CHOICE OF DRAUGHT ANIMALS 57 



personally acquainted with Inspector Daugaard-Jensen 

 from former dealings with him, and knew that whatever 

 he undertook would be performed with the greatest 

 conscientiousness. The administration of the Royal 

 Greenland Trading Company gave permission for the 

 dogs to be conveyed free of charge on board the Hans 

 Egede and delivered at Christiansand. 



Before I proceed to our further equipment, I must 

 say a few more words about the dogs. The greatest 

 difference between Scott's and my equipment lay un- 

 doubtedly in our choice of draught animals. We had 

 heard that Scott, relying on his own experience, and 

 that of Shackleton, had come to the conclusion that 

 Manchurian ponies were superior to dogs on the Barrier. 

 Among those who were acquainted with the Eskimo 

 dog, I do not suppose I was the only one who was 

 startled on first hearing this. Afterwards, as I read the 

 different narratives and was able to form an accurate 

 opinion of the conditions of surface and going, my 

 astonishment became even greater. Although I had 

 never seen this part of the Antarctic regions, I was not 

 long in forming an opinion diametrically opposed to that 

 of Shackleton and Scott, for the conditions both of 

 going and surface were precisely what one would desire 

 for sledging with Eskimo dogs, to judge from the 

 description of these explorers. If Peary could make 

 a record trip on the Arctic ice with dogs, one ought, 

 surely, with equally good tackle, to be able to beat 



