LEFT TO DIE.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 45, 13 September 1864, Page 3

LEFT TO DIE.

, : ' f. :. , ':-l .i'lT . fi «"•' j /\ ii-Uilik.-Ui iU (PBOM ABTIC BBSSABCK BXPHDITIO-T, ASD OT J ; AMONG. THB EBQPIM ATJX. BY 0. "S. HALL.) | ■■-.• ■■'■': 7" ' •.'.■'■ v I ' rV . r , v , „y.- .f~r "(\ ~r f?f X*X "if ' '< Among the Esquimaux-visiting the ship'there was j a woman named Nukertou. _ This^wOmah had! always'showriherßelf desirous of rendering any acta! of kindness in her power toward the white men j strangers ; but only "for a short time was she| capable of, showing; her kh^y A -feelmgß^,S^c)-n^s ; laid hold hold of her; and one evening in the depth • of r winter^ whW the i sea was frozen 1 over/ the snow ; lay.thick upon the,, ground, and the nights,, were of moro than eighteen hours duration, Mr Hall was informed that poor 'Nukertou war 'dying! Without delay, though himso.lf-jnot;ffiw7^from temporary sickness,' he determined to visit her with medicines arid*. riutritiousT food. The place where Nukertou was residing happened to be at. • an igloo .village, about two.mues.distantfethe igloos orsnowhutsas we call them,being several innumber Among them was 'one belonging ito.anlrinurmari and wife, who will henceforth figure greatly in Mr Hall's narrative^. Tho7_aan's|n^ — his wife's Tookoolito ; and a* few years previously they had both been to England with a wealthy merchant, who had visited the neighborhood somewhat north^of -the -present locality, wliero they then happened to bo. Tookoplito ,was a singular instance of a more than ordinary intelligent mind and had retained all the knowledge she had gained in. England of tho. language,. and customs.of tho white people. Her' husband' was- also more advanced than men of his own tribe ; but his tastes led him to prefer the hunt and chase to that of the less active 'pursuits, of life. :-.; He' was. known as a bold, fearless, aud patient hunter ; while his wife in the lighter duties— arid* truth to say in a minor degree, female .accomplishments, of life. When Mr Hall arrived at the village he found that Nukerou, as was customary: with :; her .people, had been left almost wholly deserted. Tookoolito alone, had as faras her superstitious regard for Innuit customs permitted, -attended upon- .her.-- But> in all other respects the sick woman had been' neglected. Her time, as those who belonged to her seemed to think, was como, and it was useless, they considered, to try aiid save her. The Angeko, br wizard man, that belongs to every tribe, had given her over, aud therefore her nearestkm had deemed it unnecessary to try and prolong- Ivor life, She was placed in a new snow-hut built on purpose, and there left to die alone. Yes, before life has departed, even previous to any certainty of death, the husband arid relations, considering her to be of no more use iv the world plrced her in a living tomb, and left her to linger out tho last few days of existence by herself. The way of it was : — Two of her nearest kin erected' an igloo, with the usual accompaniments of bedplace and entrance, tho latter, however, being at first a mere opening at the back. Into this Nukertou was placed, she herself perfectly conscious of her doom. Tho bed made for her was. as all are in the snow huts, a, raised platform of of buow about eighteen inches high, upon which skins of wild animals wero laid, and then her sick form deposited. More skins were placed over her, Borne water and food put within her reach, with a feeble lamp left burning, and then tho igloo was firmly closed up, and the poor woman left to die. This seems a terrible picture to contemplate, but, we regret to say, it is a common one among the Innuit peoplo. Two or thee similiar cases came under Mr Hall's knowledge ; and, barbarous as it may seem, still they appear to understand it among themselves, and submit without repining. _ In the present case, when Mr. Hall, after a fatiguing and bitterh -c Ad w.dk, (tho thermometer being many degree's below zero, and the hour advanced in night,) arrived at the place, he found tho poor woman still alive, but evidently past all human aid. Everything in his power did he try to do, enlisting the services of Tookoolito — so far as she could in accordanco with her customs — to aid him. But all in vain. Hour after hour did he pass in thatsolitary igloo, si riving to save