THE NEW YEAR, 1895 81 



bore northward. On Sunday, February 3d, we were at 

 ^^ 43'. The time for our departure approached, and 

 the preparations were carried on with great activity. 

 The sledges were completed, and I tried them under 

 various conditions. I have alluded to the fact that 

 we made maple guards to put under the fixed nickel- 

 plated runners. The idea of this was to strengthen both 

 the sledges and the runners, so that they would at the 

 beginning of the journey, when the loads were heavy, 

 be less liable to breakage from the jolting to which they 

 would probably be exposed. Later on, when the load 

 got lighter, we might, if we thought fit, easily remove 

 them. These guards were also to serve another purpose. 

 I had an idea that, in view of the low temperature we 

 had during the winter, and on the dry drift-snow which 

 then covered the ice-floes, metal would glide less easily 

 than smooth wood, especially if the latter were well 

 rubbed with rich tar and stearine. By February 8th 

 one of the sledges with wooden guard-runners was fin- 

 ished, so that we could make experiments in this direc- 

 tion, and we then found that it was considerably easier 

 to haul than a similar sledge running on the nickel- 

 plate, though the load on each was exactly the same. 

 The difference was so great that we found that it was at 

 least half as hard again to draw a sledge on the nickel 

 runners as on the tarred maple runners. 



Our new ash sledges were now nearly finished and 

 weighed 30 pounds without the guard-runners. " Every- 



II.— 6 



