DESCIUPTION OP THEIR HOUSES. 34’J 
that has been split in half to make two drinking-eups 
of, and having a dozen or more pins stuck in tho out- 
side of the bottom of the cup, which, in this case, cor- 
responds to the roof of the house. Altogetlier, they 
were most outlandish-looking houses outside ; but, when 
you once entered them, the philosophy of their peculiar 
construction became beautifully apparent. The long, 
dark, and narrow archAvay down which we looked 
proved to be a passage of some four feet in \vidth by 
forty or fifty in length, and was flanked on either side 
by angular spaces resembling the wings of a garret, 
which were admirably adapted for the storage of -winter 
provender in the shape of dried seal and deer-meat, 
smoked salmon, whale-blubber, &c. &c., besides adding 
largely to the air-room — if I may be allowed the ex- 
pression — of the house in general ; and the “ pins” provetl 
to be poles connected witlx the cavitj" which answered 
the purpose of a chimney. 
As we passed through this lengthy and gloomy passage- 
way, the “greasy odour” before alluded to grew stronger 
and stronger; and I for one had made up my mind, as 
w^e emerged from it into the spacious and bowl-liko 
apartment, that my stay was to be of exceeding limited 
duration. Imagine my pleasant surprise, therefore, 
when I found that the air of this larger apartment was, 
comparatively speaking, quite pure. I drew a long 
breath of it as I became aware of the fact, and, ad- 
vancing toward the fire, seated myself on a pile of deer- 
skins and began to look around me. 
The first thing that I saw was a large and circular 
apartment, possessing a diameter of probably forty feet, 
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