RAE'S LAND EXPEDITION. 253 



woes of the Victory, the eastern shores of Boothia, 

 continuous with the mainland of America. 



On this expedition, "our usual mode/' says Rae, 

 " of preparing lodgings for the night was as follows : 

 As soon as we had selected a spot for our snow-house, 

 our Esquimaux, assisted by one or more of the men, 

 commenced cutting out blocks of snow. When a suffi- 

 cient number of these had been raised, the builder com- 

 menced his work, his assistants supplying him with the 

 material. A good roomy dwelling was thus raised in 

 an hour, if the snow was in a good state for building. 

 Whilst our principal mason was thus occupied, another 

 of the party was busy erecting a kitchen, which, although 

 our cooking was none of the most delicate or extensive, 

 was still a necessary addition to our establishment, had 

 it been only to thaw snow. As soon as the snow-hut 

 was completed, our sledges were unloaded, and every- 

 thing eatable (including parchment-skin and moose-skin 

 shoes, which had now become favorite articles with the 

 dogs) taken inside. Our bed was next made, and, by 

 the time the snow was thawed or the water boiled, as the 

 case might be, we were all ready for supper. When we 

 used alcohol for fuel (which we usually did in stormy 

 weather), no kitchen was required. ' ; 



Sir James Clarke Ross, who figured in the voyage 

 of the Victory as Commander Ross, says, "Mr. Rae's 

 description of the inlet he crossed over to in the south- 

 east corner of Lord Mayor's Bay, accords so exactly 

 with what I observed whilst surveying its shores, that 

 I have no doubt of his having reached that inlet on 

 which I found the Esquimaux marks so numerous, but 

 of which no account was published in Sir John Ross's 

 narrative." Rae appropriately named the peninsula 

 Sir John Ross's Peninsula ; and the isthmus, connecting 

 it with the mainland, and flanking the inlet, Sir James 



