70 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 



fellows of old, who struggled over frozen tents with 

 frozen fingers, could not have availed themselves of the 

 services of these architects of the North. During a 

 gale, the incessant banging and slatting of the walls of 

 a tent precludes all conversation and interferes seriously 

 with much-needed rest. If snow is drifting, the sides 

 collapse under the accumulated weight to such a de- 

 gree that it is hardly possible for one man to sit upright 

 in the center of the tent, and the remainder of the 

 party are compelled to lie in their bags. Once in a 

 snow house, with the door closed, it is as still as death, 

 snow being an excellent non-conductor, while drifting 

 snows without only add to the warmth and security. 



Our four days at Schei's Island stand out as one of 

 the bright spots of our trip — a large, well-warmed, and 

 well-lighted igloo, plenty of food, and a wealth of fresh 

 meat for the dogs. Two Eskimo lamps, made of oil- 

 tins, canvas, and musk-ox fat, burned night and day, 

 drying mittens, boots, and stockings. During low tem- 

 peratures too much care cannot be exercised in keeping 

 one's clothes dry. Experience is the great teacher; 

 and he who follows its precepts will return with fingers 

 and toes. How we suffered on that Peary trip! More 

 in one month than I did the last four years of Arctic 

 work ! Reason — inexperience. 



For the man in furs there is one maxim which must 

 be rigidly adhered to, anomalous as it may seem: Do 

 not permit the body to be overheated at fifty, sixty, or 

 seventy below zero. It is heat that kills in the Arctic, 

 not cold. My most miserable hours in the far North 

 have been not when encountering low temperatures or 

 facing a cutting drift, but in the shelter of a tight snow 

 house after the day's work was ended, when with 



