1913] ETAH 31 



rooms which also served as working-rooms. In the rear 

 were three rooms — a workshop, an electrical room con- 

 taining our oil-engine, batteries, etc., and a photographic 

 dark-room. To the surprise of the Eskimos, our house 

 was fitted with electric lights. A large flash-light over 

 the door welcomed visiting Eskimos from the south 

 and proved of great value in loading and unloading 

 sledges during the long, dark winter night. The electric 

 current, generated by a beautiful oil-engine and dyna- 

 mo, was a necessary part of our wireless equipment. 



In my room there was a telephone connected with the 

 igloos of the Eskimos — another wonder, and one which 

 caused no end of talk. Requests from the cave-men 

 came thick and fast for tobacco! A people really 

 living in the stone age were enjoying, as though by a 

 wave of the hand, two of the greatest of modern dis- 

 coveries. They never quite understood the telephone 

 or electric lights, wondering how sound or light could 

 possibly travel through a solid wire! 



Our meteorological work began with our landing upon 

 the shore, and was continued uninterruptedly for four 

 years, with the exception of a break in our observations 

 of about ten days in September, 1915, when all the men 

 were away from Etah. 



I realized the importance of having plenty of fresh 

 meat for my men, and I encouraged the Eskimos to 

 hunt incessantly and bring to the house for trade all 

 that they could possibly spare. As a result, when dark- 

 ness settled down over the land in October, for the long 

 period of 118 days, our meat-room was well stocked 

 with the bodies of frozen hare, eider duck, seal, walrus, 

 and caribou meat. 



Much has been said pro and con about the use of fur 



