Dwellings 



75 



In February, 1916, I was travelling in Coronation gulf, and in my party 

 were an Eskimo and his wife. They built a snow-hut for themselves each night 

 while the rest of us slept in a tent. One night while we were camped on the 

 ice a blizzard sprang up and raged all the next day. The dogs refused to face 

 it in the morning, so we had to stay where we were until it abated. There was 

 no wood of course on the ice, and we had very little kerosene for our primus 

 lamp, so our tent was cold and uncomfortable. Two of the Eskimos therefore 

 turned out and built an extension to the snow-hut, then broke down the inter- 



FiG. 24. A four-roomed dwelling with a dance-house 



vening wall. This gave an oblong structure, rounded at the ends, with a long 

 platform for the bed and a very narrow space for the floor in front. The woman 

 kept a small blubber lamp burning in one corner, resting on a block of snow. 

 Her place was right beside it, while the rest of us occupied the remainder of the 

 platform. The original passage was left in place, but was slightly extended 

 and its mouth curved away from the wind. The shape of this hut was therefore 

 very unusual, but it was only a make-shift to shelter us while the blizzard lasted. 

 The Eskimos often enlarge a deserted hut in this way to provide a travelling 

 party with accommodation for the night (Fig. 25). 



