January, 1863. J 



The Sleep in the Snow-liut. 



135 



nieltlng" the snow upon them ; for if it again froze upon them it would 

 make the garments heavy as well as cold. This thorough beating re- 



AK-KOW-TAR, SNOW-BEATEU. 



The wood of this from one of Frankliu's sliips. 



quired a fidl half hour. The temperature within the hut, under the 

 influence of the lamps and of the crowd, quickly rose from 41 "^j hut 

 was again lowered by the venison in the trench, which, when first 

 brought in, smoked as if on fire. To prevent the tongue and lips from 

 being frozen at the first taste of the meat, it was held, for a few 

 moments, in mittened hands and breathed upon, the children's share 

 being kept awhile in their parents' mouths. Oii-e-his half-breed in- 

 fant, slipping entirely naked from its mother's hood, played on the 

 bed, and on Ou-e-Ms raising the child to his shoulders, it stood erect, 

 balancing itself, swinging its arms and crowing at the feat. 



At 9 p. m., the whole party huddled together for the night, some 

 being compelled to sit upright through the long hours of sleep. Sev- 

 enteen breathers were sealed up, with a large snow-block, in a hut but 

 10 feet in diameter ! On opposite sides of the trench, nine were on 

 one platform and eight on the other ; every one (Innuit fashion) 

 having the head toward the trench. 



In the morning, between the hours of 3 and 4, the men waked, 

 ate a quantity of deer-meat, smoked, and again went to sleep. At 5, 

 the whole party were amused to find that the lamp-smoke during the 

 night had covered them with soot. Hall waked with a severe head- 

 ache from the " excess of carbonic-acid gas generated by three fire- 

 lights and seventeen persons." 



