Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/324

 *

my mind all through the day, as I tumbled among the ice and the drifts, in devising some better plan of hut than the cavern arrangement of the nomadic Kalutunah. The snow-bank which I selected had a square side about five feet high. Starting on the top of this, we dug a pit about six feet long, four and a half wide, and four deep, leaving between the pit and the square side of the bank a wall about two feet thick. Over the top of this pit we placed one of the sledges, over the sledge the canvas apron used, while traveling, to inclose the cargo, and over that again we shoveled loose snow to the depth of some three feet. Then we dug a hole into this inclosure through the thin wall, pushed in our buffalo-skin bedding, and all articles penetrable by a dog's tooth and not inclosed in tin cases, (for the dogs will eat any thing, their own harness included,) then a few blocks of hard snow, and finally we crawled in ourselves. The blocks of snow were jammed into the entrance, and we were housed for the night.

Being bound on a short journey, I thought that I could afford a little extra weight, and carried alcohol for fuel, as this is the only fuel that can be used in the close atmosphere of a snow-hut. A ghastly blue blaze was soon flickering in our faces, and in our single tin-kettle some snow was being converted into water, and then the water began to hum, and then after a long while it boiled, (it is no easy matter to boil water in such temperature with a small lamp,) and we were refreshed with a good strong pint pot of tea; then the tea-leaves were tossed into one corner, some more snow was put in the tea-kettle and melted, and out of desiccated beef and desiccated potatoes we make a substantial hash; and when this was disposed of we lit