HOW WE PASSED THE WINTER. 211 



them with a little hard sea-bread and 

 weak tea well sweetened with molasses, 

 and for this the natives supply them with 

 reindeer and walrus meat, and build the 

 snow-houses over their ships. 



But you must not think that all ships 

 in the Arctic winters fare so well as 

 those I have just described. The 

 whalers visit the polar regions nearly 

 every winter, and know by experience 

 how to be comfortable when there. 

 Where they find whales they almost 

 always find Eskimo, and the natives are 

 of great assistance to them, as I have 

 said. Many explorers, however, push 

 beyond these limits, and we are con- 

 stantly reading of their useless sufferings 

 while in winter-quarters from not know- 

 ing how to properly shield and maintain 

 themselves. 



