THEIR EXTERIOU AND INTERIOR. 45 



admitted by the roof, no windows are necessary ; 

 an aperture on the most sheltered side serves as 

 a door, over which, when not in use, a screen of 

 wah*us skin is drawn ; snow is heaped to the height 

 of about eighteen inches round the tent, to keep 

 wind or drift from penetrating beneath, and the 

 outer shell is complete, with the addition of cords of 

 hide sometimes passed over and across the roof to 

 secure the skin. 



The yaranga (plural of yarang), as these huts are 

 called, are constructed of a rounded form, to prevent 

 snowdrift from collecting at the gables, and to oppose 

 few points to the fierce winds which sweep remorse- 

 lessly over these treeless regions ; the same rule is not 

 observed Avith regard to the interior. As the 

 yaranga vary so much in size, some being only ten 

 or a dozen feet in diameter, while the largest measure 

 from thirty to forty, the internal arrangements also 

 differ much. In the smaller, a single apartment — 

 frequently scarce large enough for two persons — runs 

 across the hut opposite to the door, while in the 

 habitations of chiefs, who have generally three or four 

 generations living under their roofs, the sleeping places 

 extend in a front and two sides nearly round the 

 walls of the dwelling. These extraordinary chambers 

 are formed by posts let into the soil at a distance from 



