18 THE START FOR THE POLE 



about the day that followed; we could doze and doze as 

 much as we liked. The work went on regularly, never- 

 theless. The dogs gnawed and gnawed, storing up 

 strength with every hour that went by. 



We will now take a trip out to our loaded sledges, 

 and see what they contain. Hanssen's stands first, bow 

 to the south; behind it come Wisting's, Bjaaland's and 

 Hassel's. They all look pretty much alike, and as 

 regards provisions their loads are precisely similar. 



Case No. 1 contains about 5,300 biscuits, and weighs 

 111 pounds. 



Case No. 2: 112 rations of dogs' pemmican; 11 bags 

 of dried milk, chocolate, and biscuits. Total gross 

 weight, 177 pounds. 



Case No. 3: 124 rations of dogs' pemmican; 10 bags 

 of dried milk and biscuits. Gross weight, 161 pounds. 



Case No. 4 : 39 rations of dogs' pemmican ; 86 rations 

 of men's pemmican; 9 bags of dried milk and biscuits. 

 Gross weight, 165 pounds. 



Case No. 5 : 96 rations of dogs' pemmican. Weight, 

 122 pounds. 



Total net weight of provisions per sledge, 668 

 pounds. 



With the outfit and the weight of the sledge itself, 

 the total came to pretty nearly 880 pounds. 



Hanssen's sledge differed from tlie others, in that it 

 had aluminium fittings instead of steel and no sledge- 

 meter, as it had to be free from iron on account of the 



