Some time later Metek again visited Rensselaer Harbor. This time Dr. Kane decided to go with him to his hut, and bring back a load of walrus meat. Kane and Metek traveled eight miles by sledge, with Metek’s excellent team of twelve wild Eskimo dogs. They rode very swiftly over the ice and snow, until at last Kane saw what looked like two dark spots on the pure white surface. These spots were the entrances to two Eskimo huts. The Eskimo huts are built of large stones and are heavily sodded with turf or moss. They are shaped like half of an egg, and the entrance is a tunnel, through which the dwellers creep on their hands and knees. The door is a slab of slate or ice. At this time the huts were buried under the snow. The natives rushed out to meet the travelers. They seemed delighted to see Kane, but the cold soon drove them inside again. Kane and Metek followed, crawling through a tunnel twelve feet in length, which led them into the hut of one room about six by fifteen feet. It was crowded with persons and served for all purposes. The women were cooking large pieces of walrus meat over small lamps, and men and children were lying about half-clothed, calling to one another with uncouth sounds. Others lay stretched upon the floor sleeping. [Illustration: INTERIOR OF AN ESKIMO HUT. From a drawing by Dr. Kane.] The thermometer outside registered 30° below zero. Inside the hut the temperature stood at 90°, nor was there any place for fresh air to enter. Poor Dr. Kane was obliged to take off all his fur clothes like the rest. Being very tired, he soon fell asleep, with an Eskimo boy for a pillow, and a little Eskimo baby under his arm. Dr. Kane slept well. When he awoke he was offered some breakfast of boiled blubber. But, unluckily, he had seen the women cooking this, and they were so careless and dirty that he could not touch it. Instead he ate some pieces of frozen liver which he had brought with him. After breakfast he started on a walrus hunt. IX. HUNTING IN THE ICY NORTH The walrus has been called “the lion of the seas.” He is a huge animal, often eighteen feet in length. His head is square, and his cheeks and lips are covered with quills like bristles. From his face also extend the tusks, which on the larger animals are often thirty inches in length, and are prized as ivory. Altogether the walrus is a fierce-looking creature, with a tough hide and an ugly temper. Like the seal, the walrus has to come to the surface of the water to breathe. So Dr. Kane and his Eskimo friends tried to find open water, or, at least, a place where the ice was thin. The walrus has a habit of bellowing as he lies on the ice, so that hunters are guided by this strange and terrible sound. Every few minutes the hunters took off their fur hoods to listen.