THE WINTER OF 1915-16 



WE were now in for at least another year in the 

 Arctic, and our first task centered about suppHes 

 for the coming winter. And, strange as it may seem, 

 our immediate work was gathering grass. Although it 

 is not generally associated with the Arctic regions, 

 grass is one of the most valuable products of the North- 

 land, and, fortunately, for the comforts of the Eskimos, 

 there is an abundance in the vicinity of every village. 

 An excellent insulator against cold, it is highly prized 

 for padding in the sealskin boot, for the large comfort- 

 able beds, and for the roofing of the winter rock houses. 

 Unlike his brother in North America, the Smith Sound 

 native lives for nine months in the year in an excavated 

 clover-leaf -shaped room; the walls, floor, and ten-foot 

 entrance are of stone. Formerly the roof, supported 

 by the cantilever principle, was of slate rock. To-day 

 we find it consisting generally of wood and skins; the 

 former obtained from the white man in trade for skins 

 and ivory. 



Although the temperature upon the floor of such a 

 house, due to the open, semicircular entrance from the 

 rock-walled passage to the open air, may be, and often 

 is, at zero, that upon the bed platform, eighteen to 



