138 FROM MADEIRA TO THE BARRIER 



to each man's boots, so that all might be ready for use 

 on arrival at the Barrier. A full skiing outfit had been 

 provided for every man, so that those who were to be 

 left on board might also have a run now and then 

 during their stay at the ice edge. 



For each of our ten sledges, Bjaaland made during 

 the voyage a pair of loose runners, which it was in- 

 tended to use in the same way as the Eskimo use theirs. 

 These primitive people have or, at all events, had no 

 material that was suited for shoeing sledge-runners. 

 They get over the difficulty by covering the runners 

 with a coating of ice. No doubt it requires a great deal 

 of practice and patience to put on this kind of shoeing 

 properly, but when it is once on there can be no 

 question that this device throws all others into the 

 shade. As I say, we had intended to try this on the 

 Barrier; we found, however, that the pulling power of 

 our teams was so good as to allow us to retain our 

 steel-shod runners with an easy conscience. 



For the first fourteen days after leaving Madeira the 

 north-east trade was fresh enough to enable us to keep 

 up our average rate, or a little more, with the help of 

 the sails alone. The engine was therefore allowed a 

 rest, and the engineers had an opportunity of cleaning 

 and polishing it; this they did early and late, till it 

 seemed as if they could never get it bright enough. 

 Nodtvedt now had a chance of devoting himself to the 

 occupation which is his delight in this world that of 



