314 



The reason why the two recesses for the side- platforms E 

 and JK appear so prominent in the interior of the house, is that 

 the walls of the house at L and M are specially heavy and built 

 somewhat inwards, in order to bear the upper structure and the 

 roof. For the Polar Eskimos have had the most difficult task In 

 forming a support for the heavy roof of stone and earth, as 

 they have had no wood at their disposal and no longer, at 

 least in recent centuries, have access to the large whale-bones, 

 which elsewhere form such an excellent building -material. 

 With regard to the manner in which they have solved this 

 problem, Peary, who was an engineer originally, remarks that 



Fig. 10. 



Cross-section of winter-house. 



It corresponds to the modern cantilever-system in engineering, 

 which has been used chiefly in the building of bridges. 



This original building-method of the Polar Eskimos Is 

 illustrated in fig. 10, which represents a cross-section through 

 the house at LiW (fig. 81, i.e. through the thickest parts of the 

 wall and across the front part of the main platform. The figure 

 shows, how a long stone on each side is fixed at its base in 

 the wall by means of other stones which act as counterpoise, 

 and how the free, inner ends of these projecting stones sup- 

 port a long and flat, central stone. I have seen several of 

 these top-stones of slate, which were about 1 m long, over 

 ^/2 m broad and some few cm thick. A third projecting stone 

 Is placed further back in the middle line of the house (at f In 

 fig. 9), and there may also be a couple of these, as a rule 



