ten o’clock
Snow houses were to be hollowed out of the frozen masses , or rather holes were to be dug , in which each person could cower until the storm was over . Knives and hatchets were soon at work on the brittle masses of ice , and in three-quarters of an hour some ten dens had been scooped out large enough to contain two or three persons each . The dogs were left to themselves , their own instinct leading them to find sufficient shelter under the snow . Before ten o'clock all the travellers were crouching in the snow houses , in groups of two or three , each choosing congenial companions . Mrs Barnett , Madge , and Lieutenant Hobson occupied one hut , Thomas Black and Sergeant Long another , and so on . These retreats were warm , if not comfortable ; and the Esquimaux and Indians have no other refuge even in the bitterest cold . The adventurers could therefore fearlessly await the end of the storm as long as they took care not to let the openings of their holes become blocked up with the snow , which they had to shovel away every half hour .