Fatal North by Bruce Henderson

Author:Bruce Henderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2011-09-04T04:00:00+00:00

13

Cry with Hunger

Like a wandering tribe of the Far North in the dead of winter, the lives of the ice-floe party now depended on their native hunters finding seal.

The seal had long been the Eskimo’s staple winter food and most valuable resource. It provided them with not only their own diet but also food for their sledge dogs, as well as clothing, material for making boats, tents, harpoon lines, and fuel for light, heat, and cooking. But finding seal in winter is not easy since they live principally under the ice and can be seen only when the ice cracked. An inexperienced person would never catch one.

Being warm-blooded, seals cannot remain long under water or ice without breathing, and in winter they are forced to make air holes through the ice and snow through which to breathe. At the surface these holes are small—not more than two and a half inches across—and are not easily distinguished, especially in the dim and uncertain light of wintertime.

Seals are very shy, too, and seem to know when they are being watched. A native hunter sometimes remains sitting over a seal hole—bundled up in skins and not moving or making a sound—for as long as forty-eight hours before getting a chance to strike. And if the first stroke is not accurate, the game is lost.

At that time barbed spears were used. Because the skull of the seal is exceedingly thin, if the blow was well aimed it was sure to penetrate. The seal could then be held securely until the breathing hole was sufficiently enlarged to pull the body through. Although Joe and Hans sometimes shot seals, they had to spear their prey before it sank or floated away.

On most days the two Eskimos went out hunting, and nine times out of ten they returned empty-handed. The long hours of traversing across the ice through blustering winds and near-zero visibility and waiting patiently over seal holes did not demoralize them, nor did their repeated failure to find game. Each understood his role and was prepared to do it again the next day, and the day after.

Following a brief storm, thick with new snow, the weather cleared up on November 4. Tyson could see that the floe was entirely surrounded by water and drifting swiftly in the current.

Two days later, Joe killed a seal, for which everyone was grateful. Its carcass provided a few bites of fresh meat for every man, woman, and child, blood for a strong fat-laced broth made by Hannah, and enough blubber to keep the lamps going.

The weather turned bad the next day, and all were confined to their igloos, with the exception of Joe and Hans, who went hunting in a driving blizzard. After they had been out for some time, they became separated. Joe, after trying his luck hunting alone, made it back to the camp, fully expecting to find Hans had preceded him. Joe was much alarmed when he learned Hans had not arrived. He persuaded one of the seamen to go back with him to find Hans.

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