WASHINGTON LAND TO HALL LAND 



with Inukitsoq as our companion we started explorations in 

 good spirits, having firmly decided not to give up. We pro- 

 gressed along the ice-foot, so that nothing could escape our 

 attention. The passage here was often impossible and certain 

 distances had to be driven on a most uncomfortable Sikussaq 

 ice, a sign that the bays here are hardly ever free of ice. 



At last, 12 kilometres east of Cape Clay, some way into 

 Benton's Bay, my toil was rewarded with success. The ice- 

 foot in this place was Aery high and ridged, but a sudden 

 impulse made me stop by one of the most inaccessible places, 

 and I climbed upwards across neck-breaking ridges. My 

 instinctive scent of houses was correct, for before me lay the 

 camp for which I had searched in vain. It consisted of alto- 

 gether six winter-houses, numerous tent-circles, and large, 

 roomy meat-pits. The houses were built right on the beach on 

 sand and pebbles. The material consisted entirely of stones, flat 

 and oblong, and although some of them were not quite small, 

 it was easy to see that it had been difficult to procure fitting 

 material. A well-built house has an elaborate joining of walls 

 and roof, but there was no sign at all of any such arrangements 

 here. In spite of a thorough examination, I did not find any 

 kind of vegetation in the vicinity. One of the houses was 

 square, which is quite unusual in Eskimo architecture and must 

 owe its form to consideration of the material. The others 

 were of the usual beehive shape. We found only one remark- 

 ably large house, a so-called Quarajalik, consisting of two 

 houses built together, but with a common entrance. Whale- 

 ribs were also found built into the houses ; they seemed to be 

 inevitable in the architecture of this district. 



The meat-pits were similar in form and size to those we had 

 measured and sketched in Melville Bay ; in some instances the 

 stones had been put on edge — an uncommon method. Fur- 

 thermore we found Qulisivit — stone hives wherein meat is 

 dried. All this bore witness that the catch here had been a 

 good one. 



In addition to the ruins already mentioned I found ten 

 tent-rings. Some of these were unusually large and built with 



63 



