SLEDGE JOURNEY. 413 



not more than a few hundred paces can be made in 

 a day. 



Such journeys must also always be made on the frozen 

 sea or on the Fjords. Overland sledge journeys are 

 impossible in East Greenland, on account of the uneven- 

 ness of the ground and the insufficiency of snow. The 

 most favourable time is the autumn. In winter, the long 

 Arctic night effectually frustrates every excursion. In 

 spring they are made more difficult by the intensity of 

 the cold, and for at least three parts of the time by 

 terrific snow-storms, and in the beginning of summer the 

 changing of the snow into water, or snow-bog. 



For nine months and a half our ship, surrounded and 

 fast bound by the ice, was the only place of refuge for 

 such expeditions, during which we could not rely upon 

 any means of subsistence from land, but only on the 

 chance good fortune of the hunt. Everything had there- 

 fore to be taken with us ; and the heavily- laden sledge 

 was indeed the ship of the desert, the loss of which 

 would carry all with it. The quantity of provisions to be 

 taken also set a limit upon our excursions, as well as the 

 knowledge that each man, even under favourable circum- 

 stances, could only carry two hundred weight. 



The north-east coast of Greenland is so completely un- 

 inhabited, that it was impossible to obtain dog-sledges ; 

 so we had to drao- them ourselves, which we did on five 

 journeys which occupied three months, and in which we 

 traversed nearly a thousand nautical miles. Clothing and 

 outfit also requires great care, as on these expeditions the 

 explorer has for weeks together to brave a temperature 

 sometimes below - 24° Fahr. Snow-hoods, masks, coats 

 of sealskin, boots of sail-cloth (leathern boots are not 



