PROVISIONS. 
169 
the mixture, and the space between the two filled 
with pitch. Every bag was, in sailor-phrase, roped and 
becketed; in ordinary parlance, well secured by cordage. 
These different manufactures had all of them been 
going on through the winter, and more rapidly as the 
spring advanced. They had given employment to the 
thoughts of our sick men, and in this way had exerted 
a wholesome influence on their moral tone and assisted 
their convalescence. Other preparations had been 
begun more recently. The provisions for the descent 
were to be got ready and packed. The ship-bread was 
powdered by beating it with a capstan-bar, and pressed 
down into the bags which were to carry it. Pork-fat 
and tallow were melted down, and poured into other 
bags to freeze. A stock of concentrated bean-soup was 
cooked, and secured for carriage like the pork-fat; and 
the flour and remaining meat-biscuit were to be pro¬ 
tected from moisture in double bags. These were the 
only provisions we were to carry with us. I knew I 
should be able to subsist the party for some time after 
their setting out by the food I could bring from the 
vessel by occasional trips with my dog-team. For the 
rest Ave relied upon our guns. 
Besides all this, we had our camp-equipage to get in 
order, and the vitally-important organization of our 
system of boats and sledges. 
Our boats were three in number, all of them well 
battered by exposure to ice and storm, almost as de¬ 
structive of their sea-worthiness as the hot sun of other 
regions. Two of them were cypress whaleboats, twenty- 
