OF THE POLAR SEA. 



239 



the thermometer had sunk as low as 16°, and on one occasion risen 

 to 53°. 



Besides the party constantly employed at the house, two men were 

 appointed to fish, and others were occasionally sent for meat, as the 

 hunters procured it. This latter employment, although extremely 

 laborious, was always relished by the Canadians, as they never failed 

 to use a prescriptive right of helping themselves to the fattest and 

 most delicate parts of the deer* Towards the end of the month, 

 the rein-deer began to quit the barren grounds, and came into the 

 vicinity of the house, on their way to the woods ; and the success of 

 the hunters being consequently great, the necessity of sending for 

 the meat considerably retarded the building of the house. In the 

 mean time we resided in our canvass tents, which proved very cold 

 habitations, although we maintained a fire in front of them, and 

 also endeavoured to protect ourselves from the piercing winds by a 

 barricade of pine branches. 



On the 6th of October, the house being completed, we struck 

 our tents, and removed into it. It was merely a log-building, fifty 

 feet long, and twenty-four wide, divided into a hall, three bed- 

 rooms, and a kitchen. The walls and roof were plastered with clay, 

 the floors laid with planks rudely squared with the hatchet, and the 

 windows closed with parchment of deer-skin. The clay, which, 

 from the coldness of the weather, required to be tempered before the 

 fire with hot water, froze as it was daubed on, and afterwards 

 cracked in such a manner as to admit the wind from every quarter ; 

 yet, compared with the tents, our new habitation appeared com- 

 fortable; 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 inflamma- 

 tory sore throat, which became daily worse whilst we remained in 



