104 BEACH GRASS 



the fashion is in Labrador, the hood has a point 

 behind. In Greenland, the same article of ap- 

 parel is called a koolatah and is rounded behind, 

 lacking the point. Althdugh it weighs but four 

 and a half pounds it is warmer than many a 

 modern fur coat weighing more than twice that 

 amount. The reason is a simple one. Imagine 

 two bags filled with hot air. One of the bags 

 is slit down the front and buttoned up, the other 

 is intact; the hot air is constantly escaping from 

 the iirst, which represents the modem fur coat, 

 and is held in the second, which represents the 

 koolatuk. With hood fastened securely around 

 the face, the thick fur is a bar to the escape of air 

 above. The hot air is less likely to escape below, 

 but, in very cold weather, one ties a rope around 

 the waist over the koolatuk, and the warmth of 

 the garment is sensibly increased. This trick 

 I learned from Donald G. McMillan, the arctic 

 explorer. Deep-sea fishermen in severe weather 

 tie a rope around their jumpers for the same pur- 

 pose and call it their "soul and body lashing,'' 

 as it helps to keep soul and body together. A 

 day taken from our modern steam-heated life 



