The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3Whymper, Frederick
History
The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3
Whymper, Frederick
Adventure and adventurers; Arctic regions; Ocean; Voyages around the world
On November 15th Captain Young shot the fiftieth seal, an event which was
celebrated by the drinking of _the_ bottle of champagne which had been
reserved for the occasion of reaching the North Water—an unhappy failure,
the more keenly felt from being so very unexpected. On November 16th
“Petersen saw and fired a shot into a narwhal which brought the blubber
out. When most Arctic creatures are wounded in the water, blubber more
frequently appears than blood, particularly if the wound is superficial;
it spreads over the surface of the water like oil. Bills of fare vary much
in Greenland. I have inquired of Petersen, and he tells me that the
Greenland Esquimaux (there are many Greenlanders of Danish origin) are not
agreed as to which of their animals affords the most delicious food; some
of them prefer reindeer venison, others think more favourably of young
dog, the flesh of which, he asserts, is ‘just like the beef of sheep.’ He
says a Danish captain, who had acquired the taste, provided some for his
guests, and they praised his _mutton_! After dinner he sent for the skin
of the animal, which was no other than a large red dog! This occurred in
Greenland, where his Danish guests had resided for many years, far removed
from European _mutton_. Baked puppy is a real delicacy all over Polynesia;
at the Sandwich Islands I was once invited to a feast, and had to feign
disappointment as well as I could when told that puppy was so extremely
scarce it could not be procured in time, and therefore sucking-pig was
substituted!”
On December 2nd an event occurred which cast a gloom over the little
party. One of the engineers, Mr. Scott, had fallen down a hatchway, and
died shortly afterwards from the effect of internal injuries then
received. “A funeral at sea,” says M’Clintock, “is always peculiarly
impressive; but this evening, at seven o’clock, as we gathered around the
sad remains of poor Scott, reposing under a Union Jack, and read the
Burial Service by the light of lanterns, the effect could not fail to
awaken very serious emotions.
[Illustration: A NATURAL ARCH IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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