The Frozen North: An Account of Arctic Exploration for Use in SchoolsHorton, Edith
History
The Frozen North: An Account of Arctic Exploration for Use in Schools
Horton, Edith
Arctic regions
Nansen and his men passed Puisortok without any trouble, though they
talked and laughed as usual. They looked at the dreaded glacier, and
admired the beautiful color of the ice, which shaded from blue to a
milky white. Yet old Puisortok showed no signs of anger. Soon the
wayfarers came upon an Eskimo camp. High up among the rocks stood the
skin tents, while the Eskimos themselves were gathered outside, running
about in a highly excited manner, chattering and waving their arms. As
the boats came nearer, the people on the land yelled and shrieked. Some
ran to the shore, and some to high points on rocks, where they could
get a better view of the strangers.
They welcomed the newcomers with smiles of delight, and helped them
in every possible way. Nansen and his friends were invited into the
Eskimo tents. They remained inside as long as possible, but the filth
soon drove them out. When Nansen and his men went to bed in their own
tent, the Eskimos stood around in crowds, gaping curiously to see them
undress and crawl into their sleeping bags.
The Eskimos gave the white men pieces of sealskin, and in return their
guests presented them with the empty tin cans in which their meat had
been packed. These gifts pleased the natives very much. They contrived
to make Nansen understand that two tribes, one traveling north and the
other south, had met at this place, and that now they were preparing to
separate and continue their journey. Nansen determined to accompany the
tribe which was going north, because he thought that their knowledge of
the coast might be of assistance to him.
The accomplished Eskimos were not long in preparing for the journey.
In a twinkling the tents were down and everything was packed. Before
they parted, the members of the different tribes bade one another
good-by, rubbing their noses together, instead of kissing. A few
remained behind the others for a specially tender farewell. They drew
up in a line like soldiers, and brought out snuff horns. One man would
take snuff from a horn, and pass it on to the next. They spent several
hours in this ceremony, each man taking snuff many times. Nansen
thought they would sneeze themselves to death.
Only the Eskimos who had come from the south had their horns full of
snuff. The tribe from the north was bound for the Danish colonies on
the southern coast, to procure this important article. The journey
takes about two years, one year to reach the Danish colonies, and one
year to return. When the colonies are reached, the Eskimos spend an
hour or two in trading. After they obtain the snuff, they start on
their homeward journey. Their form of snuff is simply tobacco, ground
to a powder between stones. In exchange for the tobacco, the Eskimos
give large, fine bearskins, foxskins, and sealskins. They pay high
prices for articles which cost the white men very little money.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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