228 THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH POLE 



had to lie on the animals and cut down as far as they 

 could reach below the water, and they were soon saturated 

 from head to foot with blubber and oil and blood. To 

 make matters worse, they had no chance of changing their 

 clothes during the winter ; but it was a work of necessity, 

 as the walrus-blubber was needed for fuel. 



On 7th September the building of the permanent 

 winter-hut was commenced. Stones were quarried from 

 among the debris at the foot of a cliff' near by, and part 

 of a sledge-runner had to do duty as a pick. A spade 

 was made out of a shoulder-blade of a walrus tied to a 

 piece of a broken snowshoe-staff. The walls were built 

 of stone, with moss and earth between, and were finished 

 in one week. They were scarcely 3 feet in height, but 

 an equal distance had been dug into the ground, so 

 that the hut was high enough to stand in. The forming 

 of the roof was the greatest difficulty. However, a piece 

 of driftwood had been found on the shore, and after a 

 day's work Johansen succeeded in cutting it in two with 

 a small axe. These formed the ridge-piece, and walrus- 

 hides formed the rest. In one corner of the hut a little 

 hearth was made to cook upon, and above this a round 

 hole was cut in the walrus-hide. A smoke-board was 

 made of a bear-skin. The hearth had not been used long 

 before it was found necessary to build a chimney. This 

 was erected on the roof, and as the only materials were 

 ice and snow, it was not altogether free from the draw- 

 back of sometimes dripping down on the hearth. Lamps 

 were made by turning up the corners of some sheets of 

 German silver. These were then filled with crushed 

 blubber, and wicks were made from bandages. They 

 gave a good light, but assisted very little in raising the 

 temperature. A sleeping-shelf made of stone was erected 

 along the back wall of the hut, but although bear-skins 

 were spread on this it always remained hard and un- 



