330 Knud Rasmussen. 



tection thus afforded. Brønlund's diary tells how the members of 

 Mylius Erichsen's expedition found their boot soles at last worn quite 

 through with continual hunting in this country where the sharp stones 

 abound : had they but made use of this simple Eskimo trick, that dire 

 misfortune would have been avoided. The number of musk ox which 

 we shot gave us abundance of material, and where game is not so 

 plentiful, the skin can very well be set aside as obtained for the pur- 

 pose. No expedition working under such conditions as ours should be 

 without these alamaks. 



Homeward over the Inland Ice. 



Our loads were now as big as we considered it prudent to take. 

 Musk ox meat is, it is true, easier to handle than walrus meat, as it 

 can be cut up without having to be previously thawed; on the other 

 hand, however, it is disproportionally bulky, and we were well aware 

 that it might prove difficult to keep the dogs on full rations if the 

 journey should take longer than we had expected. We had each suf- 

 ficient for 12 good feeds, or say 24 smaller meals, and we dared not 

 increase the load, as this would involve the necessity of shortening the 

 daily stages at first, until part of it was used up. In addition to this, 

 we had no longer the walrus hide runners which had proved so invalu- 

 able on the outward journey; the hide must, as has been mentioned, 

 be fresh and soft for making these, in order that it can then freeze 

 hard in the form required. After reaching the open country; we had at 

 once broken up the runners to serve as food for the dogs, as the sun 

 dried them to such a degree as to render them unserviceable for the 

 return trip. Our dogs' provision was of course clean meat, cut from 

 shoulders and thighs, and in addition, each ration was lashed in a 

 piece of musk ox hide with the hair cut off, so as to prevent the dogs 

 from getting at it in case of any breaking loose; apart from which, 

 these thick pieces of hide, with the fat adhering, would in themselves 

 be of some value as food. 



This homeward journey over the inland ice, while out of all com- 

 parison with the long daily stages of the outward run, proved never- 

 theless, in my opinion, a fine example of what Greenland dogs can do 

 when decently handled. On the outward journey, we had made an 

 average daily run of 62 km. whereas on the way back we were forced 

 to put up with 43, this being, however, due to various circumstances 

 of a peculiar nature. Had the snow been as good as in April and May, 

 we should certainly have been able to cover the distance in a shorter 

 space of time. Autumn is always a bad time for sledging, on account 

 of the variable weather and frequent rain. We encountered a great 

 deal of deep, soft snow, where the sledges were heavy hauling; some- 

 times, also, such snow would be covered with a thin, brittle crust, 



