46 COOK'S STORY OF HIS DISCOVERY OF NORTH POLE 



Asked about the food supply, he said: 



"One should live on the country as long as possible, and to do 

 this every advantage must be taken of the land route, where game 

 may generally be found. When the land is left and the ice-clad sea 

 is entered upon, pemmican, biscuits and tea are the main elements 

 of subsistence. One pound of pemmican per day for man and dog 

 will support life. Pemmican, properly prepared from dried raw 

 beef, pounded into powder and mixed with tallow, carries more 

 nutritive and heat-making powers for the same bulk than any other 

 preparation of meat. It is packed in six-pound tins and these 

 enclosed in wooden cases, convenient for handling. 



He went on to say that he took no stimulant with him but tea, 

 never using tobacco and using the undrinkable wood-alcohol for 

 fuel. As regards tea, his story is rather surprising, as he states 

 that he took only two pounds of it in his dash to the Pole, and did 

 not use all that. Yet tea was made every day, each man being given 

 two or three cups on each occasion. This made twelve or eighteen 

 cups a day, all brewed out of two teaspoonfuls of tea. It was far 

 from strong, but it served the purpose, making palatable the hot 

 water which added so much to their bodily warmth. 



No vegetable food was taken and no salt. In his opinion neither 

 are necessary, as the Eskimos use neither salt nor vegetables, yet 

 never suffer from scurvy. With pemmican no salt is needed, but 

 when he got back to Greenland, as he says, he ate salt like sugar. 

 Also they went with scarcely any medicine, and as for soap, only 

 one cake was taken, and that was lost on the route. It was not wept 

 for, as washing in the Arctic is pure misery. 



Dr. Cook says further: 



"In our journey we were almost always wet with ice water, and 

 often had wet feet. We slept in damp situations, in wind-swept 

 clouds, or wet snow, surrounded by conditions that should have 

 caused colds, rheumatism and all kinds of cold-weather ills, yet our 

 health was good throughout. Yet when we got back to civilization, 

 with warm, dry beds to sleep in, good shelter, varied food and little 



