THE GREAT WHITE JOL'KNEV 239 



skins were stretched and dried in Redcliffe, I devised and cut 

 the patterns for the suits and sleeping-bags, and the native 

 women sewed them. As a result of my study of the Eskimo 

 clothing and its use, I adopted it almost literatim, and my 

 complete wardrobe consisted of a hooded deerskin coat weigh- 

 ing five and one-fourth pounds, a hooded sealskin coat weigh- 

 ing two and one-half pounds, a pair of dogskin knee-trousers 

 weighing three pounds nine ounces, sealskin boots with woolen 

 socks and fur soles, weighing two pounds, and an undershirt ; 

 total, about thirteen pounds. With various combinations of 

 this outfit, I could keep perfectly warm and yet not get into 

 a perspiration, in temperatures from -f- 40° F. to — 50°, whether 

 at rest, or walking, or pulling upon a sledge. 



The deerskin coat, with the trousers, footgear, and under- 

 shirt, weighed eleven and one-fourth pounds, or about the 

 same as an ordinary winter business suit, including shoes, un- 

 derwear, etc., but not the overcoat. In this costume, with the 

 fur inside and the drawstrings at waist, wrists, knees, and face 

 pulled tight, I have seated myself upon the great ice- cap four 

 thousand feet above the sea with the thermometer at — 38°, 

 the wind blowing so that I could scarcely stand against it, and 

 with back to the wind have eaten my lunch leisurely and in 

 comfort ; then, stretching myself at full length for a few mo- 

 ments, have listened to the fierce hiss of the snow driving past 

 me with the same pleasurable sensation that, seated beside the 

 glowing grate, we listen to the roar of the rain upon the roof. 



Our sleeping-bags, also of the winter coat of the deer, with 



