SLEDGE JUURXEV INTO INGLEFIELD GULF 1 27 



snow and tliat I could not think of getting their bedding wet, 

 I sat down, not without a shiver, on the edge beside Mr. 

 Peary, selfishly keeping him between the half-naked women 

 and m\'self. 



The sides of this platform on either side of the doorway 

 w'ere devoted to two ikkimers (stoves), one of which was 

 tended by Tahtara's mother and the other by his wife. These 

 stoves were very large and filled with chunks of blubber ; over 

 each hung a pan, made of soapstone, containing snow and 

 water, and above these pans were racks or crates, fastened \-ery 

 securely, on which the inmates flung their wet kamiks, stock- 

 ings, mittens, and birdskin shirts. The drippings of dirt, 

 water, and insects fell invariably into the drinking-water. I 

 say "drinking-water"; they have no water for any other 

 purpose. Mr. Peary had put our Florence oil-stove on the 

 side platform and was heating water for our tea. Fortunately 

 our teapot had a cover on it, which I made my business to 

 keep closed. 



Besides the persons mentioned there were always as many 

 husky visitors as could possibly pack in without standing 

 on one another. These took turns with those unable to get 

 in, so that after one had been in a while and gazed at the 

 circus, he would lower himself through the trap and make way 

 for a successor among the many crouching in the passageway 

 behind him. This was kept up throughout the night. Of 

 course the addition of our stove, together with the visitors, 

 brought the temperature up rapidly, and to my dismay the 



