APPENDIX 455 



out of the soft leather. Real workmen's Bluchers — size 12 to accom- 

 modate four pairs of socks — are advisable. The uppers might be made 

 less stiff ; but one's legs are swathed in putties, so that matters little. 

 Perhaps professional Alpine boots of the right size might suffice ; but 

 plenty of spare spikes and nails should be taken. 



Socks. — We took spare socks in our personal gear, but on the first 

 journey, owing to bad boots, we were always darning. On the second 

 I reinforced the heels of my outer socks with an oval patch of 

 canvas (about three inches long), and I never had to darn a pair. 



These trivialities bulk extremely large on a sledging trip, so that 

 I make no apology for mentioning them. 



Crampons are illustrated in " Scott's Last Expedition." The canvas 

 tops acted admirably over the fur " finnesko." I should prefer the 

 steel spikes to be even longer, and I should think they might be 

 screwed into the aluminium sole so that new spikes could be inserted. 

 They did not make the feet cold to any marked degree. 



For use with the leather boots I liked the 1902 type of Steigeisen. 

 These were strapped under the instep, and enabled me to walk with 

 great ease on slippery glacier ice, though some of the men found 

 they hurt the feet considerably, and so preferred to risk numerous 

 tumbles. 



Food. — The regular ration of pemmican, biscuit and butter was 

 grand, and suited all our party. Chocolate, some flour for " thickers," 

 sugar, tea and cocoa cannot be surpassed as the less important staples. 

 I should be inclined to issue a regular ration of simple condiments or 

 flavourings, especially if the party is going to live largely on seal meat. 

 Onion powder was worth its weight in gold, for we became very 

 tired of seal meat after several months. The latter is practically 

 tasteless (if it is not fishy !), but with onion powder, one did not 

 need a strong imagination to conjure up "steak and onions." The 

 meal is often the only comfort when sledging, and these condiments 

 weigh so little that I think they might be issued. 



The Primus and cookers worked very well indeed. We had no 

 trouble in six months, part of which consisted of extremely rough 

 glacier work, which was calculated to jolt to pieces the anatomy of 

 anything less staunchly built than a Hjorth primus. 



