MOONSHINE AND HYGIENE 169 



mosphere without ventilation. As a result their 

 winter igloos became veritable culture beds of 

 the disease. 



Those afflicted had no idea what was the mat- 

 ter with them. Their witch doctors believed 

 that they were obsessed by devils and attempted 

 by incantations to exorcise the evil spirits. The 

 doctor of the Thetis had difficulty in making the 

 natives understand that the organism that caused 

 their sickness was alive, though invisible. But 

 he did succeed in making them understand that 

 the disease was communicated by indiscriminate 

 expectoration and that prevention and cure lay 

 in plenty of fresh air, cleanliness, and whole- 

 some food. 



In all the villages. Captain Henderson found 

 the igloos offensively filthy and garbage and 

 offal scattered about the huts in heaps. He made 

 the Eskimos haul these heaps to sea in boats and 

 dump them overboard. He made them clean 

 their igloos thoroughly and take off the roofs 

 to allow the sun and rains to purify the interiors. 

 After this unroofing, Captain Henderson said, 

 the villages looked as if a cyclone had struck 



