On 7th September the building of the permanent winter-hut was commenced. Stones were quarried from among the débris at the foot of a cliff near by, and part of a sledge-runner had to do duty as a pick. A spade was made out of a shoulder-blade of a walrus tied to a piece of a broken snowshoe-staff. The walls were built of stone, with moss and earth between, and were finished in one week. They were scarcely 3 feet in height, but an equal distance had been dug into the ground, so that the hut was high enough to stand in. The forming of the roof was the greatest difficulty. However, a piece of driftwood had been found on the shore, and after a day’s work Johansen succeeded in cutting it in two with a small axe. These formed the ridge-piece, and walrus-hides formed the rest. In one corner of the hut a little hearth was made to cook upon, and above this a round hole was cut in the walrus-hide. A smoke-board was made of a bear-skin. The hearth had not been used long before it was found necessary to build a chimney. This was erected on the roof, and as the only materials were ice and snow, it was not altogether free from the drawback of sometimes dripping down on the hearth. Lamps were made by turning up the corners of some sheets of German silver. These were then filled with crushed blubber, and wicks were made from bandages. They gave a good light, but assisted very little in raising the temperature. A sleeping-shelf made of stone was erected along the back wall of the hut, but although bear-skins were spread on this it always remained hard and uncomfortable. The door consisted of an opening at one corner of the wall, which led into a short passage, dug out in the ground, and then roofed over with blocks of ice. The inner opening was covered with a bear-skin, and another skin was laid over the outer opening. The hut was 10 feet long and 6 feet wide. The cooking was very simple: it consisted in boiling bear’s flesh and soup in the morning, and frying steak in the evening. Large quantities were consumed at every meal, and yet they never tired of it, and had always good appetites.