THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 341 



conditions of snow, we were in several respects more fortunately 

 situated. Our sledge was pulled by dogs while the men had to 

 pull his. However, our sledge kept sinking in so deep that had it 

 been of ordinary type it would have had to be pulled ahead right 

 through the granular snow, somewhat in the manner of a snowplow. 

 That was the way on the west coast of Banks Island when we 

 were getting ashore in 1914, and so it evidently was with McClin- 

 tock. But our sledges now had the special "toboggan bottom" 

 so that when the runners had sunk about six inches the snow came 

 in contact with it. They had the merit that they were as good 

 as any ordinary sledge on glare ice or on hard snow, at the same 

 time that they converted themselves into toboggans when they 

 sank deep enough in soft snow. The snow was so soft now that 

 our dogs had very poor footing and the smaller ones floundered 

 about so that they, as well as the sledges, had to be dragged along 

 by the bigger dogs. I have no doubt that but for the toboggan 

 bottoms our progress would have been even slower than McClin- 

 tock's. 



Another advantage of our equipment was in the snowshoes and 

 skis. All of us were used to skis from childhood but we had long 

 ago come to the conclusion that in the Arctic they are of little 

 use, and although we had a pair with us we were carrying them 

 mainly because we used them in constructing the frame of our 

 sled boat for crossing open water. The snowshoes were for actual 

 use. Now for the first time conditions appeared where skis were 

 better. The snowshoes would sink into the slush and when you 

 pulled them up you brought up with them a heavy load of it, so 

 that in some places they were worse than useless. The man who 

 had the skis was usually able to glide along on the surface without 

 breaking through, partly because of their greater surface area 

 but mostly because they slide smoothly, while snowshoes have to 

 be lifted up and put down with a sort of stamping motion. 



On this journey as on most journeys we kept taking soundings. 

 The depth between the new land and Eight Bears Island was a 

 hundred fathoms. Soundings were taken through seal holes and 

 occasionally we shot the seals for food. We found it an even 

 greater advantage now not to be compelled to haul food with us, 

 and we traveled with the sledges so light that there was seldom 

 more than two or three days' provisions ahead. 



On the evening of June 22nd, just before we landed on Eight 

 Bears Island, came perhaps the heaviest fall of snow that I have 

 ever seen and in weather well above freezing, so that in a few 



