298 THE ANTARCTIC MANUAL. 
of wine, or some fatty substance, such as stearine of cocoa-nut oil, 
tallow or blubber. The latter alone is used by the Esquimaux; we 
prefer the stearine, as it cooks more rapidly and makes less smoke, 
and the stearine lamp suits equally well for blubber, or any animal 
fat procurable on the march. 
The clothing of the men is a subject of equal difficulty and im- 
portance; it must be suited to the temperature under which they 
travel, and this often ranges over 100 degrees, that is, from + 50° 
to — 50°; it must not suffer by frequent wettings, and should dry 
quickly ; and, as only the outer wrappings of the feet are ever taken 
off while the frost lasts, it should also be suitable for sleeping in. 
Our system of dressing is this: soft, warm woollen articles under 
a cloth which is impenetrable to the wind, and is commonly known 
as box-cloth; and this again under a suit of closely-textured duck 
overalls, as snow repellers. 
The feet are wrapped in squares of blanketing, and covered with 
leather moccasins during extreme cold; or with duck boots, having 
leather soles, for moderate Arctic cold or for wet. 
The entire suit of clothing in wear weighs from sixteen to twenty- 
one pounds. 
The tent furniture consists of a Macintosh floor-cloth spread 
upon the snow, over which is a thick duffle blanket, and upon this 
the men lie down in their sleeping-bags, which are made of the same 
material, and another duffle blanket is then drawn over the party, 
their knapsacks serving as pillows. 
It will be noticed that furs are not used. Although they are very 
warm and agreeable, when in good condition, to sit in, to sleep in, or 
even to work in, where they can be dried each night before a fire; 
and although they have been generally used hitherto, yet they have 
been deliberately set aside for such dresses as I have described, 
because we have found that they check the escape of evaporation, 
they more readily absorb moisture, are more difficult to dry, and 
shrink much when wetted and frozen. I speak of such furs as are 
commonly procurable in this country. Those which have been 
dressed by the Esquimaux or North American Indians are much 
better suited to our rough work. 
Let us imagine the scene when spring travelling-parties set out 
from their ships to explore the unknown expanse before them. 
It was on the morning of the 4th of April that, they started from 
the Resolute and Intrepid, commanded by the late Admiral Sir Henry 
Kellett and myself, at Melville Island. Out of the eighty-eight indi- 
viduals composing the crews of both vessels, seventy-one were away 
