e axe
head, and with moss to serve the purpose of a wick, the lamp was
lighted. This lamp, which was made of stone cut in the shape of a half
moon, was about ten inches long, four inches wide and an inch deep.
The moss that served as a wick was arranged along the straight side,
and gave out a strong, fishy odour as it burned.

Besides the tea, hardtack and jerked venison, Bob ate pieces of the
frozen fat pork which had been boiled before starting, and found it
very delicious, as fat always is to a traveller in the far North. The
Eskimos each accepted a small piece of it from him, but when he
offered them a second portion they both said "Taemet,"--Thank you,
enough--and instead helped themselves liberally to raw seal blubber,
which they ate with an evident relish and gusto along with the jerked
venison and hardtack.

Akonuk, the older of these men, was perhaps thirty-five years of age,
nearly six feet in height and well proportioned. Matuk was not so
tall, but like Akonuk was well formed. Both were muscular and powerful
men physically, and both had round, fat faces that were full of good
nature.

Intense as was the cold out of doors, the stone lamp soon made the
igloo so warm within that all were compelled to remove their outer
skin garments. The snow, however, was not melted, but remained quite
hard and firm.

The Eskimos talked and smoked for a whole hour after supper, before
stretching in their sleeping bags, but Bob crawled into his almost
immediately, for he was very weary after his long day's travel. His
knowledge of their language was not sufficient for him to take part in
the conversation, or, indeed, to understand much they said, and the
constant talk soon became tiresome to him, though he kept his ears
open with a view to adding to his Eskimo vocabulary whenever an
opportunity offered.

"'Tis a strange language an' I'm wonderin' how they understands un,"
he observed as he turned over to go to sleep.

Very early the next morning he heard Akonuk calling to Matuk to wake
up. Then for a little while the two Eskimos conversed together and
finally the lamp was lighted. Over this a snow knife was stuck into
the side of the igloo and the kettle hung upon the knife in such a
position that it was directly over the flame, and snow, cut from the
side of the igloo near the bottom, was melted for tea, and thus the
simple breakfast was prepared without going out of doors.

When Bob came out of his bag to eat he real