ACKOSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA 



by low areiiways with the innermost of the smaller domes. 

 Usually, opening out of the inner dome, each family has one 

 or two small pantries, where they keep a supply of meat 

 sufficient for a week or two. 



The furniture of the snow-house is much the same as that 

 of the skin topick already described, but the stone lamps 

 come more into prominence, contributing light to the dwell- 

 ing during the long, dark winter nights. These lamps are 

 simply stone vessels, usually haK-moon shaped, and formed 

 neatly of some description of soft rock. The rounding side of 

 the vessel is made much deeper than the other, which shoals 

 up gradually to the edge. The wick of the lamp consists of 

 dried, decomposed moss, pressed and formed by the iiagers 

 into a narrow ridge across the shallow or straight edge of the 

 dish. In this position it absorbs the seal oil which is placed 

 in the vessel, and, when lit, bums with a clear, bright flame, 

 free from smoke. The lamp is then made self-feeding by 

 suspending a lump of seal blubber above it, at a height vary- 

 ing according to the amount of light and consequent supply 

 of oil required. This melts with the heat of the flame and 

 drips into the vessel of the lamp. One lump keeps up the 

 supply for a considerable length of time, the intensity of 

 light being increased or diminished at will by lowering or 

 raising the lump of blubber suspended above the flame. 



Lamps are usually placed at either side of the entrance in 

 the upper apartment. Both are kept burning brightly the 

 greater part of the long, cold, dark days of winter, but during 

 the hours of sleep they are " turned down," that is, the lumps 

 of blubber are raised ; or sometimes one lamp is extinguished 

 and the other made to bum dimly. These lamps, though 

 chiefly designed to furnish light, also contribute a consider- 

 able amount of heat to the iglocs. It is often necessary to 

 turn them down to prevent the snow walls from being melt«d 

 by the heat, though the temperature outside may ba 40 or 

 50 degrees below zero. 



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