T11K MOULD'S WOXDEKS. 711 



hundred feet in diameter, and this was gradually lessening from 

 grinding with other ice. Tyson now appointed hunters, as it 

 was possible to kill seals, which were their only hope of escape 

 from starvation ; these would furnish warm food and blubber-oil 

 to cook with. Three seals were killed October 18th, and on the 

 21st the lost boat and provisions were recovered. Igloos (huts 

 built of ice-blocks) were made sufficiently large to accommodate 

 half the party, by packing them in like herrings, while the other 

 half had to be content with their skins and sleeping bags, though 

 the comforts were shared in turn. They had a lamp with them, 

 which was extraordinary good fortune, for by it they were ena- 

 bled to warm their quarters and cook their food, though it was 

 not one of the most serviceable lamps which the Esquimaux use. 



The ordinary lamp in use among the natives is made out of a 

 soft kind of stone, indigenous to the country ; it is hollowed out 

 like a shallow dish, with an inverted edge, on which they place 

 a little moss for wicking, which, when lighted, sucks up the oil 

 from the blubber ; and this is all the fire they have in their cold 

 country, either for heating their huts or for cooking. To dry 

 then clothing, they put them in nets suspended over the lamp. 



As dav after day went by without killing any more seals, pro- 

 visions ran so low that Tyson had to establish a daily allowance, 

 which he doled out at the rate of eleven ounces of meat for each 

 grown person, and half that amount to each child, ("apt. Tyson 

 1 ves a sad picture of their sufferings during this period, on the 

 occasion of a visit to the hut occupied by Hans and his family. 

 He says : 



"On going into Hans' hut the other day, to see thesick boy, the 

 miserable group of children made me sad at heart. The mother 

 was trying to pick a few scraps of 'tried-out' blubber out of 

 their lamp, to give to the crying children. Augustina is almost 

 as large as her mother, and is twelve or thirteen years old. She 

 is naturally a fat, heavy-built girl, but she looks peaked enough 

 now. Tobias is in her lap, or partly so, his head resting on her 

 as she sits on the ground, with a skin drawn over her. She 

 seemed to have a little scrap of something she was chewing on, 



