Part 14 (1/2)
This was indeed the case. The intense desire for sleep which is produced in Arctic countries when the frost seizes hold of the frame soon confuses the faculties of those who come under its influence. As long as Fred had continued to walk and work he felt quite warm; but the instant he sat down on the lump of ice to rest, the frost acted on him. Being much exhausted, too, by labour and long fasting, he was more susceptible than he would otherwise have been to the influence of cold, so that it chilled him at once, and produced that deadly lethargy from which, but for the timely aid of his companions, he would never have recovered.
The arrangements for supping and spending the night made rapid progress, and, under the influence of fire and animal heat--for the dogs were taken in beside them--the igloe became comfortably warm. Yet the snow-walls did not melt, or become moist, the intense cold without being sufficient to counteract and protect them from the heat within. The fair roof, however, soon became very dingy, and the odour of melted fat rather powerful. But Arctic travellers are proof against such trifles.
The tarpaulin was spread over the floor, and a tin lamp, into which several fat portions of the walrus were put, was suspended from a stick thrust into the wall. Bound this lamp the hunters circled, each seated on his blanket-bag, and each attended to the duty which devolved upon him. Meetuck held a tin kettle over the flame till the snow with which it was filled melted and became cold water, and then gradually heated until it boiled; and all the while he employed himself in masticating a lump of raw walrus-flesh, much to the amus.e.m.e.nt of Fred, and to the disgust, real or pretended, of O'Riley. But the Irishman, and Fred too, and every man on board the _Dolphin_, came at last to _relish_ raw meat, and to long for it! The Esquimaux prefer it raw in these parts of the world (although some travellers a.s.sert that in more southern lat.i.tudes they prefer cooked meat); and with good reason, for it is much more nouris.h.i.+ng than cooked flesh, and learned, scientific men who have wintered in the Arctic Regions have distinctly stated that in those cold countries they found raw meat to be better for them than cooked meat, and they a.s.sure us that they at last came to _prefer_ it! We would not have our readers to begin forthwith to dispense with the art of cookery, and cast Soyer to the dogs; but we would have them henceforth refuse to accept that common opinion and vulgar error that Esquimaux eat their food raw _because they are savages_. They do it because nature teaches them that, under the circ.u.mstances, it is best.
The duty that devolved upon O'Riley was to roast small steaks of the walrus, in which operation he was a.s.sisted by West; while Fred undertook to get out the biscuit-bag and pewter plates, and to infuse the coffee when the water should boil. It was a strange feast in a strange place, but it proved to be a delightful one, for hunger requires not to be tempted, and is not fastidious.
”Oh, but it's good, isn't it?” remarked O'Riley, smacking his lips, as he swallowed a savoury morsel of the walrus and tossed the remnant, a sinewy bit, to Dumps, who sat gazing sulkily at the flame of the lamp, having gorged himself long before the bipeds began supper.
”Arrah! ye won't take it, won't ye?--Here, Poker!”
Poker sprang forward, wagging the stump of his tail, and turned his head to one side, as if to say, ”Well, what's up? Any fun going?”
”Here, take that, old boy; Dumps is sulky.”
Poker took it at once, and a single snap caused it to vanish. He, too, had finished supper, and evidently ate the morsel to please the Irishman.
”Hand me the coffee, Meetuck,” said Fred.--”The biscuit lies beside you, West; don't give in so soon, man.”
”Thank you, sir; I have about done.”
”Meetuck, ye haythen, try a bit o' the roast; do now, av it was only to plaze me.”
Meetuck shook his head quietly, and, cutting a _fifteenth_ lump off the ma.s.s of raw walrus that lay beside him, proceeded leisurely to devour it.
”The dogs is nothin' to him,” muttered O'Riley. ”Isn't it a curious thing, now, to think that we're all _at sea_ a-eatin', and drinkin', and slaapin'--or goin' to slaap--jist as if we wor on the land, and the great ocean away down below us there, wid whales, and seals, and walruses, and mermaids, for what I know, a-swimmin' about jist under whare we sit, and maybe lookin' through the ice at us this very minute.
Isn't it quare?”
”It is odd,” said Fred, laughing, ”and not a very pleasant idea.
However, as there is at least twelve feet of solid ice between us and the company you mention, we don't need to care much.”
”Ov coorse not,” replied O'Riley, nodding his head approvingly as he lighted his pipe; ”that's my mind intirely--in all cases o' danger, when ye don't need to be afeard, you needn't much care. It's a good chart to steer by, that same.”
This last remark seemed to afford so much food for thought to the company that nothing further was said by any one until Fred rose and proposed to turn in. West had already crawled into his blanket-bag, and was stretched out like a mummy on the floor, and the sound of Meetuck's jaws still continued as he winked sleepily over the walrus-meat, when a sc.r.a.ping was heard outside the hut.
”Sure, it's the foxes; I'll go and look,” whispered O'Riley, laying down his pipe and creeping to the mouth of the tunnel.
He came back, however, faster than he went, with a look of consternation, for the first object that confronted him on looking out was the enormous head of a Polar bear. To glance round for their fire-arms was the first impulse, but these had unfortunately been left on the sledge outside. What was to be done? They had nothing but their clasp-knives in the igloe. In this extremity Meetuck cut a large hole in the back of the hut, intending to creep out and procure one of the muskets; but the instant the opening was made the bear's head filled it up. With a savage yell O'Riley seized the lamp and dashed the flaming fat in the creature's face. It was a reckless deed, for it left them all in the dark; but the bear seemed to think himself insulted, for he instantly retreated, and when Meetuck emerged and laid hold of a gun he had disappeared.
They found, on issuing into the open air, that a stiff breeze was blowing, which, from the threatening appearance of the sky, promised to become a gale; but as there was no apprehension to be entertained in regard to the stability of the floe, they returned to the hut, taking care to carry in their arms along with them. Having patched up the hole, closed the doors, rekindled the lamp, and crept into their respective bags, they went to sleep; for, however much they might dread the return of Bruin, sleep was a necessity of nature that would not be denied.
Meanwhile the gale freshened into a hurricane, and was accompanied with heavy snow, and when they attempted to move next morning, they found it impossible to face it for a single moment. There was no alternative, therefore, but to await the termination of the gale, which lasted two days, and kept them close prisoners all the time. It was very wearisome, doubtless, but they had to submit, and sought to console themselves and pa.s.s the time as pleasantly as possible by sleeping, and eating, and drinking coffee.
CHAPTER XIII.
_Journey resumed--The hunters meet with bears and have a great fight, in which the dogs are sufferers--A bear's dinner--Mode in which Arctic rocks travel--The ice-belt._
On the abating of the great storm referred to in the last chapter, the hunters sought to free themselves from their snowy prison, and succeeded in burrowing, so to speak, upwards after severe labour, for the hut was buried in drift which the violence of the gale had rendered extremely compact.