ng excursions. We thought,
however, that, except on pressing occasions, one man was left in
each hut to keep an eye on the conduct of the women, and this was
the case to-day. The huts had in the interior assumed a somewhat
different appearance since I had last seen them; the roofs were
much blackened by the smoke of the lamps, and the warmth had in
most parts given them a glazed and honey-combed surface; indeed,
the whole of the walls had become much thinner by thawing, so that
the light was more plainly visible through them. The snow also, on
which the lamps stood, was considerably worn away, so as to
destroy, in great measure, the regularity of the original plan of
construction. To these changes might be added that of a vast
quantity of blood and oil that now defaced the purity of the snowy
floor, and emitted effluvia not very agreeable to European noses;
so that, upon the whole, it may be imagined that our first
impressions of the comfort and cleanliness of these habitations
were more favourable than their present state was calculated to
excite.

To the original apartments they had now also added various small
places for stores, communicating with the huts from within, and
looking something like our ovens, though without any door to them.
In some of these they deposited their upper jackets, which they
usually take off in coming into their huts, as we do a greatcoat;
while in smaller ones, like little shelves in a recess, they kept
various articles of their Kabloona riches. These and similar
alterations and additions they were constantly making throughout
the winter; for their inexhaustible materials being always at
hand, it required but little time and labour to adopt any
arrangement that might suit their convenience.

After distributing a number of presents in the first four huts, I
found, on entering the last, that Pootooalook had been successful
in bringing in a seal, over which two elderly women were standing,
armed with large knives, their hands and faces besmeared with
blood, and delight and exultation depicted on their countenances.
They had just performed the first operation of dividing the animal
into two parts, and thus laying open the intestines. These being
taken out, and all the blood carefully baled up and put into the
_ootkooseek_, or cooking-pot, over the fire, they separated the
head and flippers from the carcass, and then divided the ribs. All
the loose scraps were put into the pot for immediate