ns and labor would have been utterly thrown away, so far as
concerned the quest of the North Pole.

CHAPTER XIX

THE ROOSEVELT'S NARROW ESCAPE

It is perfectly true that the building business is not extensive in the
arctic regions, but it is also a fact that if you expect to travel
extensively there you must know how to build your own dwellings. If you
neglect to instruct yourself in this direction the chances are that some
time or other you will regret it.

Toward the end of the autumn field work, the use of the canvas tents had
been discontinued, and snow igloos had been constructed along the line
of march. These were permanent, and were used by the various parties,
one after the other. The new members of the expedition were instructed
in the art of igloo building by Marvin, Henson, and the Eskimos. No man
should go into the field in the North in winter unless he knows how to
build a shelter for himself against the cold and the storm.

The size of the igloo depends usually upon the number of men in the
party. If built for three men, it will be about five by eight feet on
the inside; if for five men, it will be about eight by ten, in order to
give greater width to the sleeping platform.

Four good men can build one of these snow houses in an hour. Each takes
a saw knife from the up-standers of the sledge and sets to work cutting
snow blocks. The saw knives are about eighteen inches long and are
strong and stiff, with a cutting edge on one side and saw-teeth on the
other. The blocks of snow are of different sizes, those for the bottom
row being larger and heavier than those for the upper rows, and all are
curved on the inner side, so that when set together they will form a
circle. The thickness of the walls depends upon the hardness of the
snow. If it is closely packed, the walls may be only a few inches thick;
if the snow is soft, the blocks are thicker, that they may hold their
shape. The blocks for the bottom layer are sometimes two or three feet
long and two feet high; but sometimes they are much smaller, as there is
no ironclad rule about it.

When sufficient blocks have been cut to make an igloo, an Eskimo takes
his position on the spot (usually a sloping bank of snow) which is to be
the center of the structure. Then the others bring the snow blocks and
place them end to end, on edge, to form an egg-shaped ring about the man
in the center, who deftly joints and fits them with his snow knife. The
se