CHAPTER XIX.

DETAILS OF SLEDGE TRAVELLING.

"Give me some ink and paper in my tent, I'll draw the form and model of our battle: Limit each leader to his several charge, And put in just proportions our small force."

_Richard III._

Hitherto I have purposely abstained from alluding to our spring operations, as I thought that it would be better to devote a separate chapter exclusively to the account of the details of sledge equipment. But it must not be supposed, because I have omitted to say anything about the sledging during the winter, that it was neglected, and that our time was entirely occupied with our amusements and observatory duties. Such was not the case. The preparations for the spring campaign and the organization of our sledge parties in all its details were very carefully thought over and matured during the long dark hours of the winter. All works on this subject had been diligently read, in order that we might benefit by the experience of our predecessors. Nothing was neglected that could in any way conduce to the success of the enterprise, and everything that could possibly add to the health and comfort of those to be employed on work of such an arduous nature was carefully considered. The sledges, tents, and other equipments necessary for travelling had been constructed under the personal superintendence of Sir Leopold McClintock, who is the highest living authority on Arctic sledge travelling. A few alterations, which we trusted would also be improvements, were suggested by the experience gained during the autumn, and these were all carried out before the return of the sun. The results justified our anticipations. Out of the four different kinds of sledges supplied to the expedition those which found most favour with us, and with which the greatest part of the work was done, were the eight-men sledges.[1] These dragged easier, and were stronger than either the smaller or larger description of sledges. So long as the travelling remains good, that is smooth and level ice with hard snow on its surface, these sledges may be loaded to 240 lbs. for each man to drag, and a good day's work to be accomplished. This weight, of course, would only be dragged on first leaving the ship, or a depôt, and decreases at the rate of about 3 lbs. per man per diem, the amount of provisions consumed by each individual. What are called the "constant" weights, which include the sledge, tent, robes, cooking apparatus, pickaxe, shovel, etc., remain unaltered during the journey. The question of weight is one requiring the closest attention.

Every trifling article, even to a small packet of a _dozen pins_ placed in the medicine chest, has to be weighed and recorded in the general equipment. The following table shows the weight of the various articles (being constant weights) required for the equipment of an Arctic sledge for forty-five days:--

EQUIPMENT OF AN EIGHT-MEN SLEDGE, PROVISIONED FOR AN ABSENCE OF FORTY-FIVE DAYS.

lb. oz. Sledge (complete) 130 0 Tent (complete) 44 0 Tent poles, five in number 25 0 Coverlet 31 8 Extra coverlet (used only in cold weather) 20 0 Lower robe 23 0 Waterproof floor-cloth 15 0 Sail 9 4 Eight sleeping bags 64 0 Eight knapsacks (packed) 96 0 Two pickaxes 14 8 Shovel 6 8 Store bag 25 0 Cooking gear 29 0 Gun and ammunition 25 0 Medical stores 12 0 Instruments 15 0 ------- Constant weights 584 12 Forty-five days' provisions for eight men (including packages) 1080 0 -------- Total 1664 12

which, dragged by seven men, is equivalent to about 238 lbs. per man to drag.

This should never be exceeded, nor should it even be kept up for any length of time.

It will thus be seen that it is impossible for a sledge party to be absent from the ship for more than seven weeks, at the outside, on its own resources. In order, therefore, to enable it to remain away for a longer period, depôts of provisions are established during the autumn on the line of route, and auxiliary sledges are despatched in the spring from which the extended parties may be replenished with provisions after they have been away from the ship some two or three weeks. These auxiliary sledges, on their return, are again completed with provisions and sent out to meet the extended parties on their way back. By these means, a sledging party may remain away for as long as twelve or thirteen weeks.

Depôts can only be laid out when there is a continuous coast line, and under circumstances when a _cache_ containing provisions can easily be discovered. When the frozen ocean has to be traversed, depôts cannot be depended upon; for a movement of the ice, or the misfortune of wandering off the outward bound track during thick weather, would deprive the travellers of any chance of finding their supplies. The result in such a case would probably be fatal. The only way of ensuring an extended absence to a party sledging over the pack, is by sending with it an additional sledge. This, of course, entails the necessity of traversing the same road three times over. For the men must never under any circumstances (other than unavoidable necessity, caused by the sickness of some of the crew) be allowed to drag more than the outside weight of 240 lbs. at any one time.