tho poor creature. Midnight approached, and he himself was almost frozen with tho severe cold ; but life still lingered, and he felt that it was impossible for him to leave that dying couch. The form of Nukertou lay b.fore him, emaciated, ghastly, almost hideous to behold, with matted hair, repulsive look ; but she still breathed, and it was imposs : ble for him, as a man and a Christian being, to forsake her, though all else had done so. Even Tookoolito dared not approach when tho last moments were expected to come. No ; none but the white man, voyager from a distant land, tarried beside the poor Innuit woman as her spirit took its flight in that solitary death igloo at the midhight . hour of a bitterly cold winter's night. Hall had been watching anil trying to administer medicine for a long time, with the feeble glimmering light of his lantern to picture the scene, when a noise at the entrance of the igloo attracted his attention. He had managed to get in by removing the usual block of ice serving as a doorway, and now to his surprise, ho found some persons were at work cveidently intending to seal up the igloo again. Here was a dilemma ! Did they mean to immure him also because of his infringing .their, customs? Possibly so, he thought; and this not being at all desirable, he shouted, with a view of attracting their attention. For a moment they ceased, but then again contiuued ; and as it seemed intended to bury him also, he made to tho entrance, and they went away. On his return to the dying couch he found the spirit of the poor Innuit woman fast departing. Convulsive gasps betokened the last moments of dissolution. Now they became fainter, more irregular, more spasmodic. He himself was likewise all but inanimate from the cold. He stamped his feet ; he plied his arms ; he moved about, so far as the narrow cirle of the snow igloo permitted ; but nothin» gave him much circulation of the blood. Still he kept to his post.. To leave the woman there to die alone seemed against every feeling of his nature as a man and a Christian, and thus he remained. One hour more passed away, and it was now the morning time of night. Darkness had almost wholly enveloped him for the lamp had nearly gone out, and no more oil could be found. Presently he thought the struggles of her the watch had ceased. He listened. No; the breathing still continued, but fainter and fainter, and at longer intervals. Finally the respiration could be heard no more, and, placing a glass mirror he carried with him over her lips, he found by the dim glare of the flickering light, that the soul, of poor Nukertou, Innuit though she was, had gone to Him who had created it. And there he now sat, alono with the dead, in a solitary snow igloo, amidst the wild and , . frozen regions o°f the North. Truly it was a strange and unusual picture— he, tho white man, one of a highly civilised race, watching over and trying to perform the last sad duties to a feeble and deserted woman of the North. Directly the breath had departed and Mr. Hall found no more could be done, he went in search of Tookoolito and some of Nukertou' s kindred' With difficulty he managed to get the male relatives to enter the igloo ; aud they having seen that the deceased was in their hands, he departed, as they afterward again well sealed up the place, arid thus left her in the tomb exactly as she had died. A few months afterward, when the 'snow had^become partly melted by the sun, it was found that thedogs or -wolves had entered and committed ravages' on the otherwise preserved body. A pilo f of stones was then placed over^ her Jby relatives 1 and friends, to serve as, the Innuit , grave .asuadly bestdw-eduhder^ch was not the only one of th'ekirid^in :which Mr. Hall had some,- participation. , Ano&er^omaii died, having' been*buriM^ on that occasion, also in wmterr' ; «he went twice to try- and, save her,, the last tme r with f snpw seven "or eight feet ''debp? aha burying; the igloos pf the village, and also, the brie > wherein she was deposited. . Only tho upper part of the. dome* were visible f and to '"find; that. where-the-sick -woman lay-lie 1 -had io - wzVhi aiVpeair^'aftdi. finallymade an opening, where he .beheld the, -poor^creature, apparanfcly dead, beneath I Ms* 'eye.' ' Deftend-ding,aae.:c-iefully^samihed, aud, Abiding life quitS extinct, be reolowd tiw igkx. andreta-Zi^d;