238 MY ARCTIC JOURNAL 



and standards is tJic sledge. Also, that the wear upon the 

 runners is practically nil, and that shoes of steel or ivory are 

 not only useless, but actually increase the tractive resistance. 



Of even greater importance to our successful progress dur- 

 ing the inland- ice journey than our sledges were the ski, or 

 Norwegian snow-skates. Valuable as are the Indian snow- 

 shoes for Arctic work, the ski far surpass them in speed, ease 

 of locomotion, and reduced chances of chafing or straining the 

 feet. On the upward journey I alternated between the snow- 

 shoes and the ski, but while descending the northern ice-slope 

 I had the misfortune to break one of the ski, and on the re- 

 turn trip was obliged to use the snow-shoes only. Astrup 

 used ski entirely from start to finish. 



I am satisfied that the only material for the clothing of men 

 traveling upon the inland ice is fur, and that the man who 

 dispenses with it adds to the weight he has to carry, and 

 compels himself to endure serious drafts upon his vitality, to 

 say nothing of deliberately choosing discomfort instead of com- 

 fort. The great objection urged against fur clothing is that, 

 allowing the evaporation from the body no opportunity to es- 

 cape, the clothing beneath it gets saturated while the wearer is 

 at work, and then, when he ceases, he becomes thoroughly 

 chilled. This trouble is, in my opinion, due entirely to inex- 

 perience and ignorance of how to use the fur clothing. It was 

 a part of my plan to obtain the material for my fur clothing 

 and sleeping-bags in the Whale Sound region, and I was en- 

 tirely successful in so doing. My boys shot the deer, the 



