to reach the North Pde in 1827. 375 



sledgvs dr sletlge-boats, drawn wholly by dogs or reindeer; but, bovrever 

 feasible tkia plan luay at first sif^ht appear, I cannot nay that our late expcK 

 rience of th« nature of the ice which they would probably have to encouator, 

 baa been at all iiivourable to it. It would, of course, be a matter of exteoBe 

 onjirwlenoe to set out on this enterprise without the means of croaaiBg,— not 

 merely narrow pooli and " lane8,**-«but more extensive s]wces of open water, 

 auch aa we meet with between the margin of the ice and the Spitzbergen 

 ahorea i and I do not conceive that any boat sufficiently large to be efficient 

 and safe ibr this purpose, could possibly be managed upon the ice, were the 

 power employod to give it motion dependent on dogs or rein*deer. On tlie 

 contrary, it was a frequent subject of remark among the officerst, that reason 

 waa a qualification scarcely less indispensable, than strength and activity, in 

 travelling over such a road ; daily instances occurring of our having to poaa 

 over difficult places, which no other animal than man could have been easily 

 prevailed upon to attempt. Indeed, the constant necessity of launching and 

 hauling up the boats (which operations we had frequently to perform eight or 

 ten, and on one occasion, seventeen times in the same day) would alone ren- 

 der it inexpedient, in my opinion, to depend chiefly upon other animals ; for 

 it would certainly require more time and labour to get them into and out of 

 the boata, than their services in the intervals, or their flesh ultimately used 

 aa food, would be worth ; especially when it is considered how large a weight 

 of provender must be carried for their own subsistence. 



" In case of employing reindeer, which, from their strength, dpcility, ai|d 

 hardy habits, api)ear the best suited to this kind <rf' travelling, there woul4 be 

 an evident advantage in setting out much earlier in the year than we did ; 

 perhaps about tlie end of April, when the ice is less broken up, and the snow 

 much harder up<m its surface, than at a more advanced part of the season. 

 But this, it must be recollected, would involve the necessity of passing the 

 previous winter on the northern coast of Spitebergen, which, even under la- 

 vourable circumstances, would probably tend to weaken in some degree the 

 energies of the men ; while, on the other hand, it would be next to imjwsfflble 

 to procure there a supply o*" provender for a nimiber of tame reindeer, suffi- 

 cient even to keep them alive, much less in tolerable condition, during a whole 

 winter. In addition to this, it may be observe<l, that any party setting out 

 earlier must be provided with a much greater weight of warm clothing, in 

 wder to guard against the severity of the cold, and also with an Inereased 

 proportion of fuel for procuring water by the melting of the snow, th«re being 

 BO fresh water upon the iee, in these latitudes, before the month of June. 



" In the kind of provisions proper to be employed in such enterprijses,— . 

 a rtry important consideration, where almost the whole difficulty may be said 

 to reaolve itself into a question of weight, — I am not aware that any improve- 

 ment could he made upon that with which we were fWnished ; for I know of 

 none which appears to contain so much nutriment in so small a weight an4 

 conpasa. It may be useful, however, to remark, as the reauH of absolute ex- 

 perience, that our daily allowance of provisions, altheugfa previmialT tried for 

 some dajrs on board the ship, and then considered to be enough, prt»ve<l by n* 

 means sufficieot to support the strcogtb of men Uvisg ooBstaaUy in the open 

 air, exposed to wet and cold for at least twelve hour* a^av, aeldoon eojijiag 



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