Having Selected A Spot On The River Where The Snow
Was About Two Feet Deep And Sufficiently Compact He Commenced By Tracing
Out A Circle Twelve Feet In Diameter.
The snow in the interior of the
circle was next divided with a broad knife having a long handle into
slabs three feet long, six inches thick, and two feet deep, being the
thickness of the layer of snow.
These slabs were tenacious enough to
admit of being moved about without breaking or even losing the sharpness
of their angles and they had a slight degree of curvature corresponding
with that of the circle from which they were cut. They were piled upon
each other exactly like courses of hewn stone around the circle which was
traced out and care was taken to smooth the beds of the different courses
with the knife, and to cut them so as to give the wall a slight
inclination inwards, by which contrivance the building acquired the
properties of a dome. The dome was closed somewhat suddenly and flatly by
cutting the upper slabs in a wedge-form instead of the more rectangular
shape of those below. The roof was about eight feet high, and the last
aperture was shut up by a small conical piece. The whole was built from
within and each slab was cut so that it retained its position without
requiring support until another was placed beside it, the lightness of
the slabs greatly facilitating the operation. When the building was
covered in a little loose snow was thrown over it to close up every chink
and a low door was cut through the walls with a knife.
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