76 PLAN AND PREPARATIONS 



quarters were marked and stowed separately in the 

 hold in such a way that they could be put out on to 

 the ice at once. 



We had ten sledges made by a firm of sporting 

 outfitters in Christiania. They were built like the old 

 Nansen sledges, but rather broader, and were 12 feet 

 long. The runners were of the best American hickory, 

 shod with steel. The other parts were of good, tough 

 Norwegian ash. To each sledge belonged a pair of 

 spare runners, which could easily be fitted underneath 

 by means of clamps, and as easily removed when not 

 required. The steel shoeing of the runners was well 

 coated with red lead, and the spare runners with tar. 

 These sledges were extremely strongly built, and could 

 stand all kinds of work on every sort of surface. At 

 that time I did not know the conditions on the Barrier 

 as I afterwards came to know them. Of course, these 

 sledges were very heavy. 



We took twenty pairs of ski, all of the finest hickory ; 

 they were 8 feet long, and proportionately narrow. I 

 chose them of this length with a view to being able 

 to cross the numerous cracks in the glaciers ; the greater 

 the surface over which the weight could be distributed, 

 the better prospect we should have of slipping over the 

 snow-bridges. We had forty ski-poles, with ebonite 

 points. The ski-bindings were a combination of the 

 Huitfeldt and the Hoyer Ellefsen bindings. We also 

 had quantities of loose straps. 



