4 o CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



The natives live entirely on whaling, and as they can get 

 about $2,000 worth of supplies, etc., for a single bowhead, they are 

 very well provided with food, as well as other more or less useful 

 articles. Gramophones seem to be the rage among these people ; 

 as we passed through the village gramophone tunes sounded in 

 all directions. 



There was hardly any tattooing amongst the men, but many 

 of the women had hands and faces elaborately decorated. 



Their houses were large, about 40 by 50 feet in diameter. 

 The walls were made of boards raised on end on the ground, 

 about 6 feet high. The cracks were covered with other boards, 

 the whole being thus fairly windproof. From the walls was 

 raised a framework which was meant to support the sewn 

 walrus hides which formed the roof. In this spacious hut three 

 families were living, each of them in their own room. The 

 large room was divided into many small enclosures by walls 

 erected within the main walls, in the direction of the centre of 

 the large room. The walls of the enclosures were made with 

 reindeer skin, with which material the roof was also covered. 

 The size of the rooms was about 6 feet by 8 feet. Only these 

 small rooms were heated during the winter, the large space in 

 the centre being used as a general store-room and kept cold. 

 All doors opened westward. 



As we were not desirous of spending another night on so 

 open a coast, we set sail at 7 P.M. and stood out toward Siberia, 

 where we expected to stay some days, buying dogs and wearing 

 apparel. 



At 2 P.M. on Saturday, July 7, Mr. Edwards called me and 

 said that the fine clear weather had changed, and that a heavy 

 fogbank had settled down round us. We kept on towards the 

 shore, hoping to strike the native settlement we were making 

 for, but the wind, which was right on shore, increased so much 

 that we were obliged to give up our attempt to make Indian 

 Point, and to strike across for Port Clarence. 



The gale increased, but the wind was fair, and we hoped to 

 reach Port Clarence. We had set our course allowing for 

 about twenty miles drift, but not even that was enough. On 

 Sunday morning, July 8, we barely escaped Cape Prince of 

 Wales, which was about ten miles to leeward of the place we 

 headed for. 



