THE SLEDGES. 
171 
one mast to each boat. -It was stepped into an oaken 
thwart, made especially strong, as it was expected to 
carry sail over ice as well as water: the mast could be 
readily unshipped, and carried, with the oars, boat¬ 
hooks, and ice-poles, alongside the boat. The third 
boat was my little Red Eric. We mounted her on the 
old sledge, the “Faith,” hardly relying on her for any 
purposes of navigation, but with the intention of cut¬ 
ting her up for firewood in case our guns should fail to 
give us a supply of blubber. 
Indeed, in spite of all the ingenuity of our carpenter, 
Mr. Ohlsen, well seconded by the persevering labors of 
McGary and Bonsai!, not one of our boats was posi¬ 
tively sea-wort by. The “Hope” would not pass even 
charitable inspection, and we expected to burn her 
on reaching water. The planking of all of them was 
so dried up that it could hardly be made tight by 
calking. 
The three boats were mounted on sledges rigged 
with rue-raddies; the provisions stowed snugly under 
