298 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' LSept. 



CHAPTER X 



HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF SLEDGE TRAVELLING 



History of Polar Sledge travelling— Early English Sledge Travellers- 

 Ross— McClintock — Peary — Nansen — Visit to Christiania — Difficulties 

 in Selecting Articles of Equipment — Comparison of Sledging Conditions 

 in the North and South Polar Regions — Objects of the Sledge Traveller 

 — Description of our Equipment— The Sledge — The Tent — The 

 Sleeping-bag — Sledging-food — Calculation of Allowances — Packing — 

 Cooking-apparatus — Cooking-lamp — Permanent weights of a Sledge 

 Party — Spare Clothing — Medical Bag — Details Concerning Clothing 

 and General Equipment. 



Much more in this great work should we survey 



The plot of situation, and its model, 



Question surveyors, know our estate, 



How able such a work to undertake. —Shakespeare. 



It may be fairly claimed that polar sledging is an English 

 production ; it is the direct outcome of that feverish energy in 

 exploration which has distinguished our race for so many 

 centuries and has led them to the performance of such glorious 

 pioneer work within the Arctic Circle. To give my readers 

 some idea of the history of sledge travelling, I cannot do 

 better than quote the words of one who had perhaps the 

 largest share in its making, and who gave more care and 

 attention to the subject than has anyone before or since. The 

 following words were written by Sir Leopold McClintock more 

 than thirty years ago, and give a good idea of the conditions 

 under which this mode of travelling was evolved, the objects 

 it sought to accomplish, and the state of perfection to which 

 it had then been brought : 