It would, I think, and I am now speaking from experience, be preferable, when such a journey is necessary, to send a sledge away for only six weeks rather than to provision a party for three months, and compel the men to undergo the monotonous and wearisome work of going over the same ground so often; and, I believe, quite as much work would be accomplished.

The tents were all made of the lightest duck,[2] which was sufficient to protect us from the falling or drifting snow, and the keen cutting wind. The space inside was, of necessity, very limited; the width in which each man had to sleep being only fourteen inches. Whilst his head was touching one side of the tent, his feet were in contact with the other. The slightest movement of the sleeper during the night would disturb his neighbours on either side.

The entrance to the tent had a porch attached to it, which was, of course, always carefully closed, and served to exclude the fine snow-drift that would otherwise have penetrated into the interior. The opposite side of the tent was fitted in a similar manner for the protection of the cook whilst engaged in preparing the meals. The duties of the cook during intensely cold weather entail hardships which it is scarcely possible to overrate. The poor cook is never in his sleeping bag until two or three hours after the rest of the party have been comfortably settled for the night, and he has always to rise in the morning a couple of hours before his comrades are disturbed, and this after a hard and fatiguing day's work. His cooking apparatus consists of a spirit lamp, a stearine lamp, a kettle, and a stew-pan. His fuel is either spirits of wine, or cocoa-nut stearine; and as the allowance of either is strictly limited, he has to be as economical as he possibly can. Should his fuel be consumed before the meal is cooked, he will get no more, and the pemmican will have to be eaten in a semi-frozen state. The odour and smoke emitted by the stearine can only be appreciated by those who have served their apprenticeship as cooks to an Arctic sledge party! Many experiments were tried during the winter to improve our cooking apparatus, but few were attended with success. Mr. White devoted a good deal of thought and time to this important matter. By introducing a cone into the kettle and stew-pan he succeeded in gaining a decided advantage in rapidity of cooking, but then his plan also had its disadvantages, a difficulty of cleaning and an encroachment on valuable space being the chief objections to it. By giving the bottom of the pans and kettles a little more concavity, we gained a slight advantage in point of time, and time in cooking also means an economy of fuel. The tent robes, coverlets, and sleeping bags were all made of duffel. The knapsacks were made of duck, and contained the only spare clothing that each man was allowed to take. The contents consisted of two pairs of blanket wrappers, one pair of wadmill hose, one pair of moccasins, a skull-cap for sleeping in, a woollen cap presented to each person in the expedition by H.I.M. the Empress Eugénie, two pairs of mitts, a flannel shirt, a pair of drawers, a comforter, a pair of snow-spectacles, a towel, and a piece of soap. The latter was rather a superfluous article until the thaw set in.

The store bag contained the pemmican chopper and board, a snow-knife and saw, some spare lashings of hide for the sledge, matches, slow match, twine, and various other small and useful articles.

The scale of provisions to be used whilst sledging was almost identical with that of preceding expeditions, the only difference being that we reduced the allowance of spirits by half and doubled the amount of tea and sugar. The following was the daily ration for each man:--

lb. oz. Pemmican 1 0 Bacon 0 4 Biscuit 0 14 Preserved potatoes 0 2 Chocolate 0 1 Sugar for ditto 0 0.5 Tea for two meals 0 0.5 Sugar for ditto 0 1.5 Salt 0 0.25 Pepper 0 0.05 Onion powder or curry paste 0 0.125 Rum 0 2 Spirits of wine 0 2 Stearine 0 3 Tobacco (weekly) 0 3.5

This we found a very ample allowance, and one that could not, in my opinion, be improved upon. The different articles were excellent of their kind, and of very superior quality.

Since our return to England, fault has been found with our leader because lime-juice was not included in the scale of dietary for the sledges, during April, as a daily ration. Our scale of diet was necessarily based on that of preceding expeditions, and we had no reason to expect that we should suffer from that dread disease, scurvy, any more than did our predecessors. Lime-juice had never before been taken as a daily ration by an extended sledge party, and Sir Leopold McClintock, the highest living authority, has since publicly declared that, in following the precedents established by former experience as regards the lime-juice, Sir George Nares acted exactly as he would have done under the same circumstances. Moreover, the lime-juice was supplied in a form that made it impossible to use during an Arctic March, April, or May, away from the ship. It was in bottles or very large heavy jars, and, of course, the moment such vessels were placed near a fire to thaw their contents, in such a temperature, they would have been cracked to pieces. This is a conclusive answer to those who, without experience, and ignorant of the conditions under which we travelled, have expressed opinions on this subject. After May, when it was possible to use it, lime-juice was always taken by our sledge parties as a daily ration. When we came home, the use was suggested of lime-juice lozenges, and the Medical Director General has proposed that lime-juice should be mixed with pemmican. It is certainly very much to be regretted that some such arrangements were not made and carried out before the expedition left England. It will be seen (if lime-juice would really have prevented the attack of scurvy) how terribly we had to suffer from the consequences of the omission.

