298 Knud Rasmussen. 



encountered up in the interior of the inland ice did not trouble the 

 dogs very much, as the sledges with their ice-shod walrus hide runners 

 made very easy going. The great monotony of the country, however, 

 seemed to have a depressing effect on beasts as well as men; always 

 the same white depth ahead, with never the slightest change to fur- 

 nish food for thought. This in itself makes each day's run a thing 

 to be hurried through in an intensity of longing to force a way out 

 through the dead, storm-lashed desert ahead. There are snow storms 

 every day, but even these one grows accustomed to. The keen feeling 

 of cold which we had experienced to begin with soon subsided, only 

 our eyes still suffered a good deal, largely owing to the amount of 

 ice which the fine, driving snow formed in the eyelashes. 



Throughout the first half of the journey we built snow huts every 

 evening, and literally thawed ourselves after having toiled all day 

 through the storm. With the small blubber lamps burning on the beds 

 and an oil stove in the middle of the floor we soon had the place 

 warm enough. We lay as a rule half naked on the skin spread over 

 the beds, enjoying a rest at the end of the day while we waited for 

 our meal, reading an old newspaper or some book or other. Our load 

 being so heavy that a slight additional weight was of no account, we 

 had brought with us a small case of books and papers, a thing which 

 I would recommend to all travellers in monotonous regions; it serves 

 as a stimulant to the mind, and is often as valuable in its way as the 

 physical stimulant of food and drink. 



On the last part of the inland ice trip, when it was important to 

 lose as little time as possible, we used the tent instead of building huts. 

 Here also one can manage to be warm and comfortable enough despite 

 40 degrees of cold and a storm outside. The great thing is to cut out 

 a hollow in the snow, and pitch the tent there, building a good solid 

 mound beside to keep off the wind. 



As our provisions consisted chiefly of meat, we found it best to 

 eat the same food as the dogs ; a staple diet of raw and frozen meat. 

 Once one has become accustomed to this Eskimo fashion of feeding, it 

 has an excellent effect. The food is splendidly adapted to satisfy the 

 demands made by cold and great exertion on the constitution. It is 

 not a diet for weak stomachs, however, as the lumps of meat are 

 swallowed at a temperature of -^ 30 to 40 degrees, and it is necessary 

 to carefully breathe on them first, otherwise they will burn the month, 

 and sticking to the lips and tongue, take off the skin. After a meal 

 of this frozen meat, the first sensation is one of severe cold; gradu- 

 ally, however, as the meat thaws in the stomach, the natural heat of 

 the body returns, and once thoroughly warm again, one always feels 

 then far less susceptible to cold. 



In addition to this principal meal of raw meat, we generally 

 boiled a lump or so apiece each evening. This was a somewhat lengthy 



