EXPEDITION TO J'OINT BARROW, ALASKA. 29 



frames of tbe goggles. Other th(4h this, there ore but few hardships attending ii-;i\d toa sm;iii 



party properly equipped in this region at this season of the year, and the nearer one ennforriiH to 

 the habits of (lie natives the less liable he is to meet Avith disaster, and the, less he will Im 

 burdened with unnecessary eamp equipage and blankets. 



The snow hut (iglu) of these, people is very quickly and easily constructed, and ordinarily 

 docs not consume more time than is required to pitch a nail tent, anil is constructed in the 

 following manner : A place where the snow is about, four tect deep is selected for camp and a 

 space .~> by !) feet is laid oil'; the upper surface is cut into blocks two feet square and eight inches 

 thick and set on edge around the excavation for side walls; at one end three feet of the space is 

 dug down to the ground or ice; in the balance about eighteen inches of snow is left for a couch ; 

 sides and cuds are built up tight and the whole is roofed with broad slabs of snow six feet thick, 

 cut in proper dimensions to form a Hat. gable roof, loose snow thrown over all to chink it, and at 

 the end which is dug down to the ground a hole is now cut just large enough to admit a man 

 crawling on his hands and knees; the hut is now finished, sleeping-bags, provisions, and lamp are. 

 passed inside, dogs are fed and turned loose after everything they would be liable to eat or destroy 

 is secured by caching them in the dry snow. Arms, instruments, and ammunition should never be 

 taken into the hut ; it is always best to leave them on the sled in the open air. After all outside 

 work is done everybody goes into the hnt and the hole is stopped from the inside with a plug of 

 snow which lias been carefully fitted, and no one is expected to go out until it is time to break 

 camp the next morning. The combined heat from the bodies of the inmates, together with the 

 lain]), soon raises the temperature up to the free/ing point, and a degree of comfort is obtained 

 that is not attainable, in any other manner of camping in this region. The more permanent snow 

 hnts of the deer hunters, which they often occupy for a month or more, are much more elaborate. 

 They are usually built where the snow is six or eight feet deep, so the room is high, and is approached 

 by a coA'ered way and an ante-room, in which the heavy outside clothing is stored, and when fuel 

 is obtainable a kitchen is added to the structure, Avith a fire-place cut out of the solid walls of snow, 

 with Jamba and chimneys of the same perishable material. I saw tire- places in use that had had a 

 lire in them for at least one. hour each day for a month or more and were still intact; the parts 

 that were exposed had softened a little under the ett'ects of the first tire and at once, hardened into 

 ice, and remained unchanged so long as the temperature in the open air remained below xero. 



By the latter part of April or the first part of May snow houses are no longer tenable and 

 natives take to their tents (tiipeks). Their winter hnts at this time are also vacated, as they become 

 too damp for comfort. After the snow began to soften so it was no longer practicable to build a 

 snow hut I camped very comfortably by digging a hole in the snow G by 8 feet, building up side 

 walls three to four feet high, and stretching over it a deer-skin blanket or the sled sail, using the 

 sled mast for a ridge-pole and our show shoes for rafters. The natives in their exclusions usually 

 carry a small stone lamp and a supply of seal blubber for illuminating purposes; they use no 

 blankets or sleeping bags Avlien traveling, but carry a deer skin or a piece of walrus hide to lay 

 on the snow underneath them ; on this they huddle together without any covering other than the 

 clothing they travel in. ! such times their food (meat or fish) is eaten raw, except where tlie.s 

 have provided themselves with a kind of pemmican, which is made by mixing chewed deer meal 

 Avith deer tallow and seal oil. This food is not agreeable to the taste, probably owing to the fact 

 that the masticators are inveterate tobacco chewers. 



The sled we used on all our journeys was made by a native at Saint Michael's, and presented to 

 the expedition by Sergeant Nelson when at Plover Bay ; it was tvreh'e feet long and twenty inches 

 between the runners; had side rails, with a steering handle at the rear end. and was fastened through- 

 out with rawhide, lashings; the runners were shod Avith steel, and it was far superior to any sled I 

 ever saw on the northern coast ; it was still in excellent condition after two years' service : its car- 

 rying capacity was about 800 pounds, and I think it was the best pattern of a sled 1 ever saw for 

 Arctic work ; it was light (weighing only about fifty pounds), strong, and durable, and could always 

 l.e repaired with the material at hand among the natives, should it at any time become damaged. 



Early in May the hunters began to come in, and altogether I succeeded in getting from thorn 

 eighteen deer, which together with tive hundred eider-ducks killed by the party during the spring 

 flight, gave, us a large reserve supply of fresh meat, which was carefully stored in the cellar. 



