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Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



vertically on the edge of the main strut near its elbow; another stick is now laid 

 across it at right angles, parallel to the strut below, with one end resting in the 

 notch, and the other driven into the wall; this gives a second strut on top of 

 the first. Two poles are laid across this new strut, parallel with those sup- 

 porting the lamp, and the drying rack, an oval hoop of wood with rawhide web- 

 bing, is set on top of them. From the foremost pole, the one that lies nearest 

 the sleeping platform, the pot is suspended by two cords in such a way that it 

 hangs about half an inch above the flame of the lamp, while from the pole 

 behind shoes and other small articles that require drying are suspended. If 

 two famines share a dwelling, or the man has a second wife, another lamp and 

 its outfit is set up in similar fashion on the opposite side of the hut. Often the 

 space is vacant, and a little girl will play at housekeeping in this corner, erecting 

 a lamp there for herself, either a small one made of soapstone in the usual manner, 

 or merely a hollow pebble from the beach. 



Fig. 12. Interior of a snow hut 



Houses intended for more than one night's occupation nearly always have 

 windows made of ice. These are chipped out with ice chisels from fresh-water 

 lakes or streams in the fall of the year, and are roughly squared so that each 

 side will be from 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches long. The window is let into the wall 

 behind the lamp, or sometimes just above the door, either as soon as the hut is 

 built or more usually on the following morning; it thus lights up the fore part 

 only, but the snow itself is semi-translucent, so that as long as the sun is shining 

 a window is hardly needed at all. In the twilight hours of midwinter, however, 

 even the front of the hut beneath the window is only dimly lit up, while the 

 back and sides are in deep obscurity. One house we saw had a window in its 

 passage, but this was very unusual; apparently the family has an extra 'pane' 

 which they determined tp put to use. Very large houses, especially dance- 

 houses, often have two "panes" let in side by side, with tut one block of snow 

 between them. The frost which settles on these windows is scraped away 



