Our little Eskimo cousin . n now bitterly cold. The snow stiHcovered the earth, and the water along theshore was a mass of broken ice. 97 98 Our Little Eskimo Cousin Where were these people to be shelteredwhen night came on ? The question could beeasily answered. They would build homes forthemselves in an hour or two. The sheets ofsnow around them were quite solid, and theboys and men began to saw the snow intothick blocks. The walls and roofs of thehouses should be built of these. Two men stood in the centre of each clearedspace : the blocks of snow were handed tothem. These were laid on the
Our little Eskimo cousin . n now bitterly cold. The snow stiHcovered the earth, and the water along theshore was a mass of broken ice. 97 98 Our Little Eskimo Cousin Where were these people to be shelteredwhen night came on ? The question could beeasily answered. They would build homes forthemselves in an hour or two. The sheets ofsnow around them were quite solid, and theboys and men began to saw the snow intothick blocks. The walls and roofs of thehouses should be built of these. Two men stood in the centre of each clearedspace : the blocks of snow were handed tothem. These were laid on the ground, sideby side, in a circle as large as they wished thehouse to be. The foundation was quicklymade. Then another row of snow blocks waslaid above the first, but drawn in toward thecentre a very little. Then came a third row,and so on, till at last there was just spaceenough at the top for one block of snow tofill it in completely. The new house lookedlike a great snow beehive. But the two builders were shut up inside!. THE BLOCKS OF SNOW WERE HANDED TO THEM Summer Travels 99 One of the men on the outside cut a block ofsnow out of the wall of the house. This madea doorway through which people could go andcome. It could be closed afterward, when theinmates desired, by filling it again with a snowdoor. The builders now took loose snow andsifted it into the cracks and crevices to makethe house quite close and tight. After this, the floor must be trodden downsmooth, and then the women could enter toset up housekeeping. A bed of snow wasquickly made, over which the fur rugs werethrown. Next, a stand of snow was shaped,and the lamp set up in its place. The oil wassoon burning brightly, and snow was melted tofurnish drinking-water. In half an hour moreour cousin Etu was eating supper as comfort-ably as he could wish. Not long after, hewas sound asleep on his snow bedstead,without a single dream of cold or trouble. ioo Our Little Eskimo Cousin After a few weeks of seal hunting, Etu
Size: 1296px × 1928px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjecteskimos, bookyear1902
