Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 13, 2025
It was in the pages of the traveller Hearne a man who, among these scientific gentlemen, is considered only in the light of a rude traveller, and not deserving the name of naturalist.
Travelling westward they passed over bleak hills with very little vegetation "the barren grounds, where, in general, we thought ourselves well off if we could scrape together as many shrubs as would make a fire; but it was scarcely ever in our power to make any other defence against the weather than by digging a hole in the snow down to the moss, wrapping ourselves up in our clothing, and lying down in it, with our sledges set up edgeways to windward". But the principal Indian guide that he engaged was so obviously determined to make the expedition a failure that Hearne returned to his base, Prince of Wales's Fort, and made a second start on the 23rd of February, 1770, this time taking care not to be accompanied by any other white men, and insisting that the Indians who accompanied him should be more carefully chosen.
"I know of that letter. Hearne showed it to me, and would make for the big house, although I told him fair not to doubt his true wife." "How did he get the letter?" "That's tellings," said Mother Cockleshell with a wink of her lively eye.
It is only fair to state that during these three days of hard work no fault was to be found with Hearne. The sealing-master knew he was being closely watched, and he was well aware that Captain Len Guy would not spare him if he tried to get up insubordination amongst his comrades.
A loud call from West brought us to a little strip of beach on the right of our stranded boat. Three corpses lay upon the stony soil, that of Hearne, that of Martin Holt, and that of one of the Falklands men. Of the thirteen who had gone with the sealing-master, there remained only these three, who had evidently been dead some days. What had become of the ten missing men?
A month of travel over the barren grounds brought them on the last day of June 1772 to the desolate but welcome surroundings of Fort Prince of Wales. Hearne had been absent on his last journey one year, six months, and twenty-three days. From his first journey into the wilderness until his final return, there had elapsed two years, seven months, and twenty-four days.
What did Hearne’s new attitude mean? Why did he strive to gain Martin Holt, one of the best of the crew, as an ally? Why did he recall the scenes of the Grampus? Did Hearne know more of this matter of Dirk Peters and Ned Holt than the others; this secret of which the half-breed and I believed ourselves to be the sole possessors? The doubt caused me serious uneasiness.
The evidence of Mother Cockleshell, of Chaldea, and of various other gypsies, went to show that no one had left the camp on that night with the exception of Hearne, and even his absence had not been made known until the fact of the death was made public next morning.
It was useless to go on without instruments to take observations of the Arctic Circle; so for a second time Hearne was compelled to turn back to Fort Prince of Wales. Terrible storms impeded the return march. His dog was frozen in the traces. Tent poles were used for fire-wood; and the northern lights served as the only compass.
Then, finding all the Eskimo quiet in their tents, they rushed forth from their ambuscade, and fell on the poor, unsuspecting creatures, unperceived till they were close to the very eaves of the tents. A horrible massacre forthwith took place, while Hearne stood neutral in the rear. "The scene was shocking beyond description.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking