434 THE DEPARTURE. 



salted fish, and meat. Brandy, as may be supposed, is 

 not forgotten, but the chief beverage of the men is the 

 brackish water of the gulf; disagreeable enough to the 

 taste, it is true, though somewhat improved by the intro- 

 duction of a little meal. Their supply of firewood is very 

 scanty ; partly that more room may be left for stowage, 

 and partly that the craft may not be overloaded. The 

 fuel, in short, is not more than sutfieient to cook their 

 provisions ; and, as the men have nothing but the sails to 

 protect them from the weather, they in consequence suffer 

 greatly at times from the cold. They are clad chiefly in 

 coats or cloaks made of calf-skin, with the hairy side 

 out ; these, as well as their other habiliments, are 

 of a white colour, so that they may the less attract the 

 notice of the seals. Each man has a change of clothes, so 

 that, in the event of immersion in the water, he may have 

 other things to put on. Such as are wet they dry by 

 sleeping on them. A goodly supply of fire-arms, ammuni- 

 tion, harpoons, &c., and a telescope form part of the outfit ; 

 as also in most instances one or two well-trained dugs, in 

 preference white in colour ; for these can wind the seals 

 from a A'cry long distance — a Swedish mile, that is, nearly 

 seven English miles, it is said — and are, therefore, often 

 enabled to render tlie men invaluable service. 



The time of departure having arrived, which is gene- 

 rally in February, the boat is drawn to the edge of the 

 fixed ice, when it is forthwith launched into the open 

 water. If, however, the sea thereabouts be sheeted with 

 such thick virgin ice as to render it difficult and laborious 

 for the men to force her through it, they draw the craft, 

 or, it may be, sail her until such times as they come to 

 the open water — a mode of proceeding often adopted by 

 tliem on the great ice-fields that they happen to meet 

 with during the voyage. 



To draw the boat on the ice is a somewhat laborious 



