OF THE POLAR SEA. 



217 



clay, which, from the coldness of the wea- 

 ther, required to be tempered before the 

 fire with hot water, froze as it was daubed 

 on, and afterwards cracked in such a man- 

 ner as to admit the wind from every quarter ; 

 yet, compared with the tents, our new habi- 

 tation appeared comfortable ; and having 

 filled our capacious clay-built chimney with 

 fagots, we spent a cheerful evening before 

 the invigorating blaze. The change was 

 peculiarly beneficial to Dr. Richardson, who, 

 having, in one of his excursions, incautiously 

 laid down on the frozen side of a hill when 

 heated with walking, had caught a severe 

 inflammatory sore throat, which became 

 daily worse whilst we remained in the tents, 

 but began to mend soon after he was ena- 

 bled to confine himself to the more equable 

 warmth of the house. We took up our 

 abode at first on the floor, but our working 

 party, who had shown such skill as house 

 carpenters, soon proved themselves to be, 

 with the same tools, (the hatchet and 

 crooked knife,) excellent cabinet makers, 



