AND KAYAK 55 



saw, while Julius stood underneath and knotted 

 his great muscles with the power of his pulling. 

 They had a workshop all ready close at hand ; 

 it consisted of two blocks of frozen snow set 

 about six feet apart, and on these they laid 

 the planks to be shaped and smoothed. I 

 offered them the use of the carpenter's bench 

 in the hospital, but they declined the offer 

 with scorn. They were better used to the 

 open-air work-bench, and seemed to use the 

 tools quite well with their hands cased in 

 thick sealskin gloves ; at all events, the sled- 

 making went on apace, and each time I went 

 out I found them a little further on with it. 

 All the men who had any time to spare were 

 clustered round to watch, and they kept up 

 a constant fire of remarks ; but their chatter 

 was always good-humoured, and the workmen 

 seemed to get on the faster for it. 



As the sled grew under their hands I found 

 that they were making it sixteen feet long, 

 and two and a half feet broad. It had twenty- 

 six cross-pieces, and never a nail did they use. 

 " Kappe," they said, " nails no good : plenty 

 soon break : seal-hide ananak " ("splendid "). 

 They set the runners on the blocks, and bored 

 holes for the binding : then stood them up 

 a couple of feet apart and bound the cross- 

 pieces to them, first the front and back ones, 



