OVER THE ICE 
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lower tiers of the walls of the igloo we used blocks 
as large as could be cut without breaking; for the 
upper tiers the size was somewhat smaller, tapering 
off to the roof. The blocks varied in thickness 
from a foot and a half to two feet, according to 
the condition of the snow. A properly completed 
igloo is round, with a conical roof which requires 
considerable skill and practice to make. It took 
our Eskimo a long time, however, to cover in the 
roof, so we used to use the tent we had with us for 
the roof, with our snowshoes and ski for a tent- 
pole. Our igloos were square instead of round. 
Inside we would build a bed-platform of snow, 
large enough for us all to sleep on; we would place 
our fur sleeping-robes on this platform and lie 
down to sleep. We slept in our clothes, with no 
covering over us; it is not safe to use sleeping-bags 
on the sea-ice for when the ice cracks underneath 
you, the sleeping-bags hobble your arms and legs 
and you drown. We never caught cold; in fact 
“colds” and pneumonia do not exist in the Arctic 
beyond the limit of habitation of civilized man. 
When we got our igloo built we would make a 
half-circular opening in one of the sides and crawl 
in; then we would fill up this opening with a snow- 
block, cut down to fit it tightly enough to make 
it air-proof. For ventilation we had small holes 
punched in the walls. Once inside we would light 
