THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



apparatus the aluminium outside cover was placed, 

 inverted. The heated gases from the stove, after 

 heating the bottom of the centre cooker, mounted 

 into the space between the two vessels, and were then 

 forced down the outside of the ring-shaped cooker 

 by the cover, finally escaping at the lower edge. Ex- 

 periments showed that about 92 per cent, of the heat 

 generated by the lamp was used in the cooker, a most 

 satisfactory result, for economy in fuel is of great impor- 

 tance when the oil has to be carried on sledges. I did not 

 have draw-off taps on the cookers, but they were so 

 arranged that the boiling-pot in the centre lifted in and 

 out easily. Such was the efficiency of the cooker and stove 

 that, in a temperature of forty or fifty degrees below 

 zero, the snow or ice, which would be at this tempera- 

 ture, could be melted and a hot meal prepared with- 

 in half an hour from the time the cooker was first 

 placed on the primus. The whole apparatus, including 

 the primus, did not weigh more than fifteen pounds. 

 When the cooker was empty after meals, our feeding- 

 utensils were placed inside. They consisted of panni- 

 kins and spoons only. The former were made of 

 aluminium in pairs, and fitted one into another. The 

 outer pannikin, for holding the hot tea or cocoa, was 

 provided with handles, and the other fitted over the top 

 of this and was used for the more solid food. There was 

 no " washing up " on the march, for spoons were licked 

 clean and pannikins scraped assiduously when sledging 

 appetites had been developed. 



The next important item was the tent. The usual 

 unit for sledging consists of three men, and our tents 

 were designed to contain that number. The tent 

 cloth was thin Willesden duck, with a " snow cloth " 

 of thicker material round the lower edge. This 

 snow cloth was spread out on the ground and snow 



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