270 • VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. March 



The popular supposition that sledge travelling with 

 dogs in the Arctic regions is a comfortable, expeditious, 

 and exciting method of locomotion is very far from the 

 truth. With a light sledge, perfectly smooth ice, and 

 a good team of dogs, rapid journeys may be made 

 over great distances where supplies of food for only a 

 few days have to be carried on the sledge. Dog- 

 sledging as practised by naval expeditions in districts 

 where food cannot be obtained on the road, is neces- 

 sarily of a different nature. The object frequently being 

 to prolong the journey to the utmost extent, or, in 

 other words, to enable the sledgers to be absent from 

 their ship the greatest number of days, the sledge at 

 starting is loaded to the full amount of provisions and 

 gear that the dogs can draw with the aid of the men. 

 The driver walks or runs at the side of the sledge, 

 guiding the animals with his whip, while another of 

 the party runs ahead, choosing the best path through 

 the piled-up hummocks or rough ice, the rest of the 

 crew pushing the sledge from behind, but very fre- 

 quently they have to use their drag-belts. wing- 

 to the repeated delays among rough ice, where the 

 dogs stubbornly refuse to do any work whatever, 

 and the men facing the sledge have to drag it three or 

 four feet at a time by standing pulls, the rate of ad- 

 vance is seldom over two or three miles an hour. In 

 fact, the crew of a dog-sledge have even more la- 

 borious work to undergo than those who drag a man- 

 sledge. 



The dogs should never be permitted to advance 

 faster than the travellers can walk themselves with 

 comfort and without losing breath. 



