I9 o 2 ] CLOTHING 335 



roughly, this amounts to about six weeks' provisions for the 

 party, so that this party, dragging at the start 200 lbs. per man, 

 can go away for forty-two days and throughout that time remain 

 entirely self-supporting. If the party is increased to twelve 

 men, for reasons which I need not detail, the absence can be 

 increased to seven weeks, or about fifty days. But neither of 

 these terms is long enough to suit the ambitious sledge- 

 traveller, so that he is forced to organise means by which he 

 can prolong his journey. This can be done in two ways : he 

 may go out earlier in the season and lay out a depot at a con- 

 siderable distance towards his goal, or he may arrange to 

 receive assistance from a supporting party, which on a pre- 

 arranged plan accompanies him for a certain distance on his 

 road and helps his advance party to drag a heavier load than 

 it is able to accomplish alone. 



Both these plans were adopted on our longer journeys, and 

 thus some of us were able to be absent from the ship for long 

 periods and to travel long distances. 



I have endeavoured to describe how a sledge party is 

 housed and fed ; it remains to conclude this chapter by giving 

 some idea of how it is clothed, and this can be done very 

 briefly. The sledge-traveller takes little more clothing than 

 that in which he stands at starting; in fact, I have already 

 mentioned the articles of which his spare wardrobe consists. 

 They do not include a change of clothing, so that he sleeps and 

 lives in the one costume until his return. 



In our case officers and men were clothed in a similar 

 manner, save for such touches as the fancy of the individual 

 might suggest. Each wore a warm thick suit of underclothing, 

 one or two flannel shirts, a jersey, or sweater, a pair of pilot-cloth 

 breeches, and a pyjama jacket. A pilot-cloth coat or any stiff 

 garment about the upper part of the body was unpopular, and 

 personally I cut off the sleeves of my pyjama jacket so that it 

 was practically a very free-and-easy outer waistcoat. Some 

 wore woollen comforters, but others, like myself, found the 

 collar of the pyjama jacket sufficient covering for the neck. 



Of great importance we found it to have many pockets, and 



