THE FIRE-HOLE. 183 



rope, to one end of which is attached a heavy stone 

 that rests firmly on the bottom of the sea. The rope 

 comes up through the fire-hole, and passes over a pul- 

 ley and down again into the water, having at this last 

 end a ten-pound leaden w^eight. The pulley is at- 

 tached to an oar which is supported upon two "pillars 

 made with blocks of ice. Two feet below the oar, and 

 in close contact with the rope, there is an iron rod, 

 and, the rope being divided into feet and tenths of a 

 foot by little strings having " knots," the stage of the 

 tide is read with the aid of a bull's-eye lantern, as the 

 rod passes the strings. The only drawback is the 

 difficulty in keeping the rope from ^' fouling " with 

 the ice, as it wdll do if the fire-hole is not cleared at 

 least four times an hour. 



The fire-hole needs no description further than the 

 mere mention of its name. In the event of fire oc- 

 curring in the schooner, this hole is our only reliance 

 for water ; and it is therefore carefully looked after. 

 Thus far the watch has broken it out hourly. 



November 15th. 



The wind has packed the snow again, and, the tem- 

 perature having crawled down to zero, the dampness 

 has almost disappeared. 



I have presented Hans with a new suit of clothes 

 and a pair of my reddest flannel shirts, thinking by 

 making him better ofi* than Peter to quiet his jeal- 

 ousy. If I have not succeeded in this, I have at least 

 tickled his vanity, for he is a natural-born dandy, and 

 no person on board is so fond of getting himself up 

 as this same savage hunter. At Sunday inspection 

 no one more delights to appear in gorgeous array. 

 With the other Esquimaux he does not deign to asso- 



