerous, 
surely out of so many officers and men, sportsmen may 
be found, after some practice, expert enough to shoot 
the former and fishermen to seize or net the latter, or 
net the latter, or take them with hook and line set un- 
der the ice.” It is a notewortny fact, that although Dr. 
Rae’s party left Hudson’s Bay with only four months’ 
store of provisions, when they returned there after four- 
teen months’ absence, they had still a third of their 
original stock of provisions on hand, having thus in an 
unknown country by their own exertions gained a living 
for ten months. Still, in Smith’s Sound, for which the 
present expedition is to cail, Capt. Hall, in the Polaris, 
found no fish though frequently trying with both net 
and line; whether they re-appear higher up isj’et to be 
seen. 
The Esquimaux are in the habit of catching sharks 
both with nets, baited with salt meat, and with hook 
and line. They are hunted f-jr the sake of the oil 
which is expressed from their livers, and for a sub- 
stance very much like spermaceti, which is obtained 
under pressure from their flesh. Sir Leopold M’Clin- 
tock says the Esquimaux assert that the shark is insen- 
sible to pain, and that Petersen, who was his interpre- 
ter m the voyage of the Fox, related how he had 
plunged a long knife into the head of one which was 
feeding on a white whale entangled in his net, but that 
the brute continued his repast notwithstanding. As 
Sir Leopold remarks, it must be remembered that the 
brain of a shark is extremely small compared with the 
size of its hugs head, and he says that be himself has 
seen bullets fired through them with very little appar- 
ent effect, but that if these creatures can feel, the de- 
vices practised upon them by the Esquimaux must be 
cruel indeed. The dogs of the hunters are not allorved 
to eat either the skin or the head, the former being very 
rough, and the latter producing giddiness and sickness. 
As we have mentioned above, cetaceans are hardly fish, 
lor in many respects they m.ay be classed with land an- 
imals, ^ince thej' produce their young alive and nourish 
it by giving it suck; their skin is smooth, and in some 
cases covered with hair, not scaly like that of fish; their 
blood too is w-arm, and their flesh tastes somewhat like 
beef. Being also provided with a heart, ventricles, and 
ungs, they cannot, like fish tan through their gills, 
separate the air from the water, and therefore^must 
come to the surface to breathe. Still, they can inhale 
sufficient air to last them for a long time under water, 
and herein they differ from land animals. They are, 
too, provided with fins and tails, and though these are 
not exactly similar to those of fish, still they are used 
in somewhat the same manner. But they differ from 
both fish and beasts in having a layer of fat called blub- 
ber, varying in thickness up to ten inches, which more 
frequently exudes from them when wounded in the 
water than blood does. This blnbber, under pressure, 
yields its own bulk of oil, and is used in the latter state 
by the Esquimaux to light their huts and cook their 
food. Frozen bits of blubber in thin slices are esteemed 
delicacy among these people, though it takes some time 
before an English palate becomes used to such a bonne 
boiiche. 
The largest of these cetaceans is the whale, of which 
species the spermaceti whale is the biggest. It is found, 
indeed off the coasts of North America, but is more 
common in the Antarctic than in the Arctic regions. 
The great Greenland whale is the one most sought for 
by the whalers of Baffin’s Bay, for besides being com- 
moner, it yields a much [greater amount of oil, though 
that of the spermaceti whale, as its name implies, is 
mixed with the substance called spermaceti, and is there- 
fore the more valuable. Besides this ambergris is also 
obtained from the spermaceti whale. The razorback 
wdiale is also much larger than the great Greenland 
whale, and is a very powerful monster, so much so that 
the Arctic hunters, as a rule, fight shy of it. There are 
various other kinds of whale of a smaller description, 
among which we may mention the broad-nosed whale, 
the beaked whale, and the tinner, which are sometimes 
found off Norway and Shetland, but as they do not 
yield much oil they are not thought worth the killing. 
The white whale is so shy an animal, that it can seldom 
be killed with either a rifle ball or harpoon, and is there- 
fore captured by means of a net. At that part of Baf- 
fin’s Bay, however, where the Clay River runs in and 
greatly discolors the water, turning it into a thick 
muddy' color, great success is said to attend the white 
whale fishing in the autumn when these animals migrate 
southwards, having been north evidently to breed, as 
they return accompanied by numbers of young 
“ calves.” As whales live on sea blubbei they are gen- 
erally found in the green water. In the winter they go 
south, but where is unknown. 
Narwhals, or sea unicorns, so called from the horn 
which projects from the upper jaw, are seen in great 
numbers in Baffin’s Bay during certain seasons, es- 
pecially before they begin to travel northwards in March . 
Their flesh is considered a great luxury by' the Esqui- 
maux, as also is the skin, which acts as antiscorbutic. 
The object of the horn is a disputed point, for while its 
point is too blunt for offence, it is well polished for 
about four inches, and the rest usually covered with 
slime and sea-weed, so that it is conjectured that it 
must be employed to root up food from the bot- 
tom of the sea, or else to diive out small fish from 
the clefts and fissures of floating ice, where they take 
refuge when pursued ;by their enemy the narwhal. 
