WONDERS OF ANTARCTIC WORLD 347 



they fail to realize that civilization will make their hairsh life easier, more 

 pleasant, more happy? The questions come naturally at the idea. It seems 

 preposterous. But when one comes to examine the mode of living of the winter 

 bound Eskimo, along with the conditions under which he is forced to exist, it 

 seems not so astonishing that the Eskimos should say: *'We were a happy 

 people until the explorers came. The explorers brought their civilization, and 

 that is not well." 



Living in a land so barren and harsh that nowhere else on earth is its du- 

 plicate to be found inhabited, the Eskimo through centuries of struggle has 

 adopted thd only mode of living that makes his existence possible. The land 

 which other people despise, the conditions under which no other people could 

 live, he has learned to love. They are his world, and without them he could 

 not live. 



Resources such as the world looks upon as necessary to the maintenance of 

 life the country has none. It is a barren of never changing ice and snow. 

 Stones, pieces of driftwood, reindeer, birds, dogs, fishes, and, most of all, seals 

 — these are the things that are given the Eskimo to live on. The stones, sticks, 

 and bones furnish him with weapons. The weapons furnish him with meat. 

 For his house there is the stone, the ice, and snow, nothing more. For six 

 months of the year his world is in darkness. Yet he lives and is happy until the 

 explorers come. 



As told to some extent earlier in this chapter, the winter house of the Es- 

 kimo — the igloo — is perhaps the most striking illustration of how bitter is the 

 fight to maintain life in the killing cold of the arctic circle. It is built of ice 

 and snow mainly, though in some cases stones and blocks of frozen earth are 

 used, and its floor is sunk far below the level of the earth or ice upon which it 

 is erected. A narrow passage dug in the earth, lower than the floor, serves as 

 the only means of entrance and exit, and the Eskimo goes into his house on his 

 hands and knees. 



Along one wall is the "sleeping bench," about six feet wide, which serves 

 for a bed for the entire family. In the center of the room is the lamp, which 

 often serves as a stove as well. This is the sum total of the Eskimo's household 

 furniture. 



In order to economize the life saving heat several families dwell together in 

 one hut. In the winter house so excessive is the heat that the thick fur gar- 

 ments of outdoor use are discarded upon entrance. Among some tribes men, 

 women, and children dwell together in a complete state of nudity, in others a 



