BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 
of cold that you know assailed us, going Pole- 
ward; but have you ever considered that we 
were thirsty for water to drink or hungry for 
fat ? To eat snow to quench our thirsts would 
have been the height of folly, and as well as 
being thirsty, we were continuously assailed 
by the pangs of a hunger that called for the 
fat, good, rich, oily, juicy fat that our sys- 
tems craved and demanded. 
Had we succumbed to the temptations of 
thirst and eaten the snow, we would not be 
able to tell the tale of the conquest of the 
Pole; for the result of eating snow is death. 
True, the dogs licked up enough moisture to 
quench their thirsts, but we were not made of 
such stern stuff as they. Snow would have 
reduced our temperatures and we would 
quickly have fallen by the way. We had to 
wait until camp was made and the fire of 
alcohol started before we had a chance, and 
it was with hot tea that we quenched our 
thirsts. The hunger for fat was not ap- 
peased; a dog or two was killed, but his car- 
cass went to the Esquimos and the entrails 
were fed to the rest of the pack. We ate no 
dogs on this trip, for various reasons, mainly, 
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