yos 



NANSEN ON THE NORWEGIAN SKI. 



AN APRIL FOOL. 



By Douglas Sladen. 



Proud .he earl's daughter — but oh, so sweet, 



From her cleiir, hrave eyes to her slim, arched feet! 



Proud— of good Pennsylvaniiin birth 



The singer, but poor as he entered earth. 



The singer was lost iu my Lady May ; 



Her face and her grace were his dream all day ; 



She slirauk ns a wooing maideu will, 



Like a swimmer who fears thut the sea is chill. 



" Will you walk iu our woods, sir ?" asked Lady 



May. 

 "The primrose and windflower are out to-day." 

 He was shy with the secret his pride withheld, 

 While tlirough the fresh dingles fresh laughter 

 belled. 



"I've a note from a lover. I'll show it to you; 

 And your counsel I crave. Will you give it, and true?" 

 Ho vowed he was fain, with the gleam of a tear 

 On his eye for the death of the dream of a year. 

 15ut to tear-mis^ed eyes se.aned tlie writing to be 

 In the hand of a lady, though dashing and free : 

 And as they read through it, the mist cleared away. 

 'Twas, "Why Imven't you asked me? I love you," 

 signed '• May." 



"Like you walks in the woods, sir? These violets 

 blue 



And these lilies of Lent I am plucking for you. 



With the sweets of the Spring will you let me repay 



What I owe ?^you have kissed me so often to-day." 



NANSEN ON THE NORWEGIAN SKI. 



Dr. Xaxsen's idea of crossing the great tract 

 of inland ice lying between the east and the west 

 : coasts of Greenland was originated in 1883, by 

 ' the account of Nordenskiold's e.vpedition to the 

 ' interior, and the feats of his Lapps, performed on 

 'their "ski " (pronounced "slie"), or Northern 

 ' Bnowshoes. 



Dr. Nansen had made it a crucial point that all 

 his coadjutors should be export " skilobners " 

 (snowshoers), but even in this elementary iqnalifi- 

 ' cation the Lapps were much inferior to the Nor- 

 wegians. The whole party, however, once em- 

 barked in the undertaking, worked loyally and 

 harmoniously, and the leader gracefully expresses 

 liis gratitude by dedicating his book, "The First 

 Crossing of Crreenland," to them. 



The " ski " plays such a prominent part in the 

 expedition that the author devotes a chapter to 

 its history and practice, lie goes the length of 

 saying that his journey across (ireenland owes its 

 origin entirely to the sport of "skilobning." lie 

 liimself knew how to manage the " ski " when 

 four years old : *• 'Ski,' then, as will have been 

 already gathered, arc long narrow strips of wood, 

 those used in Norway being from three to four 

 inches in breadth, eight feet more or less in 

 length, one inch in thickness at the centre under 

 the foot, and beveling off to about a quarter of 

 an inch at either end. Li .front they are curved 

 upward and pointed, and they are sometimes a 

 little turned up at the back end too. The sides 

 are more or less parallel, though the best forms 

 have their greatest width in front, just where 

 the njjward curve begins, but otherwise they are 

 quite straight and flat, and the under surface is 

 ' made as smooth as possible. The attachment 

 consists of a loop for the toe, made of leather or 

 some other substance, and fixed at about the 

 centre of the ' ski,' and a band which jiasses from 



tliis round behind the heel of the shoe. The 

 principle of this fastening is to make the ' ski ' 

 and foot as rigid as possible for steering purposes, 

 Avhile the heel is allowed to rise freely from the 

 ' ski ' at^all times. 



"On flat ground the 'ski 'are driven forward 

 by a peculiar stride, which in its elementary form 

 is not difficult of acquirement, though it is capa- 

 ble of immense development. They are not 

 lifted, and the tendency which the beginner feels 

 to tramp away with them as if he were on mud- 

 boards in the middle of a marsh must be strenu- 

 ously resisted. Lifting causes the snow to stick 

 to them, so they must be pushed forward over its 

 surface by alternate strokes from the hips and 

 thighs, the way being maintained between the 

 strokes by a proper management of the body. 

 The ' ski '■ are kept strictly parallel meanwhile, 

 and as close together as possible, there being no 

 resemblance Avhatever, as is souictimes sui)poscd, 

 to the motion employed in skating. In the hand 

 most 'skilobners ' carry a short statT, which is used 

 partly to correct deticiencies of balance, but by 

 the more gkillful chiefly to increase the length ol' 

 the stride by ])ropnlsion. In nniny country dis- 

 tricts this j)olo often reaches a i)re[)osterous length, 

 and in somo parts, too, a couple of short staffs 

 are used, one in each hand, by the help of which, 

 on comparatively flat ground, great sj:)eed can be 

 obtained. When the snow is in thoroughly good 

 condition the rate of progress is quite surprising, 

 considering the small amount of effort expended, 

 and as much as eight or nine miles cau be done 

 Avithin tiie hour. 



It is possible to go uj)hill on the "ski," and 

 downhill at an astonishing rate. A still more 

 wonderful performance is that of jumping on the 

 "ski ": " The jumping is done on a steep hillside 

 which has a gradient of perhu2)s from 3U^ to 40''. 



