166 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



ground, but even that is hardly enough. They are apt to drag 

 through the snow whenever it gets deep and soft. A remedy 

 to prevent this can easily be found, e.g., by lashing a couple of 

 slabs of thin wood all the way from bow to stern and under- 

 neath the crossbars, which will at the same time help to 

 strengthen the sledges. 



The weakest part of the sledge is the bent wood bow, and the 

 breaking of that causes the sledge to plunge into any snowdrift, 

 when it will either have to be pulled back or dug out, both of 

 which mean a considerable amount of work, besides causing 

 many long, uncalled for, and unpleasant delays. The object 

 of the bent bow is to help the sledge to slide over any uneven- 

 ness, and it is all the more important as the sledge, particularly 

 when going down a pressure-ridge, is apt to get stuck in the 

 snow, if the bend in front of the sledge is too small. I think 

 that if the runners were more curved the almost unavoidable 

 breakages might be to some extent avoided, and, as on the 

 Yukon sledges, the bow can hardly be bent too much. 



To extend the stanchions above the body of the sledge and 

 make a sort of rail would not increase the weight very much, 

 and would make the bow as well as the sledge itself stronger 

 and also facilitate the lashing of the load. 



Some experience is needed to load a sledge in the right way, 

 and it must be loaded according to the nature of the trail over 

 which it is to travel. For transport across pack ice the centre 

 of gravity should be in the middle of the sledge, as it is a 

 considerable help in crossing pressure-ridges, but for travelling 

 over level ground it should be more towards the stern, 

 particularly if the snow is deep. 



It is absolutely necessary to place the load as near the stern 

 as possible if the trail should be over hard, wind-beaten snow 

 or over glare ice where the sledge cannot otherwise steer. 



We carried " skies " with us, lashed under the crossbars, but 

 we never used them, and we did. not believe much in them. 

 They may be very serviceable to people who have used them 

 from their childhood, but even then it is incredible how they 

 can be of any use in heavy rubble ice and deep snow, and 

 I think upon the whole that short snow-shoes would be much 

 preferable. 



In order to travel on pack ice the outfit must include 



