i 9 o2] DESCRIPTION OF OUR EQUIPMENT 311 



by the draught-power they possess, but it is also dependent on 

 the surface, the state of the sledge-runners, the manner in 

 which the sledges are loaded, and many other details. The 

 greater the proportion of food in this weight, the longer is the 

 possibility of absence ; but sledges must possess strength, and 

 therefore weight ; man must be sheltered and clothed, and this 

 cannot be done without weight ; and civilised man requires 

 hot food, and must therefore drag the weight of his cooking- 

 apparatus and fuel. 



The less that is eaten by any individual, the longer 

 the food will last ; but there is a limit where economy 

 ceases, and insufficient food produces loss of strength and 

 reduction of marches. The longer the marches, the greater 

 the distance covered ; but staleness awaits the over-pressed 

 marcher. 



Good sledging is the nicest balance of all these conflicting 

 elements, and it is clear that it can only be accomplished by 

 the utmost attention to detail in preparation, the complete 

 exclusion of all but the bare necessities of life, and, above all 

 things, by the display of an unconquerable determination to 

 carry it through in face of all risks, dangers, or hardships. 



Perhaps the most important part of the sledge-traveller's 

 outfit is the sledge itself. Our sledges had been made in Chris- 

 tiania, to comprise all those modifications and improvements 

 which had been suggested by the experience of Nansen, and on 

 the whole it is doubtful if we could have provided ourselves with 

 sledges more suitable to our various purposes. The main dif- 

 ferences between these sledges and those used by older explorers 

 were a decrease in breadth and an increase in runner surface. 



Such a sledge as we used consists of two long runners, 

 slightly rounded beneath, with a strengthening rib above, and 

 curved up at each end. The strengthening rib is pierced with 

 holes at intervals, into which are tenoned the uprights, short 

 pillars of wood about four inches in length ; adjacent uprights 

 are joined by cross-bars, and the heads of the uprights on each 

 side are connected by long thin strips of wood, which end in 

 junction with the upturned ends of the runners. There are 



