EQUIPMENT OF A SLEDGE EXPEDITION 167 



contrivances for crossing water. A kayak by which we could 

 ford rather large expanses of water would, of course, be of great 

 value, but the use which could be made of it would hardly 

 compensate for the increase in weight, especially when it is 

 remembered that much work is necessary before a kayak can be 

 ready for sea after being on the sledges for a long time. The 

 often repeated capsizing of the sledge with the kayaks on top 

 will tend to break every piece of wood in the kayak itself, and 

 sharp pieces of ice will tear the canvas cover. In our case we 

 knew that the ice was never very far removed from the shore, 

 but that we could easily land, and, consequently, we at any 

 rate did not think it necessary to burden ourselves with rather 

 useless kayaks. By means of two nine-foot sledges, two sticks 

 4! feet long and ij inch in diameter, and a piece of canvas 

 ii feet long and 6 feet wide, we could make a raft, the 

 object of which was to enable us to cross wide lanes 

 or other large expanses of water. This raft proved very 

 useful, as will be seen later on in the chapter dealing with 

 our sledge trip ; but while on the pack ice we thought out a 

 still better plan by which a boat of great stability and good 

 carrying power could be constructed out of a sledge. The 

 sledge used should be a rail-sledge with a high bow. A piece 

 of canvas could be made to fit snugly round the sledge, and 

 two long pokes to be filled with air were to be attached to 

 the canvas in such a manner as to be near the railing of the 

 sledge when the boat was to be used. When it became neces- 

 sary to use the boat the canvas could be stretched over the 

 sledge, which would thus be used as a frame, the pokes would 

 be blown full of air, and with a little load in the bottom, to 

 make the boat stable, it might be made to cross almost any 

 expanse of water likely to occur between the pack ice. It 

 would, of course, increase the weight, but not nearly so much 

 as a kayak, and it would be ready for sea in a very short 

 time. 



On the splendid sledge trips made in the fifties by English 

 Navy officers and men, men pulled the sledges for the most 

 part, but in later years dogs have almost exclusively done 

 this work, and ponies have also been used. There is no com- 

 parison between ponies and dogs, as long as they are going 

 over level ice, the former having far more power to pull, 



