176 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



white men, and of heavy winter skin. We had some ourselves, 

 so we speak from experience. 



According to our way of thinking, furs, properly made, are 

 far superior to wool, as they are warmer and lighter, while the 

 spare clothing which we have to carry weighs considerably 

 less than when wool is used by a sledge party. But, of course, 

 if furs are worn they must be soft and light, such as our cloth- 

 ing, which was made by the natives, entirely in native fashion 

 and from the skins of fawns shot during August and the 

 beginning of September. A complete fur suit consists of two 

 parkeys, that is, coats to be pulled over the head, with a hood 

 fringed with wolverine skin attached to it. The inner parkey 

 is usually sufficient for travelling, but whenever the party stops 

 both ought to be put on. The fur is turned inwards on the 

 inside parkey and out on the outside one, and if it is blowing 

 a silk overall ought to be put on, to prevent the snow from 

 penetrating into the fur. Besides these two fur parkeys we 

 wore a very thin undershirt with the sleeves cut off. This 

 undershirt saved the fur considerably, as it absorbed some of 

 the moisture of the body. A topsia (woollen belt) is advisable, 

 as it is very wholesome to regulate the heat of the upper body ; 

 if it is too cold the topsia is put on, and the body will soon get 

 warm ; if it is too warm and the topsia is removed, it will not 

 be long before the cooling air has made its influence felt. 



Two fur parkeys ought not to weigh above 5^ Ibs. 



A pair of fur breeches, preferably with the hair turned in, are 

 ample clothing for the legs, and no drawers are needed. We 

 wore knee breeches in the beginning, but they were not so com- 

 fortable as those reaching down to the ankles, as it was almost 

 impossible to make the breeches and the long stockings join in 

 such a manner as to keep out the snow. The places where 

 they joined just below the knee had, moreover, an unpleasant 

 way of opening and exposing the knee to the cold and the 

 snow. The long pantaloons such as the natives wear are much 

 better, as the space between them and the short stockings is 

 covered by the boot, so that even if the joint should give way 

 no great harm would be done. The fur stockings are worn 

 with the fur turned inwards and usually next to the skin. 

 Sometimes, however, we used a pair of woollen stockings inside 

 the fur ones. Whether wool or fur stockings are the more 



