3n 



average length up and down stream of one hun- 

 dred and ten feet. The average depth was only 

 two feet 



Near the centre of this large pond stood the 

 house, a trifle nearer to the dam than to the 

 upper edge of the pond. I measured it on the 

 water- or rather the ice-level. It took twenty-six 

 feet of rope to go around it. The top of the house 

 rose exactly five feet above the ice. The house 

 was built of a mixture of sods and willow sticks. 

 The ends of the sticks here and there thrust out 

 through the three-or-four-inch covering of mud 

 which the house had recently received. Wonder- 

 ing how much of the house was in the water be- 

 low the level of the ice, I thought to measure the 

 depth by thrusting a pole through the ice to the 

 bottom. Holding it in an upright position, I raised 

 it and brought it down with all my strength* 

 The pole went through the ice and so did I. 

 The water was three feet deep. This depth cov- 

 ered only a small area around the house and was 

 maintained by frequent digging. The house is 

 often plastered with this dredged material. Alto- 

 gether, then, the house from its lowest founda- 



130 



