The men hunted, and secured numbers of reindeer skins and furs of all sorts. They fished, and explored the surrounding islands. While on these trips they sometimes met Eskimos, who often accompanied them to Red Cliff House. Some of the Eskimos came with their dog teams, and Peary was always glad to buy the dogs from them. By November 7 there were seventeen men, women, and children at the camp, and Peary built a large snow hut for them to live in. Soon the long night began and all hunting came to an end. Then the members of the party busied themselves preparing for the great journey over the inland ice which Peary intended to make in the spring. The reindeer skins were stretched and dried and prepared for clothing by the Eskimo women. In order to soften the skin so that it could be used for clothing, the women folded it once with the hair inside. Then they chewed it all along the edge until the fold was made pliable. Another fold was then made, and treated in the same manner. This process was continued until the entire skin had been carefully chewed. It was then scraped, and if necessary, the work was repeated. It took two of Peary’s best workers about a day to prepare a large buckskin. The teeth of the Eskimo women are often worn down nearly to the gums by doing this work. Peary himself cut the patterns of the clothes and sleeping bags, and the Eskimo women did the sewing. Peary’s men busied themselves in trying to make sledges lighter and stronger than anything they had yet found. They fashioned ivory and horn braces for the sledges. Some of the Eskimo men helped to make ivory rings for the dogs’ harness. The Eskimo women chewed and sewed, and everybody was busy and happy. A large number of Eskimos visited Peary during the winter, some coming from a distance of two hundred miles. When the white men could not pronounce the queer names of the Eskimos, they gave them nicknames. A certain trio were known as the Priest, the Smiler, and the Villain. The Villain was an entirely harmless Eskimo, whose chief failing was his huge appetite. On Christmas Day, Peary invited his Eskimo friends to dinner. After his own party had partaken of a remarkably good Christmas feast, a fine venison stew was prepared for the Eskimos. Dr. Cook, the ship’s surgeon, saw that the guests were clean, to outward appearance at least, and a jolly, happy party they were, sitting down at a civilized dinner table for the first time in their lives. The Eskimo men wore sealskin coats and bearskin trousers, while the ladies appeared in foxskin jackets and trousers. The Villain sat at the head of the table and served the repast. The Daisy poured tea in Mrs. Peary’s place, and conducted herself very gracefully.