Report of the First Thule Expedition 1912. 



295 



great e:5^tent were at that time those of Peary and Nansen, and 

 both of these expeditions had been based upon portable provisions, 

 of such a nature as to permit the traveller to carry as nearly as 

 possible only the net weight of nourishment, avoiding all unnecessary 

 loads. Our provisions on the other hand, consisting of walrus hide 

 and narwhal 

 and walrus 

 meat , were 

 not only ex- 

 tremely bul- 

 ky, but very 

 heavy in pro- 

 portion to the 

 amount of 

 nourishment 

 represented, 

 owing to the 

 high percent- 

 age of water 



contained. 

 We were obli- 

 ged to reckon 

 with heavy 

 loads; in spite 

 of this, how- 

 ever, our 

 journey 

 across the in- 

 land ice must 

 first and fore- 

 most be a 



matter of 

 speed, as it 

 is very diffi- 

 cult to carry 

 more than a 



month's food for the dogs when the food consists, Eskimo fashion, of 

 such natural produce as that we had brought with us. 



The distance which we had to cover across the inland ice to 

 Danmarks Fjord was about 1000 km. In order to do this within the 

 month, making due allowance for days lost on account of weather, 

 we should have to reckon with daily stages at least twice the length 

 of anything previously accomplished on the inland ice. Moreover, we 

 should have to be careful not to over-fatigue the dogs, always bearing 

 in mind the fact that our work could only begin in earnest after we 



Inukitsoq. 



