264 
COSTUME. 
skin. Excellent is this Mormon fur ! Leaving the 
entire poll bare to the elements, it guards the ears and 
forehead effectually: in any ordinary state of the wind 
above —15°, I am not troubled with the cold. Before 
I resorted to this, my cap was full of frozen water, 
stilf and uncomfortable, all the condensation turning 
to ice the moment I uncovered. When the weather 
is very cold, I up hood ; when colder, say —40°, with 
a middling breeze — quite cold enough, I assure you 
— I wear an elastic silk night-cap in addition, one of 
a pair forced on me by a certain brother of mine as 
I was leaving New York, drawn over my head and 
face, and lined with a mask of wolf-skin. To prevent 
excessive condensation, I cut only two eye-holes, and 
leave a large aperture below the point of the nose for 
talking and breathing. A grim-looking object is this 
wolf-skin mask, its openings lined with water-proof 
oiled silk. 
" The only changes in the above are a pair of qloth 
pants for fur, when the thermometer strays above 
— 15°, and a pair of heavy woolen wad-mail leggins, 
drawn over my fur pants, and worn, stocking fashion, 
within my boots, in windy weather, when we get 
down to —30° or thereabouts. A long waist-scarf, 
worn like the kummerbund of the Hindoos, is a fine 
protection while walking, to keep the cold from intru- 
ding at the pockets and waist : it consummates, as it 
floats martially on the breeze, the grotesque harmonies 
of my attire." 
