Their deerskins, which are very numerous, can now be spread without risk
of their touching the snow; and such a bed is capable of affording not
merely comfort, but luxurious repose, in spite of the rigour of the
climate. The skins thus used as blankets are made of a large size and
bordered, like some of the jackets, with a fringe of long, narrow slips
of leather, in which state a blanket is called _k=eipik_.
The fire belonging to each family consists of a single lamp, or shallow
vessel of _lapis ollaris_, its form being the lesser segment of a
circle. The wick, composed of dry moss rubbed between the hands till it
is quite inflammable, is disposed along the edge of the lamp on the
straight side, and a greater or smaller quantity lighted, according to
the heat required or the fuel that can be afforded. When the whole
length of this, which is sometimes above eighteen inches, is kindled, it
affords a most brilliant and beautiful light, without any perceptible
smoke or any offensive smell. The lamp is made to supply itself with
oil, by suspending a long, thin slice of whale, seal, or seahorse
blubber near the flame, the warmth of which causes the oil to drip into
the vessel until the whole is extracted. Immediately over the lamp is
fixed a rude and rickety framework of wood, from which their pots are
suspended, and serving also to sustain a large hoop of bone, having a
net stretched tight within it.
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