SLEDGES AND FURS 



in the hands of Messrs. L. H. Hagen and Company. 

 The sledges were to be of the Nansen pattern, built 

 of specially selected timber, and of the best possible 

 workmanship. I ordered ten twelve-foot sledges, 

 eighteen eleven-foot sledges and two seven-foot sledges. 

 The largest ones would be suitable for pony-haulage. 

 The eleven- foot ones could be drawn by either ponies 

 or men, and the small pattern would be useful for work 

 around the winter quarters and for short journeys 

 such as the scientists of the expedition were likely 

 to undertake. The timbers used for the sledges were 

 seasoned ash and American hickory, and in addition to 

 Captain Pepper, Captain Isaachsen and Lieutenant 

 Scott-Hansen, both experienced Arctic explorers, watched 

 the work of construction on my behalf. Their interest 

 was particularly valuable to me, for they were able in 

 many little ways hardly to be understood by the lay 

 reader to ensure increased strength and efficiency. I 

 had formed the opinion that an eleven-foot sledge was 

 best for general work, for it was not so long as to be 

 unwieldy, and at the same time was long enough to ride 

 over sastrugi and hummocky ice. Messrs. Hagen and 

 Company did their work thoroughly well, and the sledges 

 proved all that I could have desired. 



The next step was to secure the furs that the expedi- 

 tion would require, and for this purpose we went to 

 Drammen and made the necessary arrangements with 

 Mr. W. C. Moller. We selected skins for the sleeping- 

 bags, taking those of young reindeer, with short thick 

 fur, less liable to come out under conditions of damp- 

 ness than is the fur of the older deer. Our furs did not 

 make a very large order, for after the experience of the 

 Discovery expedition I decided to use fur only for the 

 feet and hands and for the sleeping-bags, relying for all 

 other purposes on woollen garments with an outer 



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