178 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



little more repairing work to do, but nevertheless we think it 

 wiser to take that small disadvantage in order to secure the far 

 greater advantages on the side of the fur clothing. 



The rest of our outfit explains itself, and only very little 

 commentary is needed. We had an " emergency kit," so that 

 in case any of us should happen to fall into the water he could 

 at once get dry clothes. Our spare clothes bags were better 

 furnished than needed ; for instance, we carried too many 

 boots, owing to the fact that when we started we had no very 

 definite idea of the wearing qualities of this article. A good 

 pair of soles ought to last about four weeks and probably 

 longer, and a small hole can easily be repaired. 



In our camping outfit we had a wisp brush, which article 

 cannot be too highly recommended, as it enables us to remove 

 more loose snow from the clothing than is possible by other 

 means. It does not weigh much and saves a great amount of 

 moisture in the bags. 



Instruments, etc. Among other instruments we carried a 

 sounding machine. Its construction was a modification of the 

 Lucas sounding machine, but as the automatic brake was 

 not reliable, we braked with a mitten and only used the machine 

 as a reel on which we could haul in our line. The line, an 

 eighteen-stranded copper wire about ij m.m. thick, with a 

 tension of 40 Ibs., passed over an indicator on the end of an 

 arm attached to the machine, so that at any time we could 

 know how much wire we had out. Our wire was 620 metres 

 long. The sounding machine was lashed on to the hinderpart 

 of my sledge and was always ready for use. Most frequently 

 we sounded through natural cracks, but sometimes we also had 

 to cut holes through ice which was two or three feet thick. 



We carried two common leads, one of 6 Ibs. and one of 

 12 Ibs. The smaller one was enough to take soundings of 

 about 200-300 metres, but for deeper water it was rather too 

 light, particularly if there was any drift. Some tallow in a 

 hollow at the lower end of the lead brought up a sample of 

 the bottom. The weight of the sounding machine was not 

 much, only 13 Ibs., but its construction was rather too light 

 for 620 metres wire, and for future sounding on the ice a 

 heavier machine of somewhat different construction must be 

 recommended. 



