311 



many cases is , that it gets its head or a paw into a noose 

 and cannot free itself. As a rule these hare-traps are looked 

 after by the old men and the larger boys. It is in the polar 

 winter by moonlight and in the polar spring, while the hare- 

 skin is still usable, that this hunting is carried on. A trap for 

 hares, consisting of two converging rows of stones, was seen 

 by me 3 — 4 km east of the settlement up in the hills; it was 

 constructed in front of a greenish transverse hollow on a small 

 ridge. 



About two km east of the settlement Umanark, on the 

 north side of the small peninsula, where this joins on to the 

 mainland, projects a small, low point out into the bay. On 

 this is situated a fairly well-preserved ruin of a house, and in 

 front of this there is a couple of half-fallen stone-pillars, which 

 have been used as a place of deposit for food. Two similar 

 depot-pillars occur at Umanark, where Ihey also lie in front 

 of the houses, so that they can be seen from the passage 

 and window of the house. They are circular, massive and 

 built up of fairly large stones, which are laid above one an- 

 other without any cementing material ; the old blubber dropping 

 down from above helps however to bind the stones together. 

 The pillar has steep sides and a flat or slightly concave upper 

 surface, where the meat is laid. The height is judged, so that 

 the dogs should not be able to reach up to the food. The 

 one depot-pillar (to the left in iigure 7| is 1,6 m high and 

 ca. 1,2 m in diameter of cross-section. The other is of about 

 the same height but a trifle broader. 



The winter-house of the Polar Eskimo is an extremely 

 interesting production of the small tribe and requires very spe- 

 cial attention. Seen from the outside it is an arched elevation 

 on the ground; a very excellent comparison of its form has 

 been made with that of a large turtle, with its head and neck 

 projecting forwards. The house itself has something of the 

 characteristic arching of the turtle-shell, and the low entrance- 