As the mode of catching the whale has so often been 
described, we do not propose now entering upon if, 
especially as we w'ould rather touch upon the manner 
of capturing the walruses and seals, which are the two 
chief objects of pursuit to the native of Greenland dur- 
ing the winter months. Like the cetaceans, these ani- 
mals, though able to take in a sufficient quantity of air 
to last them for a considerable time, still have to come 
up occasionally' to breathe, and it is this circumstance of 
which the hunter lakes advantage. The walrus only 
rises at the edge of the floe in open water, and is hunted 
with spears, to which are attached lines carrying in- 
flated sealskins, intended for the double purpose of im- 
peding the animal in diving, and of preventing the loss 
of the spear. 
The Esquimaux are so very venturesome in hunting 
this animal, that they will even go out on floating pieces 
of ice after it. The seal, however, when it can find an 
open piece of water, will burrow up through to the ice 
to get to the air, making a small hole on the surface of 
much the same size and appearance as a molehill. 
The manner of taking them requires a considerable 
amount of patience and eniiui.tni.(;, for when a huuier 
hears a seal at work under the ice, he first builds a 
snow wall, some four feet high, to protect him from the 
wind, and then sitting down to leeward of it. proceeds 
to wait for the seal to reach the surface— a weary watch, 
which sometimes extends to twelve [ hours. As the 
slightest noise would frighten the seal when near the 
surface, the hunter places his spears on little forked 
pieces of stick, from whic’u he can take them up quite 
silently at the critical moment. But this is not all; for, 
fearing that he himself might move, he even ties his 
knees together with a piece of string. Thus he sits 
watching and listening for the seal, with the thermom- 
eter often 40 degs. below zero. If he ceases to hear the 
seal working below, he gently inserts into the ice a thin 
piece of bone or wire, on the top of which a knob is 
placed, and if this vibrates he knows that the seal is 
still there; but if it remains motionless, he knows that 
it is no use remaining, so he packs up his traps and 
goes home. 
When by the seal’s blowing the huntey tells that it is 
close to the surface of the ice, he takes his spear in both 
hands and drives it down into the animal, with all his 
might, having previously fastened the rope attached to 
it round his body'. He has only then to cut away tho 
thin ice all round to get the carcase out. Another way 
of killing seals is by approaching them under cover of a 
small white screen, mounted on a little sledge, which is 
pushed by the sportsman before him. In this manner 
they can, be approached within easy shot, but of course, as 
in this case they must be either in the water or upon the 
surface of the ice, and as during the depth of winter 
there is little open water likely to be found near the 
ships— this plan will not be practicable then. In shoot- 
ing them with a rifle care must be taken to hit them in 
the head, as otherwise they will escape under the ice if 
only wounded in the body. The Esquimaux practice 
various devices to attract the seals; such as scraping 
the ice, so as to produce a similar noise to that made by 
the seal with its flippers, and placing one end of a pole 
in the water and putting their mouths close to the other 
end, and making noises in imitation of those made by 
the seals. When they are in good condition and shot 
instantaneously, they' will float; but this depends ujiou 
their feeding ground. 
On one occasion when some specially fine seals had 
been shot by Sir Leopold McC’lintock’s party, they 
dredged the bottom, and found shell-fish and star-fish, 
and on another occasion the bellies of some seals were 
found full of shrimps. Although the flesh of the female 
seal is good to eat all the year round, during March that 
of the male is very fetid, having a disagreeable flavor 
liae garlick, which impregnates the whole body to such 
an extent that even the Esquimaux, who do not gener- 
ally appear to be very choice in their food, cannot quite 
manage t* stomach it. We have as yet only noticed the 
sea-fishing, but we may also mention that there is some 
excellent trout and salmon fishing in the rivers on the 
west coast of Greenland; whether that is the case along 
the shores of Smith Sound, remains still to be ascer- 
tained. When wintering in IS.’il off Griffith’s Island, to 
the south of Cornwallis Land, Captain Penny discov- 
ered a beautiful lake about twelve miles inland, in 
which a species of trout was occasionally caught 
throughout the winter with a hook and line . — Land and 
^Vat€r. 
Hakpeu’s for August gives us a goodly show of read 
log matter, fit for the cool hiding places from summer 
heats. The poetry includes “ A Sunrise in Venice” by 
Joaquin Miller, a bit of life that wreaths the soft airs of 
the sunny sduth. “ Ticonderoga and Jlonlcalm,” .an 
ode in which heroic deeds are celebrated in dirge meas- 
ure. “ Submission,” by Celia Thaxter, and “ Morituri 
Salutamus,” by Prof. Longfellow, a noble poem on the 
fiftieth anniversary of the class of 182.5 in Bowdoin Col- 
lege. Noble thoughts, deeds of high emprize, from 
classic and modern records, and mournful memories, 
are brought with rapid change before the mind’s eye. 
It is the best of the venerable poet’s recent efforts. 
The other pieces are an excellent history of the Express 
business, with short notices of the great can'iers Ham- 
den, Hale, Wells Fargo, Butterfield, and the pony ex- 
press. The matter is not new, but is put together in 
lively fashion, and well pictured. “ Ancient Pueblos 
of New Mexico and Arizona,” a subject already known 
to the readers of yds paper. Parion’s “Caricatures” 
continued; “ Mooseheud Lake,” a bright taking narra- 
tive of adventures in this famous sporting region 
coi’!OU'''.v illustrated; “The Stone Age” continued; 
“'iheFir.-it Century of the Republic— G- owth and Dis- 
tribution of Population;” Emilio Castelar on lua 
“Republican Mov£ment in Europe,” “Garth" con- 
tinued; “ The Wit and Wisdom of the Haytians,” con- 
tinued, and the customary miscellany. 
