EQUIPMENT OF A SLEDGE EXPEDITION 179 



Our medical outfit was but small, but such as it was, it was 

 not often put into requisition. Gauze was not included in the 

 list, but as a bundle of biscuits for one week was wrapped up 

 in that material we could get enough for any immediate use. 



We carried two Savage rifles, '303, and had two kinds of 

 cartridges for them that is, the ordinary kind, and cartridges 

 used with an extender. As these last cartridges require a 

 different sight from the ordinary large ones, they are not of 

 much use, as the shooting is uncertain and a hit is to be ascribed 

 more or less to pure luck. 



A few articles which could be used in trading with the 

 natives we might find on the land we hoped to discover were 

 also contained in our outfit, but, unfortunately, they had to be 

 taken home intact. 



Each man was allowed 2 Ibs. weight for his personal 

 necessities, but as diary, pencils, snow-glasses, toilet paper, 

 and sewing material all came under this heading, there was not 

 much room left for such small articles as a man thinks neces- 

 sary for his comfort. Tobacco took up the greater part of it, 

 and Mr. Leffingwell and myself each carried a small book for 

 the hours spent in the sleeping bag when stormbound, which 

 are long, with nothing to occupy the mind. 



In many respects our outfit was very good, but it also had a 

 great many defects, and I have endeavoured to put forth these 

 shortcomings in the hope that I may help future travellers to 

 avoid some of the troubles which confronted us on our long 

 sledge trip over the pack ice. 



Food. A very important question on a sledge trip is the 

 question of the food, about which every man has his own ideas, 

 as about everything connected with sledging. Some people 

 think that a great variety is necessary, others prefer the diet to 

 be as simple as possible. Some declare that they do not want 

 to travel on less than three hot meals a day, and tea with the 

 morning and evening stew, while others, who go without hot 

 lunch in the middle of the day or tea at night or in the morning, 

 think that their plan likewise is the best. . 



However, there is probably not much doubt that, if simple, 

 the ration is more easily packed, more easily served, and more 

 quickly cooked than if it contains too many different articles, 

 and a sledge party can as well live on a simple ration which 



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