﻿350 ESKIMOS. 



a house, and the one who is stationed within cuts 

 a low door, and creeps out when his task is over. 

 The walls, being only three or four inches thick, 

 are sufficiently translucent to admit a very agree- 

 able light, which serves for ordinary domestic pur- 

 poses ; but if more be required a window is cut, 

 and the aperture fitted with a piece of transparent 

 ice. The proper thickness of the walls is of some 

 importance. A few inches excludes the wind, 

 yet keeps down the temperature so as to prevent 

 dripping from the interior. The furniture, such 

 as seats, tables, and sleeping-places, is also formed 

 of snow, and a covering of folded rein-deer skin, or 

 seal skin, renders them comfortable to the inmates. 

 By means of antechambers and porches in form 

 of long, low galleries, with their openings turned 

 to leeward, warmth is insured in the interior; 

 and social intercourse is promoted by building the 

 houses contiguously, and cutting doors of com- 

 munication between them, or by erecting covered 

 passages. Storehouses, kitchens, and other acces- 

 sory buildings, may be constructed in the same 

 manner, and a degree of convenience gained which 

 would be attempted in vain with a less plastic 

 material. These houses are durable, the wind has 

 little effect on them, and they resist the thaw until 

 the sun acquires very considerable power. 



The success of the seal-hunt depends much on 



