Ethnological Sketch of the Angmagsalik Eskimo. 37 



From the ridge of the roof stout drift-wood is extended to the walls, 

 with a good deal of lighter wood between. The wood is loosely 

 arranged and is covered over wàth large sods with the grass under- 

 most; on top of this again is cast a layer of earth, which again is 

 covered with sods with the grass uppermost, and the whole is then 

 covered with old skins. 



On the front side of the house is the passage-way and three 

 windows of translucent guts, the smallest of which is generally 

 placed over the passage-way, while the two others are arranged on 

 either side of it. The passage-way is in the middle of the wall 

 of the house, but is slightly at an angle to the facade. It is from 20 

 to 30 feet long, and in the middle of its length only 3 feet high. 

 The entrance door-way itself, however, is high, and is often formed 

 of the frame-work used for the entrance to the tent. The bottom 

 of the passage lies a few feet deeper than the floor of the house; 

 hence there is a step for getting up into the house. The roof of 

 the passage-way does not rise much above the floor of the house. 

 The passage-w^ay is built, like the house, of sods, stones, and timber. 

 The floor of the house is paved wdth large, flat stones, whereas the 

 floor of the passage is often the hard rock itself. 



The interior of the house is generally lined with skins. The 

 back part of the interior of the house is occupied by a wooden 

 platform IV2 feet high and 6 feet broad, supported on a bedding 

 of stone and turf along the back wall. At the front of the house 

 and by the end -walls there are narrow platforms, or benches 

 made of planks, and the front bench is carried into deep window 

 alcoves. The main platform is occupied by the married people 

 and their unmarried daughters and small children. It is divided 

 among the diff'erent families, each family being assigned a space 

 of from 3 to 5 feet in breadth according to the number of per- 

 sons. A breadth of 4 feet on the platform is considered space 

 enough to lodge a family consisting of husband, two wives and six 

 children. 



Along the front of the platform stand the props which support 

 the roof ridge, and on each of these is fastened a piece of skin 

 reaching l' /з feet above the platform; the inner end of the skin 

 hangs on a strap of seal-skin from the roof. These skins form 

 the partition betw^een the family rooms, but they do not hang quite 

 close by the wall, but leave a passage along the back of the house 

 which enables one to pass from one compartment to another. The 

 platforms are covered with skins and are used both for beds at 

 night, and as places for the women to sit and work at during the 

 day time. The married people lie at night with their feet towards 



