BOAS.I CONSTRUCTION OF THE SNOW HOUSE. 543 



enough so that the bed ueeds very little raising, and the passage is 

 cut into the bank. As this is much more convenient in building, 

 the huts are generally erected on a sloping face, the entrance lying 

 on the lower jjart, which faces the beach. 



Fig. 493. Section and interior of snow house. 



Before the bed is arranged and the hut furnished the vault is lined 

 with skins, frequently with the cover of the svimmer hut. The lining 

 (ilupiqang) is fastened to the roof by small ropes (uirtsun), which 

 are fastened by a toggle on the outside of the wall (Fig. 493). In 

 the lower part of the building the lining lies close to the wall ; in 

 the upper part it forms a fiat roof about two i>v tlirci' fi-rt lirlow the 

 top of the vault. The effect of tliis ari'aii-viiicut is t<. piwriit the 

 warm air inside from melting the snow i-oof, as above the slsiiis tliere 

 is always a layer of colder air. Close to the top of the building a 

 small hole (qangirn) is cut through the wall for ventilation. The 



lamps reciuiiv a - 1 dran-lit. which is sccnn-d by this hole. The 



col.l airriitci-s tlii'ou-h the <lo,,i-. slowly Hlliiii;' thr passage, and after 

 lii'iiiij,- wai'iniMl rises to tlie lamps and escapes through the skin cover 

 and the hole. The moisture of the air forms long ice needles on the 

 inside of the roof. Sometimes they fall down iipon the skins, and 

 must be immediately removed by shaking it until they glide down 

 at the sides, else they melt and wet the room thoroughly. Frequently 

 a high ice funnel forms around the hole from the freezing moisture 

 of the escaping air. 



The southern and western tribes rarely line the snow house. 

 The continiaous dropping from the roof, however, causes great incon- 

 venience, and. liisides. the temperature cannot be raised higher than 

 two or three dei_rei's centigrade above the freezing point, while in 

 the lined houses it is frequently from ten to twenty degrees centi- 



