80 PLAN AND PREPARATIONS 



this outer sleeping-bag, we had it provided with a cover 

 of the lightest canvas, which was a good deal longer 

 than the bag itself. It was easy to tie the end of the 

 cover together like the mouth of the sack, and this kept 

 the snow out of the bag during the day's march. In 

 this way we always kept ourselves free from the annoy- 

 ance of drifting snow. We attached great importance 

 to having the bags made of the very best sort of skin, and 

 took care that the thin skin of the belly was removed. 

 I have seen sleeping-bags of the finest reindeer-skin 

 spoilt in a comparatively short time if they contained a 

 few patches of this thin skin, as of course the cold pene- 

 trates more easily through the thin skin, and gives rise 

 to dampness in the form of rime on meeting the warmth 

 of the body. These thin patches remain damp when- 

 ever one is in the bag, and in a short time they lose 

 their hair. The damp spreads, like decay in wood, and 

 continually attacks the surrounding skin, with the result 

 that one fine day you find yourself with a hairless 

 sleeping-bag. One cannot be too careful in the choice 

 of skins. For the sake of economy, the makers of 

 reindeer-skin sleeping-bags are in the habit of sewing 

 them in such a way that the direction of the hair is 

 towards the opening of the bag. Of course this suits 

 the shape of the skins best, but it does not suit the 

 man who is going to use the bag. For it is no easy 

 matter to crawl into a sleeping-bag which is only just 

 wide enough to allow one to get in, and if the way of 



