TF£ MAKE A START 



113 



as the covers of both kinds of craft would have weio-hed 

 about the same, and what would have been saved in the 

 weight of the frames was not much, if one remembers 

 that a whole kayak-frame only weighs about 16 pounds. 

 Then, too, if kayaks were used, some weight would be 

 saved by being able to carry our provisions and other 

 mipedinicnta in bags of thin material, • lich could be 

 stowed away in the kayaks, and the latt shed to the 



sledges. Our provisions would thus be piotected against 

 all risk of attack by dogs, or of being cut by sharp pieces 

 of ice. The other alternative — the canvas cover — which 

 would have required fitting on and folding up again after 

 being in the water, would, necessarily, in the low tem- 

 peratures we had to expect, have become spoiled and 

 leaky. Last, but not least, the kayak, with its tightly 

 covered deck, is a most efficient sea-boat, in which one 

 can get along in any kind of weather, and is also an 

 admirable craft for shooting and fishing purposes. The 

 boat which one could have contrived by the other expe- 

 dient could with difficulty have been made any way 

 satisfactory in this respect. 



I have also mentioned the sledges which I had made 

 for this expedition. They were of the same pattern as 

 those built for the Greenland one; somewhat resembling 

 in shape the Norwegian "skikjelke,"* which is a low 

 hand-sledge on broad runners, similar to our ordinary 



* They were 12 feet long, i foot gi inches broad, and rode about 5 

 inches above the snow. 

 II.— 8 



