244 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [eth.anx.18 



under the smoke hole is a fireplace, where-cooking is done; this usu- 

 ally has a flat slab of stone set edgewise in the floor on the side toward 

 the doorway to serve as a wind-break for preventing drafts from striking 

 directly on the fiie. 



Many of the houses are built with a long, low, covered passageway, 

 used both in winter and in summer, and the underground entrance is 

 omitted; some houses are very narrow and have only one wide sleeping 

 bench at the rear end, where one or two fjimilies are accommodated. 



In some cases the entrance passage above ground is large enough to 

 serve as a storeroom, but usually every household is the owner of a 

 storehouse. Where timber is scarce, as in the country between Cape 

 Vancouver and the mouth of the Kuskokwim, these are built of turf. 

 At Point Barrow underground storerooms, with a trap in the roof, 

 were seen. At St Michael storehouses are erected on four stout posts, 

 made from drift logs, set firmly in the ground and projecting 10 or 12 

 feet, forming an equal-sided quadrangle. About 5 feet from the ground 

 the hewed ends of timbers are inserted to form parallel stringers, on 

 which are laid roughly hewed sticks for a floor, the ends projecting 

 2 or 3 feet on either side. To form the walls rough planks are fitted, 

 with their ends locked by means of notches. The top is covered with 

 sticks similar to the flooring, on which is placed a grass thatch or 

 sometimes a covering of earth. The doorway in front, 2i to 3 feet 

 square, is framed beside one of the corner posts by a roughly hewed 

 cap and jamb; the door is of rough plank, on rawhide hinges, fastened 

 by a stout cord. 



Outside on the projecting ends of the floor are laid the sledge, kaiak, 

 and other objects belonging to the owner, while the inside serves as a 

 receptacle for food supplies and other perishable articles. 



The accompanying illustration (figure 75) gives a good idea of a 

 typical storehouse of this character. 



Where timber is abundant, as on the lower Yukon, these storehouses 

 are more elaborately constructed, being raised from 6 to 8 feet above 

 the ground, with the posts arranged and held in place in the same 

 manner as in those at St Michael. The front and rear walls are made 

 of well-hewed iflanks, set upright, with an oval door in the center of 

 the front, access to which is gained by a notched log. The ends of the 

 floor logs project in front far enough to support separate cross sticks, 

 forming a narrow outside platform. On the sides, the planks forming 

 the walls are placed horizontally. The roof has a double pitch, and is 

 usually made of bark held in place by cross sticks or other weights. 

 The upright planks that form the front and rear of these structures 

 are held in position by crosspieces extending between the corner posts, 

 as shown m i>late Lxxxi. 



In addition to the storehouses, every village has elevated frames 

 upon which sledges and kaiaks maybe placed; this is necessary, owing 

 to the number of dogs in every village and the danger of their eating 



