Report of the First Thule Expedition 1912. 299 



business, however, as everything had to be thawed first: snow melted 

 to water, water boiled, the meat again thawed in the hot water and 

 likewise boiled. And hungry as we were after twelve or fourteen hours 

 work, we naturally preferred to eat our fill of the frozen meat, re- 

 garding the cooked ration as something in the way of dessert. More- 

 over, it should be remembered, frozen meat is by no means bad eating; 

 the cold takes away the taste of blood, and the effect is that of a 

 rare and delicate iced dish. Owing to the well known arctic craving 

 for fat, we also ate large quantities of blubber with the meat, and 

 quenched the resulting thirst with huge draughts of tea; good hot tea, 

 poured down to thaw the frozen lumps of meat. It had a wonderful 

 effect, and however tired out we might be, these cups of tea always 

 loosened our tongues and made us cheery and sociable, exactly as does 

 wine at a dinner party. We always had our principal meal in the 

 evening, before going to sleep, and though this perhaps is against the 

 principles of healthy living, it was the most practical way for us to 

 manage, as we could best afford the time for cooking after the day's 

 run was over. And in any case, we never felt any the worse for it. 

 In the morning, we contented ourselves as a rule with a cup of coffee, 

 and never ate anything at all in the middle of the day while on the 

 road. One soon grows accustomed to living on one meal a day, and 

 if one does happen to get a little underfed, it is always possible to 

 make up for it as soon as a spell of lying up weather comes along. 

 As a matter of fact, as long as one eats plenty of blubber with the 

 meat, there is no danger of underfeeding. 



The dogs managed splendidly, in spite of the pretty rough time 

 they had throughout the whole of the journey; snowstorms during a 

 halt they did not mind at all, but simply lay down and let them- 

 selves be covered up, finding a warm and comfortable shelter in the 

 drifts. 



All our teams consisted of young, trained dogs, which had often 

 been out for long stretches in our districts, and exposed to Jiardships 

 in no way inferior to those which they were called upon to endure 

 with us on the inland ice. Each team consisted of one tribe, i. e. one 

 family brought up and trained to work together, an absolute requisite 

 for any first class team. One can never get the sound temper and 

 united effort which are indispensable for a continued succession of long 

 distance runs when working with dogs taken from different teams, 

 where a great amount of energy is generally expended in fights and 

 the settling of personal differences. Unfortunately, the dogs used on 

 expeditions are almost invariably mixed lots bought up indiscriminately: 

 such teams are sooner worn out and readier to give up, having no 

 canine esprit de corps. To make a dog work cheerfully, and not by fear 

 of the whip, is an art; once this is attained, however, they will keep 

 on day after day with the same willingness, the same astonishing re- 

 Li. 22 



