SNOW HUTS. OTHER BUILDINGS. 250 



square frame in the centre, supported by two or more upright 

 posts. Upon these the smaller branches of the felled trees are 

 placed, and the whole, except the aperture at the top and a small 

 opening on one side, is covered with earth or only snow. The 

 entrance is formed of a low porch, having a black bear-skin 

 hanging in front, leading to a hole close to the ground, through 

 which an unpractised person can hardly creep, farther protected 

 from the breeze by a flap of deer-skin on the inside. In the hilly 

 districts, near the source of the Spafareif River, this sort of snow- 

 covered hut was in use, and the inland tribes on the Nu-na-tak, are 

 described as living in dwellings of a similar kind, constructed of 

 small wood, probably built afresh every year, and not always in the 

 same localit}-. A stranger approaching a village of this description, 

 if the numerous footmarks happened to be obliterated by a recent 

 drift or fall of snow, might readily pass by unconscious of its 

 existence, unless he happened to catch a glimpse of the black bear- 

 skin doors, which are all turned in the one direction. 



Snow or ice huts are seldom used except for short intervals, and 

 they are then made very small, consisting of two chambers, the 

 outer one of which serves as a cook-house, and is entered from 

 above by an opening closed at pleasure by a slab of snow. The 

 communication between this and the inner one is by a passage 

 close to the floor, no larger than necessary for one person to creep 

 through. The roof of the inner apartment is about five feet high, 

 with a window facing the south, having beneath it a small lamp 

 and rack for drying clothes ; and on one side the snow is raised 

 two feet from the ground, and covered with boards, on which the 

 skins are laid to form the bed. 



In fixed settlements, like those of Point Barrow or Cape Smyth, 

 there are other buildings which seem public, though nominally the 

 property of some of the more wealthy men. In the former of these 

 places there are two still in existence, and in the latter three. The 

 largest is at Nu-wuk, and is eighteen feet by fourteen, built of 

 planks stuck upright in the ground, and the crevices filled up with 

 moss. The roof is similar to that of the other huts, only higher, 

 and there is no sleeping bench within, but a low seat, all round 

 the four walls. It has the usual subterranean passage for entrance, 

 but the window in the roof is often used as a door. Unlike the 

 other huts, they are placed on the highest ground, and are readily 

 distinguished by not being built around, or covered with earth. 

 They are altogether constructed with little care, and evidently for 

 only occasional use. A house of this description is called a Kar- 

 ri-gi, and used by the men to assemble in for the purpose uf 



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