X902] THE SLEEPING-BAG 319 



coarse hair, but the hair is closer and thicker than on any 

 other animal, and therefore, for reasons which are rather too 

 technical to be given here, the skin is better suited for the 

 polar traveller than any other. We had never contemplated 

 dressing in furs for our journeys, but the many troubles to 

 which sleeping-bags give rise had induced us to consider the 

 possibility of replacing them by fur suits which would be 

 adopted for night wear only. Our autumn journeys had very 

 soon shown us the error of our ways. The sleeping-suits soon 

 got into such a hard, stiff state that it was almost impossible to 

 get into them, and, once in, one was practically incapable of 

 motion ; in fact, we thought the discomfort of a night where 

 three persons thus clad were striving for rest in a small tent 

 would be difficult to equal. 



When the winter set in, therefore, our men were soon busy 

 converting the reindeer suits into sleeping-bags ; and as besides 

 the suits we had a quantity of unsewn skins, there was plenty 

 of material for the change. 



As can be imagined, the actual work of turning out the 

 bags, after a suitable design had been fixed upon, gave little 

 trouble to men who were accustomed to the use of sail needles; 

 but this fact serves to indicate a point which I hope to make 

 abundantly clear — namely, that there is no class of men so 

 eminently adapted by training to cope with the troubles and 

 trials of sledging life as sailors. 



In this manner a few single sleeping-bags were made, but 

 the greater number were designed as ' three-man bags,' so that 

 all the occupants of a tent could sleep in the same bed. The 

 single bag had certain advantages : in particular, when the 

 temperature rose it was pleasant to have shelter which was all 

 one's own, and for officers the single bag served as a receptacle 

 in which they could keep their diaries and note-books ; but 

 from a point of view of weight the advantage lay all on the 

 side of the ' three-man bag,' a consideration so important that 

 eventually everyone used these bags on the longer journeys. 



The ' three-man bag ' was made with the fur inside and with 

 an overlap at the head and at the sides, in addition to a large 



