OF THE POLAR SEA* 



187 



rioles with part of the luggage, instead of 

 embarking in them ourselves, we did not 

 set out without considerable grumbling 

 from the voyagers of both Companies, re- 

 specting the overlading of their dogs. How- 

 ever, we left the matter to be settled by our 

 friends at the fort, who were more conver- 

 sant w T ith winter travelling than ourselves. 

 Indeed the loads appeared to us so great 

 that we should have been inclined to listen 

 to the complaints of the drivers. The 

 weight usually placed upon a sledge, drawn 

 by three dogs, cannot, at the commence- 

 ment of a journey, be estimated at less than 

 three hundred pounds, which, however, 

 suffers a daily diminution from the con- 

 sumption of provisions. The sledge itself 

 weighs about thirty pounds. When the 

 snow is hard frozen, or the track well 

 trodden, the rate of travelling is about two 

 miles and a half an hour, including rests, or 

 about fifteen miles a day. If the snow be 

 loose the speed is necessarily much less and 

 the fatigue greater. 



At eight in the morning of the 18th, we 



