152 THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 



cellent men, and Castel had been intended as the third man with 

 Storkerson and me to make the advance ice trip. But we still had 

 good men, so that the most serious blow was that the two had taken 

 with them some of the best dogs, one of our two good sleds, and 

 some tools and other special equipment that were in a bag per- 

 manently attached to the sled. The lack of these tools was for 

 months afterwards an inconvenience which amounted to a serious 

 handicap, while the loss of the sled compelled an immediate read- 

 justment of plans. Of the four sleds we had when we left shore, 

 two were very good and two almost worthless. These worthless 

 sleds were to have been sent back about fifty miles from shore. 

 Now we had only one good sled left. 



