Many curious things she learned these days, as this extract from her diary will show:
“Clear day. No wind. Achatinǵwah and I were out coasting from eleven to nearly one. The stars were very bright.
“Achatinǵwah told me all about the Eskimo stars. I know only one, the great Dipper. Achatinǵwah says the stars in this are a herd of reindeer in the sky. The Eskimos call it TOOK-TOK´-SUE. Then there are three other bright stars which are the stones supporting the lamp of an Eskimo woman up in the sky; and a hunter and his dogs after a bear, and lots more.
“I wish Father were here to tell me what we call them. When we came on board, Captain Sam said the thermometer on deck had been at seventy-two degrees below freezing all day.”
They never went far from the ship, so that they could run on board, into the warm galley (kitchen), where the steward, kind old Charley, was ever ready to give them a hot drink, and allow them to warm their fingers and toes, even if he did threaten to make mince meat out of them if they bothered him too much.
One day he said to AH-NI-GHI´-TO: “Why don’t you have a party on the ice? Get the youngsters to help you fix up a house, and I will help you with the supper.”
This was a great idea for the children, and at first they intended to build a real native snow igloo; but, as the grown Eskimos were too busy to help them, they soon found this was too much for them to do alone.
Then AH-NI-GHI´-TO went to the Captain and asked him to lend her one of her father’s tents, and have the men put it up for her out on the ice. When this was done, the children shovelled the soft snow up on the sides of the tent as high as they could reach. This kept the wind from blowing under the canvas into the tent.
It took them several days to do this and to furnish and decorate their reception room. Large boxes were brought from the ship and covered as tables; small ones were used as chairs. The walls were draped with flags, and a lantern was hung at each end.