Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 355 



The walls arc built of regularly formed stones, almost uniform 

 in size, with grass-turf between. The inner side of the wall is often 

 partially covered with grass-turf or heath, held together by small 

 pegs inserted between the stones. Just as from the roof the black- 

 ened ends of the grass hang down along the walls. But the part 

 of the wall which runs across the back and the ends of the main 

 platform, the largest part of the enclosure, is hung as a rule with a 

 tapestry of skins. In No. V I noticed, that the hairy side of the skins 

 was turned towards the wall, but among the skins of the back wall 

 there were a few, which had the hairy side out towards the platform. 

 (A few of the houses at Taseesaq had a part of the walls and floor 

 covered with planks bought from the Danish trading station). — The 

 thickness of the wall in No. XII was 94 to 100 cm. at the level of 

 the chest. 



The floor is usually the ground simply, or flat stones laid down 

 without any order, as I found, for example, in No. XI. In No. IX, 

 where the floor consisted merely of rocky ground, it was wet every- 

 w^here and here and there small pools formed from the dripping 

 water of the melting snow and ice. It can readily be understood, 

 that it has become the custom among these people always to draw 

 off their boots before they take their places on the platform. 



The platform is the true home of the family, where the sense 

 of cleanliness of the people comes to light. They have some notion 

 of dirt and seek to avoid soiling the places, where the work of the 

 household is done. Boots and coats are taken off before they get 

 up on the platform and laid on the drying-frame over the lamp. — 

 On the other hand, the stone-floor is only regarded as a part of the 

 ground, common to all, even to the dogs (that is, the females and 

 their puppies, which they whelp on the floor under one of the window- 

 plalforms). It is only cleaned, when the roof is removed in the 

 summer, so that the elements have freedom to carry out their own 

 ways of cleaning before the next winter. 



The house props which support the roof, are usually heavy, 

 finely rounded posts (tree-stems with the bark removed, naturally 

 drift-wood from the Siberian rivers), especially in the principal row 

 along the edge of the platform, which marks off the different places 

 on this. There was an exception in house No. VII, where the 

 prominent hunter Qilertaanalik had two props in front of his place 

 on the platform, which was specially broad. The second row stands 

 over on the other side, before the end of the side platform or at 

 the window platforms, more rarely free out on the floor. In a few 

 houses there are three rows of supports, the lowest being quite near 

 to the windows or at the inner entrance. 



23* 



