s, they often use a strip of whalebone
as a substitute. For those parts where a needle cannot conveniently be
passed under the skin, they use the method by puncture, which is common
in other countries, and by which our seamen frequently mark their hands
and arms. Several of the men were marked on the back part of their
hands; and with them we understood it to be considered as a _souvenir_
of some distant deceased person who had performed it.

In their winter habitations, I have before mentioned that the only
materials employed are snow and ice; the latter being made use of for
the windows alone. The work is commenced by cutting from a drift of hard
and compact snow a number of oblong slabs, six or seven inches thick and
about two feet in length, and laying them edgeways on a level spot, also
covered with snow, in a circular form, and of a diameter from eight to
fifteen feet, proportioned to the number of occupants the hut is to
contain. Upon this as a foundation is laid a second tier of the same
kind, but with the pieces inclining a little inward, and made to fit
closely to the lower slabs and to each other by running a knife adroitly
along the under part and sides. The top of this tier is now prepared for
the reception of a third, by squaring it off smoothly with a knife, all
which is dexterously performed by one man standing within the circle and
receiving the blocks of snow from those employed in cutting them
without. When the wall has attained a height of four or five feet, it
leans so much inward as to appear as if about to tumble every moment;
but the workmen still fearlessly lay their blocks of snow upon it, until
it is too high any longer to furnish the materials to the builder in
this manner. Of this he gives notice by cutting a hole close to the
ground in that part where the door is intended to be, which is near the
south side, and through this the snow is now passed. Thus they continue
till they have brought the sides nearly to meet in a perfect and
well-constructed dome, sometimes nine or ten feet high in the centre;
and this they take considerable care in finishing, by fitting the last
block or _keystone_ very nicely in the centre, dropping it into its
place from the outside, though it is still done by the man within. The
people outside are in the mean time occupied in throwing up snow with
the _p~oo=all~er=ay_ or snow shovel, and in stuffing in little
wedges of snow where holes have been accidentally left.