i6o 



CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



extent of late been effected in the wrong places, so that the 

 party has actually suffered in consequence. The weight-saving 

 tendency has especially influenced the construction of sledges 

 and has certainly been carried too far. The minimum limit 

 for the weight of a sledge has been reached and passed, and we 

 must now commence to make them heavier again, at least for 



travelling over the 

 puck ice in the Polar 

 sea. The imme- 

 diate consequence 

 of a frail sledge is 

 that it breaks down 

 or becomes so 

 rickety that the 

 party using it will 

 have to work care- 

 fully amongst heavy 

 ice, lest their sledges 

 should give out, and 

 if that happens far 

 from land the result 

 might easily be that 

 starvation and pos- 

 sibly death would 

 overtake the party. 

 Another thing 

 which has been a 

 favourite subject of 

 attempts to save 

 weight is the tent. 

 Here again it is 

 not justifiable to go 



too far, as the commander of an expedition has no right to 

 risk the lives of his companions in order to save a few pounds. 

 A tent must be made of such a heavy material and the poles 

 be so strong that it can easily stand an ordinary gale, and the 

 physical and moral comfort which a comparatively heavy tent 

 gives is large. Imagine lying out on the pack ice with only a 

 thin and frail wall of silk between you and the tempest which 

 is raging outside. It is flapping, and all the time you are in 



THE " DUCHESS OF BEDFORD AS WE LEFT HER. 



