Half of the flour had been consumed by the men with their meat; the remaining portion was preserved for a different purpose.  The dread of their fire going out, and of the difficulty which they should find in lighting another, without match or tinder, set their wits to work to find means to avert so great a misfortune.  They obtained from the middle of the island a particular kind of slimy clay, which they had observed, and of which they modelled a sort of lamp, and filled it with the fat of the reindeer.  They contrived a wick with a piece of twisted linen.  When they flattered themselves that their object was accomplished, they met with a great disappointment, for the melting grease ran through the lamp.  To make a new one, and to fill up the pores of the material of which it was made, was now their care.  When formed, they dried it in the air, and then heated it red-hot, in which state they immersed it in their kettle, in a preparation of flour, which had been boiled down to the consistence of starch.  They now tested it by filling it with melted fat, and to their infinite delight, they found that they had succeeded in fashioning one that did not leak.  To make it still more secure, they covered the outside with linen dipped in the starch.

In managing to have light during the dreary months of darkness, they had attained a great object, which had been doubly desirable on account of him who was languishing in sickness.  That they might not be wholly dependent on one lamp, of which some accident might deprive them, they made another.  In collecting such wood as had been cast on shore for fuel, they had fortunately found some cordage and a little oakum (the sort of hemp used for calking ships), which they turned to great account as wicks for their lamps.  When this store was consumed, they had recourse to their shirts and drawers—­a part of dress worn by almost all Russian peasants—­to supply the want.  Like the sacred fire, these lamps were never suffered to go out.  As they were formed soon after their arrival, they were kept burning without intermission for the years they passed in their comfortless abode.

The sacrifice made of their shirts and drawers exposed them more to the intense cold.  Their shoes, boots, and other parts of their dress, were worn out.  In this emergency, it was necessary to form some plan for defending themselves from the inclemency of the climate.  The skins of the reindeer and foxes, which they had converted into bedding, now afforded the materials for clothing.  They were submerged in fresh water for several days, till the hair was so loosened that it was easily removed; the leather was then rubbed with their hands till nearly dry, then melted reindeer fat was spread over it, and then it was again rubbed.  It thus became soft, and fit for the use to which it was to be put.  Some of the skins which they wished to reserve for furs did not undergo exactly the same process, but were merely left in water for one day, and were then prepared