302 



Knud Rasmussen. 



Distances covered by the first Thule Expedition over the inland ice 



from coast to coast. 

 Outward journey. 



Date 

 5 



6 



8 



Month 



km. 



Place No. of sledges 



April Iterdlagssuaq (1) j Three slgs. covered [ 48,6 



— Cape Parry (2) J this in one run on < 41,9 



— Kiatak (3)J 6th April [50,0 



— Neqe (4) No. of do^s ^1,0 



Notes Hours 

 9 

 Odometer broken 16 

 (estimated) 



9 



14 



16 



18 



19 



20 



23 



23 



24 



25 



27 



29 



2 



4 



5 



7 



9 — 



Inland ice 



May 



1 



II 



III 



IV 



V 



VI 



VII 



VIII 



IX 



X 



XI 



XII 



XIII 



XIV 



XV 



XVI 



XVII 



84 



13 



13 



4 



337 

 153 



54 



66,6 13,0 km. on sea icei 



53,1 



54,2 



51,9 



i Halt to recover ) 



53 

 52 



51 



35,4 

 55,2 

 41,9 



28,3 

 75,7 

 57,5 

 63,8 

 90,9 

 69,7 

 71,9 

 66.1 



I lost gear ) 



Halt for observât. 

 ( Day's run checked) 

 \ by snowstorm j 



12 

 14 



7 



11 



6 



6 



4V2 



11 



10 



12 



12V2 

 10 

 11 

 11 



78,0 , , IIV, 



on /Ч /" Obstacles on the \ qi/ 

 *^'^ \moraine. Reach Id./ * '^ 



26 days; total from Neqe 1048,2 kilometres in. . . . 165V2 



Per day 40,3 km. — Per hour 6,32 km. — Average per day's journey 61,7 km. 



1 The 13 km. on the sea ice included, to make up for the unmeasured dis- 

 tance of the descent, where the odometer was taken off. 



is to hack out a good sound hole in the ice with knife or axe, and 

 there fix the loop of a small, very sound seal-hide thong, through 

 which the harpoon line used in lowering can run without risk of fray- 

 ing against the sharp ice. The line is now passed through the loop, and 

 made long enough to hang doubled. When men, dogs and gear are 

 down, the line can then be hauled clear from below, all that need be 

 left behind being the httle loop through which it ran. 



We were fortunately well supplied with very long harpoon lines 

 of thick seal hide (ribbon seal), of the kind used for hunting walrus on 

 the ice, and had therefore no difficulty in getting down beyond the 

 trouble involved in lowering all our gear: sledges, dogs, baggage, and 

 finally ourselves. It took us about twelve hours, and by the time it 

 was done, we had worn out several pairs of mittens, and nearly flayed 

 the palms of our hands in hauling and hanging on to the lines. It 

 was blowing a gale, which came in heavy gusts down over the edge, 

 so that we were hard put to it to keep our footing on the slippery 



