The stars are supposed to be the spirits of the dead Esquimaux that have fixed themselves in the heavens, and falling stars, or meteors, and the aurora borealis, are those spirits moving from one place to another whilst visiting their friends.
The highest, lowest, and mean temperature of November were respectively +28°, -25°, and +0.68. Only twelve deer, nine hares, and a few partridges had been shot, whilst our nets produced about sixty fish, the greater part of which were small.
Winter arrangements completed--Learn to build snow houses--Christmas-day--North Pole River frozen to the bottom--1st January--Cheerfulness of the men--Furious snow-storm--Observatories blown down--Boat buried under the snow--Ouligbuck caught in the storm--Dog attacked by a wolf--Party of natives take up their residence near Fort Hope--Esquimaux mentioned by Sir John Ross known to them--Boat dug out of the snow--A runaway wife--Deer begin to migrate northward--A wolf-chase--First deer of the season shot--Difficulty of deer-hunting in spring--Dimensions of an Esquimaux canoe--Serious accident to Ouligbuck--A conjuror--Preparations for the journey northward--Temperature--Aurora Borealis.
During December we completed our various buildings, and formed passages under the snow, so that we could without exposure go to any of them. There were four houses, viz.: one for provisions, another for fuel, a third for oil, dog's meat, &c., and a fourth for the men's spare luggage, for which there was no room in the dwelling-house, and which had been stowed in the tents until it was found necessary to take them down.
Being desirous of requiring as little assistance from the Esquimaux as possible, I attempted to build a snow house after the native fashion, and succeeded tolerably well; finding that the process was not so difficult as I anticipated, after a few trials one or two of the men became very good masons. We had now no encouragement to move much about, as there was no game to be seen, and the weather was very unsettled, and consequently no more exercise was taken than was necessary to keep us in good health. In stormy weather, not being able to get out of doors, the men wrestled or played some game which called the muscles into action, and thus kept up the animal heat.