Penguin, Blubber, Their Daily Diet

1916

ONCE THEY DINE ON FISH FROM SEAL'S STOMACH.

Lacking Tobacco, Shackleton's Marooned Men Smoke Grass Taken From Boot Padding.

LONDON, England, Sept. 14. — Life on Elephant Island, in the Antarctic, as it was experienced by the marooned men of Lieutenant Sir Ernest Shackleton's south polar expedition, who were rescued recently and taken to Chili, is described in a message received from Punta Arenas and published in the Daily Chronicle.

"The day began," says the description, "with breakfast, which consisted merely of penguin, fried in blubber, with a drink of water. The morning's duties consisted in clearing away snowdrifts and catching penguin.

"Lunch was served at 1 o'clock, consisting of a biscuit with raw blubber. The afternoon was occupied with regular exercise over a track 100 yards in length.

Smoke Grass From Boots.

"At 5 o'clock, when darkness fell, came dinner, consisting of penguin breast and beef tea. Lacking tobacco, the men smoked grass from the padding in their boots, while the pipes were carved from birds' bones and wood.

"The members of the party took turns in reading aloud from the only available books, namely, the Bible, an encyclopedia, Browning, Bacon's Essays and Carlyle's French Revolution. Saturday evening was always marked by a concert, the feature of which was banjo playing. A banjo was the only musical instrument in camp.

Fish as Change of Diet.

"On one occasion there was a welcome addition to the diet when several undigested fish were found in the stomach of a seal, and greatly enjoyed. These were the only fish obtained during our stay. In August there was a change in the diet when limpets were gathered and seaweed was available as a vegetable.

"We were in the midst of one of these limpet and seaweed lunches when the rescue boat was sighted.

"'When was the war over?' was the first question we asked."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 5.

Those Ravenous Eskimos

1916

They Eat and Digest Food That Would Kill an Ordinary Man

We bear much of American dyspepsia, but there is one native race of America that is certainly not troubled in this respect. The Eskimo defies all the laws of hygiene and thrives. He eats until he is satisfied, but is said never to be satisfied while a shred of his feast remains unconsumed. His capacity is limited by the supply and by that only.

The Eskimo cannot make any mistake about the manner of cooking his food, since, as a rule, he does not cook it. Nor, so far as the blubber or fat of the arctic annual is concerned, is the Eskimo concerned about his manner of eating it. Indeed, he may be said not to eat it at all. He cuts it into long strips an inch wide and an inch thick and then lowers the strip down his throat as one might lower a rope into a well.

Despite all this the Eskimo does not suffer from indigestion. He can make a good meal off the flesh and skin of the walrus, provision so hard and gritty that in cutting up the animal the knife must be continually sharpened. The teeth of a little Eskimo child will, it is said by those in a position to know, meet in a bit of walrus skin as the teeth of an American child would meet in the flesh of an apple, although the hide of the walrus is from a half an inch to an inch in thickness and bears considerable resemblance to the hide of an elephant. The Eskimo child will bite it and digest it and never know what dyspepsia means. — Harper's Weekly.

—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, July 29, 1916, page 3.

Comment: I don't know, do you suppose this article is true? The part about lowering the meat down their throat like lowering a rope down a well. After all, if the children have such good biting abilities, they're obviously adept at using their teeth. So why would the adults simply partake of big strips of meat by lowering it down their throats?