136 HUNTERS OF THE GREAT NORTH 



diameter. The even flame of the lamps kept the tempera- 

 ture of the house day and night fluctuating somewhere 

 between 75° and 85 ° Fahrenheit. We had a stove but 

 this was never used except for cooking, and that com- 

 monly only for a period of two or three hours in the 

 afternoon. At that time the temperature of the house 

 rose to the vicinity of ioo° and sometimes above. It was 

 much like living in a Turkish bath. But with the house 

 at such a temperature and the air outdoors perhaps 40 ° 

 below zero, there was so much difference in weight be- 

 tween the outdoors atmosphere and the air in the house 

 that the pressure through the door was strong enough 

 to drive the warm air out through the ventilator with the 

 torce of a blast. I once went on top of the house, held 

 my hand over the ventilator to test the draught, and got 

 the effect of a strong wind blowing. This showed the 

 house, although stifling hot, was well ventilated. 



Before coming to live with the Eskimos I had heard 

 much about the bad smell of their houses and at first it 

 seemed to me that they did smell bad. I soon came to 

 realize, however, that this was only the odor of the 

 food they ate, corresponding to the odor of coffee or bacon 

 in our houses, or perhaps to the odor of garlic in the 

 homes of certain Italians. If you are fond of bacon or 

 coffee or garlic you do not dislike the smell. Similarly, 

 I found that as I gradually became used to the Eskimo 

 food and finally fond of it, these odors changed from their 

 original unpleasantness until 1 eventually grew to relish 

 them as much when I came in hungry from out of doors 

 as a hungry camper in the woods relishes the smell of 

 frying bacon. 



Our house had a square Open floor space in the middle 

 about twelve feet by twelve. In three directions from 



