164 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



I will only call attention to the figures which show how 

 much of the permanent weight falls to each man's share. The 

 permanent weight does not increase in proportion to the 

 number of men on an expedition, and for a party of three men 

 the total weight carried will only be slightly increased, while 

 the extra weight for each man will be considerably less. A 

 party consisting of two persons is decidedly too small, one 

 consisting of three considerably better, but our own experience 

 taught us that a party consisting of four men would really 

 be the ideal thing over rough pack ice. As far as the distribu- 

 tion of work goes, it will be the duty of one man to go ahead 

 and break a trail, chop down small pieces of ice, cut a road 

 through pressure-ridges, and pick out the way. This is in 

 itself more than sufficient work for one man, and it is too hard 

 on him to have a sledge to drive at the same time. In order 

 to make any distance over rough ice it is necessary to have 

 three sledges on which to distribute the weights, and there 

 must be one man for each sledge, or the delays caused by 

 sledges capsized or getting stuck, etc., will be too great. The 

 dogs also pull considerably better with a man close behind 

 them, who with words and whip can encourage them to do 

 their utmost. 



The weight of one sledge ought not to exceed 600 Ibs. 

 or it will be too heavily loaded for one man to manage it over 

 ordinary ground without applying for help, except in extreme 

 cases. But no man can manage much more than 600 Ibs. 

 Even that may be too much, and the man as well as the sledge 

 will suffer if it gets at all heavier. 



Sledges and Sledge-driving. Our sledges were the common 

 " ski-sledge," which has been described so often that descrip- 

 tion is unnecessary here. I will therefore content myself with 

 stating what objections we had to the sledge and what changes 

 our experience taught us to contemplate for future sledge 

 expeditions. 



Any one in charge of the outfitting of an expedition cannot be 

 too careful in selecting the wood for the runners, as the slightest 

 cross grain in the wood will make the sledge draw heavily, and 

 the runner will split in a surprisingly short time. We used the 

 common thin runners, with an under-runner attached, but the 

 principle is not good, as the under-runner is too thin only 



