The huts are generally round, differing in size in proportion to the family, and averaging, perhaps, from twelve to thirty feet in diameter. The lower part of the hut, and to the height of four or five feet, is well secured with upright stakes, situated a few feet apart, and fastened to each other by cords of walrus skin. The huts, and especially those where we were located during the winter, were not made partly underground, as was the case with some we saw in the direction of East Cape, but so constructed on the surface of the ground as to be easily taken down and removed.
From the lower, or upright part, the roof extended in an oval form to the height of ten or twelve feet. At the termination of the top, or apex, there is an opening, which is closed or otherwise, according to the state of the weather. This opening affords about all the egress to the smoke of the lamps and fire, when made in the huts. It is very rarely, however, that fire is made in the huts.
The covering of the huts is usually of walrus skins, and impermeable to water. There is generally but one door to the hut, which is somewhat smaller than ordinary doorways.
The interior of the hut is divided into two principal rooms, or apartments, one of which may be called the eating room, and the other the sleeping room. The sleeping apartment is separated from the other by a temporary screen, which can be easily drawn aside or gathered up. The sleeping apartment is again subdivided into smaller sections, to suit the convenience of the family. The partitions are of walrus or deer skins, as a matter of course. These rooms are much warmer than one would naturally expect to find in this cold region of country.
The bedsteads (so to speak) are the skins of walruses, stretched upon and fastened to the tops of stakes about one foot from the ground, under which a bedding of coarse rushes is placed.
The pillow, or that upon which the head may rest, is made by drawing the walrus skin over one end of a stick, or log.
The peculiar locality of the huts or settlements is another consideration deserving a passing notice. The natives select the bleakest spot in the region for their settlements, where the wind blows without any obstruction. They, therefore, avoid all shelter behind hills, or cliffs, or in valleys. In placing their huts in such exposed localities, as for example, upon a plain, or level, near the sea shore, their purpose is to secure protection from the drifting snow, which otherwise, were they in the lee of some hill, or rising ground, or in a valley, would cover them up, and overwhelm them. Besides, the huts being circular, the wind and snow have opportunity of circulating in such a manner as generally to leave a clear space of several feet or more around the hut.
Notwithstanding all the precautions of the natives to avoid the drifting snow, still it was so deep at times upon a level, that when passing along, and even quite near the huts, we could not discern the tops of them, and should not have known that we were in their immediate vicinity, had it not been for tracks we discovered in the snow, or from the barking of the dogs.
THE METHOD OF LIGHTING THEIR HUTS.
The lamps are in the form of a hollow, circular dish, somewhat in the shape of a bowl, made of clay. This vessel is filled with seal's blubber, and around the edge of the lamps inside, is placed a row of moss of fine quality, obtained from the mountains. This moss is set on fire, and by its heat the blubber in the vessel is converted into oil, which in turn feeds the moss, and thus good light is obtained. Two or three such lamps in a hut would afford considerable heat.