. Children of the Arctic. ILDREN OF THE ARCTIC became solid ice, through which no wind couldcome. From the top of this wall, across the ship tothe other side, canvas was stretched as a roof,and this gave a covered place on deck, whereAH-NI-GHI-TO and her friends played whenthe wind howled and whirled the snow so fastthat it was not possible to stand up against it. The natives, too, as soon as they knew thatthey must spend the winter here, said theywanted to go ashore and build their own houses,for then they could keep much warmer with lessfuel than on the ship. They were not used toso much roo
. Children of the Arctic. ILDREN OF THE ARCTIC became solid ice, through which no wind couldcome. From the top of this wall, across the ship tothe other side, canvas was stretched as a roof,and this gave a covered place on deck, whereAH-NI-GHI-TO and her friends played whenthe wind howled and whirled the snow so fastthat it was not possible to stand up against it. The natives, too, as soon as they knew thatthey must spend the winter here, said theywanted to go ashore and build their own houses,for then they could keep much warmer with lessfuel than on the ship. They were not used toso much room and did not feel at home in it. Each family built their own igloo; the womenworking with the men. Achatingwahs motherhelped carry the heavy bowlders from far off fortheir igloo, while Achatingwah scraped them freeof snow and helped to loosen those that werefrozen down, by pounding them with smallerstones. After enough had been collected a place wasscraped free from snow and made level ^ and for 66 CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC. Building an Iglooi this they were glad to borrow the ships tools,for it would take much longer to clear the spotwith only a rude knife made from walrus-tuskthan it did with a largeshovel. At one end of the cir-cular space Achatingwahsfather built a platform abouta foot high. The walls he put up,just as a stone mason wouldput them up, only he used turf which Achating-wah brought, instead of mortar, to stop thecracks. After the walls were three or four feethigh the whole was roofed over. Usually thisis done with large flat stones, but as Acha-tingwahs father was in a hurry to get hisfamily moved into the house he threw awalrus-hide over the top and held it downwith heavy rocks to keep the wind from blowingit off. The igloo was then thickly covered with snow,and the inside of it lined with seal-skins. 67 CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC The doorway, or entrance, was scarcely twofeet high, and opened into a long, low passage-way which ended in a vestibule as high as theigl
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectchildren, bookyear190
