1902] DIFFICULTIES IN SELECTING EQUIPMENT 305 



Having some ideas and notes as to what our requirements 

 were, the question now in my mind was how these ideas should 

 be put into effect ; with such a vast amount of work connected 

 with other departments, I could not possibly devote the 

 necessary time to these details, and even had I attempted to 

 do so I should have been handicapped at every turn by my 

 want of practical experience. I was for some time in this 

 dilemma before Sir Clements Markham forwarded me a letter 

 written by Mr. Armitage, who was at that time serving in the 

 P. and O. service in the Far East. Armitage, as I knew, had 

 served in the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, but it was not 

 until I read this letter that I realised how invaluable such an 

 . experience might be ; the letter was written with the intention 

 of suggesting the lines on which our sledging outfit should be 

 prepared, and I saw at once that it contained the ideas at 

 which I had been so ineffectually attempting to grasp. 

 Armitage met me on his return to England, and agreed to 

 serve as second in command of the expedition, provided the 

 permission of his directors could be obtained. This was 

 granted, and within the month, after numerous consultations, 

 Armitage was in full direction of that important part of our 

 preparation, the sledging outfit. Time was all too short for 

 the excessive care and attention that were needed, but, thanks 

 to untiring efforts, we had collected all that was necessary in 

 this respect before the expedition left the London Docks in 

 July 1901. 



In describing the various articles of this equipment, I shall 

 explain in some detail their origin, and endeavour to point out 

 in what respects they suited our purpose, and in what respects 

 they failed. It must be remembered that in making long 

 sledge journeys in the South we had no previous experience to 

 go on except that which had been gained in the North ; we 

 were forced to assume that Southern conditions were more or 

 less similar to those of the North, and in so far as they proved 

 different our sledging outfit ran the risk of failure. 



We found, in fact, that in many respects our sledging 

 conditions differed from those in the North, and it is just to 



VOL. I. X 



