Ii6 FARTHEST NORTH 



made of a tliin, close kind of cotton canvas, and consist- 

 ing of an upper garment to pull over the head, provided 

 with a hood in Eskimo fashion, and a lower one in the 

 shape of a pair of wide overalls. 



An important item in an outfit is \\\^ foot-geai\ In- 

 stead of wearing long stockings, I preferred to use loose 

 stocking - legs and socks, as these are easy to dry on 

 one's chest when asleep at night. On a journey of 

 this kind, where one is continuallv travelling over snow 

 and in a low temperature, whether it be on " ski " 

 or not, my experience is that Finn shoes are, without 

 doubt, the most satisfactory covering for the feet in 

 every way, but they must be made of the skin of the 

 hind -legs of the reindeer buck. They are warm and 

 strong, they are always flexible, and are easy to put on 

 and take off. They require careful management, however, 

 if they are not to be spoiled at the outset, and one must 

 try as well as one can to dry them when asleep at night. 

 If it be sunny and good drying weather outside, the best 

 plan is to hang them on a couple of " ski " staffs, or 

 something of the kind, in the wind outside the tent, 

 preferably turned inside out, so that the skin itself can 

 dry quickly. If one does not take this precaution the 

 hair will soon begin to fall out. In severe cold, such 

 as we had on the first part of our journey, it was impos- 

 sible to dry them in this way, and our only resource 

 was then to dry them on the feet at night, after having 

 carefully brushed and scraped them free from snow and 



