CHARLES FRANCIS HALL AND THE INNUITS. 



.457 



"WALRUS SKULL AND TUSKS. 



can obtain water without the la- 

 bor of melting the ice. A circle 

 is marked out for the ground 

 plan. Blocks of snow are cut 

 with a large knife or saw. These 

 blocks are three feet long, eight- 

 een inches wide, and six inches 

 thick, shaped rounding, so that 

 each block forms the segment of 

 a circle of the proposed diameter 

 of the igloo. The blocks are slight- 

 ly tapered off on the inner side, 

 and are laid spirally, one man 

 building from within, while the 

 other brings the blocks from without. The courses grow smaller and smaller 

 as the dome rises, until there is only a narrow open circle, into which a block 

 of snow is dropped by way of keystone, binding the whole dome firmly together. 

 The man within now carefully examines every part, and if there are any open- 

 ings left they are stopped up with snow. A hole for a door is then cut ; and 

 through this are passed the snow-blocks to build the divan, wdiich forms the 

 seats and bed. A tunnel-like passage is then dug and covered over. This is so 

 low and narrow that one must crawl on all fours to pass through it. The outer 

 door of the passage consists of a block of ice or hard snow fitting closely to 

 the opening and turning upon a sort of pivot. The usual diameter of a family 

 igloo is twelve or sixteen feet, and its height about eight. It will accommodate 

 ten or a dozen people. 



When newly built, an igloo is one of the most beautiful structures conceiv- 

 able. The blocks are more transparent than the clearest alabastey and whiter 

 than the purest marble, but they soon become defaced by the smoke and the 

 filth of all kinds which rapidly accumulates. Apart from the divan, almost the 

 only article of furniture is the stone lamp, which serves the purpose both of 

 lamp and furnace. It reminds one of an implement common among civilized 

 people, and known as an " Etna." 



The Innuits show great dexterity in the construction of their implements 

 and in the fabrication of their clothing. Their canoes have been the admira- 

 tion of every voyager in the Arctic regions, and they are wonderfully dexterous 

 in the management of them. Their sledges have the runners made of bits of 

 bone ingeniously tied together with the sinews of the deer. When they wish 

 them to run very smoothly they shoe them with 

 ice, by simply squirting from their mouths a 

 thin stream of water upon the runner, where it 

 congeals in an instant. The " oodloo," or woman's 

 knife, is shaped like our common meat-chopper. 

 It is made of bone, merely edged with iron ; but 

 in the hands of an Innuit woman it takes the 

 place of the knife, hatchet, scraper, and shears of the woman's knife. 



