A LONELY BARREN SPOT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4854, 18 October 1894, Page 2

A LONELY BARREN SPOT.

[By • Cbcii, Stuart,] •" Some gentl emnn of the tJnited States 11 mde a request that the Government shouldestablish a signal station and,weather f bureau oil the island of St MaftLten, in.Bohring Sea. As far as it is known '* 110 action has yet been taken in iesponse, and probably will not bo foi some time to come, for as yet the island is almost wholly Unexplored This barren spot is a long strip of l ' - ) land in the very centre of the Beliinig Sea; is about 150milesdistaiitfrom ■ the • Alaskan mainland, and is at < least 100, miles; from land in any ' direction. Its astronomical location - is 60 deg. 18 aiidl72deg 4 min. east of Qreeinrioh. Several years ago a whaling baik, while craiaing in the Behring Sea in search of whales, sighted this island and sent two boats' crews ashoie for a supply of fresh' waWi : At that time nothing was knowuof boyohd the bare fact that it 11 as an isolated and probably ban-en piece of land directly in the. course of whalcrs homeward bound from the Arctic, and hence a region to be :: avoided, The boats' crows landed ■ on a part.ofithe northern coast near the south-eastern end pf the island. Having landed, some of the men . began filling the watercasks; while' otliei-s wandered up a small stream which flowed down through a dimi* uutivo canyon to the coast. They ' had not proceeded far,however,when they were so unfortunate as to disturb sovcivil polar bears. These ' savage brutes resented the intrusion of their ' domain by chasing the Jack Tars for. quite a { distance, when all hands turned and • ■, endeavoured.to hold thoraonsters at ■ bay. Several shots were fired from '. | rovolvers, and large stones hurled 1 from lofty rocks, but oventnally the ' men were compelled to take to their 1 boats and desert the water casks. , In due course the whaling bark 1 . reached its destination.. The ad- , venturo was :',in'detail, and 1 at, the,same time severalbitaof 1 stone, which had been brought as ■ souvenirs of the northorn seas,' jivere , produced. The gentleman into whose t hands these were placed for inspec- , tion, chanced to be an experienced . ) miner, who atonce pronounced them j to be pieces of quartz very rich in gold, Little by little the '.story I spread until it. became generally known among members of the whating fleet, when many a longing glance was cast toward the rugged 1 outlines of St Matthew by the ship's crews returning home from a cruise' ' among the Arctic icefields. • : . | Two years ago a revenue cutter ! made somo soundings along 'the 1 northern coast of the island and found ,a . good anchorage iri":nine ■ fathoms of water. No attempt was " 1 made to explore the interior, as the ■ rugged nature of the 1 and and the gi-eat j' numbers of polar bears that populate 1 the miniature valleys madp it aj) ' extremely dangerous. How: I ever, it was learned that the islapfj ' has an area of abont 140 square 5 miles, its extreme length twenty, eight miles, while width is not more than!M|^HH _ Last year scaling - II rived at the island for tlleoSßHj ' purpose of putting a party ashore • hunt for bears, but iiireality to ' hunt for goldflelds. ■ A strong hut [ )yasfeuilt'pf driftwood flif the jieiich ■ not far from file anphorage \ found by the previous om#. TJiis 1 was stocked with provisions suffi- ' cient for the needs of four men for a 1 period of somo months. All beipg satisfactorily arranged tho schooner ' sailed away pn her cruise, leaving 1 j;|ie i)ten w|)o were to posecutq the ' search for gold to reconnoitre tjie 1 scene that was to be their home ' for an indefinite time..

What really occurred during the noxtfew months will, perhaps, never he known, as the solesurvivor of the ill-fated band had his reason shattered by tlio terriblo oxperienco through which he passed, and could only give ah unsatisfactory account of what had. transpired after the vessel had sailed away. His rescuo happened in this way, One ,of the Alijskaij Cpiijpany's steamers passed close down to the coast of tlie island; and her. lookout jaw a. white flag floating from tlie roof of the little'hut near the boapi A boat was at once sent asiiore, and a short search revealed one of tljo four prospectors barricaded within fl|e fi'ijil structure. He appeared tfl be in ft half demented state, and could givo no infonnatipn concgrn: ing hi? companions. 1 ' Ascarch party was at once orgpised but nq trace of the missing qipu could be found in the neighbourhood, The sick piQsppctor lyas then taken on board mid the steamer passed on her way to Sitka. In the course of a few days, the invalid recovered somewhat, and told his stoiy. Soon after the departure of the vessel, which had left him and his comrades, the bears discovered the presence of tho cabin on the shore, and swarmed about it in such great numbers, the lives of tho inmates wer^yj^fl At length, tired confinement, the men took up fISB weapons and caused a number of fierce .beasts', to expire, but their numbers seemed to increase rather than diminish.' With tho exception of short journeys to. the watoi'-'coprse' neiir by, the men \yere jcept'clpse prisoners for s'evgn or eight days. • The co'ntjnnal uncertainly apt} clqse confinement aV length fiepamp unljeavffljlg, thi-'eq qf' flig pypV sjiectoi's decided ip make an excur.sion up the coast, come what might, leaving one of their number to guard the provisions in the cabin. They started away at dawn one morning and that was the last ever seen or heard of them, • '

For tlireo months move lie was virtually imprisoned in hi? but by bis four-footed foes, and the terrible -j suspense told on bis 'mind- to sucH nu extent that when foimdaiidite ' cued his reason liad almost deserted him.jTo.ftu-tliei* attetapt' haffi fieell : - made thd'ifa'issing. nleH hs "ifc'is 'ootisiio|.ie'4 jhfif, they \\'oi bave fallen'-' a prey t<j ||ie bears flf ," tlio island;," Jt i i s' 'douljtf|il if anptliev attempt will ever bpmadoiq search £ for the fabled, gold, except by a largo band of ■ well-armed and tljo» 'vfjj roughly organised'htmters and dig. \sjj g CrB( ( . : ' V ' : Thus, tlie goidfields of the island are still as much a mystery as they' were yearaago, and to all belief it is , Mff still a barren spot, a speck upon tho' „7 ; |s occnn, nnda place to be Rhunned by * -• vessels that fiequent the hoi them ' i SMS '■>