Dr King on the Industrial Arts of the Bsqumaui;. 113 



floor sunk three feet in the earth, a description which exactly 

 answers for the habitations of the Esquimaux of Labrador. 

 From the Coppermine river along the coast westward, and 

 thence to Prince William Sound, the winter houses are built 

 of drift-wood, which is found along the whole route in more 

 or less abundance. At Norton Sound, a sloping roof without 

 any side walls characterises the building, and instead of raised 

 benches, the floor is formed of logs, the entrance being at one 

 end, with a fireplace just within it, and a small hole for the 

 escape of smoke. From Norton Sound to Point Barrow, the 

 houses vary in their construction according to the nature of 

 the ground and the taste of the inhabitants. Some are 

 wholly above ground, some have the roof scarcely raised above 

 it, and others resemble those of the natives of Norton and 

 Prince William Sounds, but they all agree in being con- 

 structed with drift-wood covered with peat, and in having 

 the light admitted through a parchment window in the roof. 



They are very comfortable abodes, and now and then of 

 considerable size ; one situated between the Mackenzie and 

 Coppermine rivers, was in the interior found to be a square of 

 twenty-seven feet, having the log roof supported on two strong 

 ridge poles, two feet apart, and resting upon four upright 

 posts ; the floor, formed of split logs, dressed and laid with 

 great care, was surrounded by a raised border about three 

 feet wide, intended for seats; the walls, three feet wide, were 

 inclined outwards for the convenience of leaning the back 

 against them, and the ascent to the door, which was on the 

 south side, was formed of logs ; the outside, covered with 

 earth, had nearly a hemispherical form, and around its base 

 were arranged the skulls of twenty-one whales. There was 

 a square hole in the roof, and the centre log of the floor had 

 a basin-shaped cavity, one foot in diameter, probably intended 

 for a lamp. 



The most extraordinary houses are those constructed of 

 the bones of whales, walruses, and other animals. Sir 

 Martin Frobisher first makes mention of these dwellings as 

 existing at Labrador, and Sir Edward Parry and Captain 

 Lyon afterwards found them in use at Melville Peninsula and 

 Igloolik. They are built circular, and of a dome-like form, 



VOL. XLII. NO. LXXXIII.— JANUARY 1847. H 



