ather, as we had better say, hut,--that
being more nearly what it was.

"The building of our hut, then, was indeed a very difficult task, as the
solid wall we had to construct in front was much higher than our heads,
and in this wall we had, of course, to leave a doorway and a window,
besides a sort of chimney, or outlet, for the smoke from the fireplace,
which was beside the door.

"We must have been at least two weeks making this wall, for we had not
only to construct the wall itself, but when it got so high that we could
no longer reach up to the top, we had to build steps, that we might
climb there. We left a window above the doorway, not thinking, of
course, to find any glass to put in it, but leaving it rather as a
ventilator than a window. It was very small, not more than a foot
square, and was easily shut up at any time, if we should not need it.
For a door, we used a piece of the narwhal skin. This skin was fastened
above the doorway with pegs, which we made of bones, driving them into
the cracks between the stones, thus letting the skin fall down over the
doorway like a curtain.

"In making the wall, we were greatly helped by the bones which I had
found down on the beach, as they were much lighter than the stones, and
aided in holding the moss in its place, so that we were able to use much
more of that material than we otherwise should have been. When the wall
was completed, we were gratified to see how tight it was, and how
perfectly we had made it fit the rocks by means of the moss.

"Having completed the wall, our next concern was to arrange the
interior; but about this we had no need to be in so great a hurry as
with the wall, for we had now a place to shelter us from any storm that
might come, and we could hope to make ourselves somewhat comfortable
there, even although the inside was not well fitted up; for we had a
fireplace, and could do our cooking without going outside. When we found
how perfect was the draft through the outlet, or chimney, you may be
very sure we were greatly delighted.

"As it fell out, we had secured this shelter in the very nick of time,
for in two days afterwards a violent storm arose,--a heavy wind with
hail and gusts of snow,--a strange kind of weather, you will think, for
the middle of July. This storm made havoc with the ice on the east side
of the island, breaking it up, and driving it out over the sea to the
westward, filling the sea up so much in that direction, that