Lieutenant Parr and myself each took two bottles of lime-juice, with the intention of using it when the warm weather of June arrived. It was not possible to use it to any advantage, hard frozen in a bottle, during March, April, or May.

Dr. Colan drew up very careful medical instructions for the commanders of sledges, and each received some elementary surgical instruction. The doctor also paid most anxious attention to the contents of the medical chest, the weight of which was not allowed to exceed 12 lbs.[3]

The clothing worn by the men engaged in the sledging operations was somewhat different from that in use during the winter. Our under clothing was made of thick flannel. Over this we wore one or two flannel or check shirts, long sleeved woollen waist-coats, thick knitted guernseys, and duffel trousers, the latter reaching about a foot below the knee. All wore broad flannel belts, commonly called cholera belts, round their loins. On our heads we had woollen helmet caps, called by the men "Eugenies," and over this was worn a thick sealskin cap with ear and neck flaps attached.

Our feet were encased in blanket wrappers, one or two pairs according to the temperature, a pair of thick woollen hose reaching above the knees and worn over the trousers, and moccasins. The latter, as supplied to us, only came up round the ankle, so we fitted them with leggings. Those who were provided with chamois leather made their leggings of that material, but the majority cut the sleeves off their check shirts which, when sewn on to the moccasin, answered admirably, their chief use being to keep the snow from penetrating into the trousers. Some of the moccasins were also soled with leather, obtained by cutting off the upper part of the fishermen's boots, a pair of which had been supplied to each person. As a rule these soles were quickly worn out, and the men were soon reduced to the bare moccasin, which, however, lasted wonderfully.

Large gauntlet mitts were made during the winter, of fearnought covered with duck, and worn with a strap round the neck. These were only supplied to the sledgers, and were found very useful. At night-time they were used on the feet in the sleeping bags, and certainly assisted very materially in keeping them warm. Finally each person was provided with a suit of duck overalls, to act as "snow repellers," which were always worn whilst on the march. As an extra precaution against snow-blindness, the men were ordered to paint some device on the backs of these snow jumpers in order to afford a certain amount of relief to the eyes of their comrades. The designs of these devices or crests were left entirely to the artistic imaginations of the men, and they caused a good deal of merriment. They were certainly more quaint than elegant. Donkeys and Polar bears in various wonderful positions appeared to be in the greatest favour. Each crest was accompanied by a motto, invariably a Latin one. Whether these devices relieved us from severe attacks of snow-blindness or not it would be difficult to decide. They served at any rate to amuse us, and often formed the topic of conversation when other subjects were getting scarce. Snow-spectacles were invariably used by the travellers, and were only taken off after the party had halted for the night and had sought the shelter of their tent. In consequence of the adoption of these snow-goggles when we first set out on our travels, we were comparatively exempt from that painful disease, snow-blindness, from which other expeditions have more or less suffered, and which renders the patient so attacked utterly helpless. We occasionally had a few cases, but with one or two exceptions they were in a very mild form.

Such were the details of the general equipment of the sledging parties that were despatched from the "Alert" in the spring of 1876. Officers and men shared alike in everything; they had the same provisions, their costume was identical, they shared the same couch and tent, and each showed the same zealous desire to perform his duty, and the same eager anxiety to bring to a successful issue the service on which they were employed.

Although the whole of the available force on board the "Alert" was engaged in the sledging operations of the spring, we were only able to despatch _two_ extended parties.[4] The rest of the men and sledges were required to act as auxiliaries to the advanced parties, and were continually employed during the summer until the return of all the travellers brought our sledging operations to a conclusion.

The programme to be carried out, and which was determined upon after very mature and careful deliberation, was for one party, the command of which was given to Aldrich the first lieutenant, to continue the discoveries of the autumn by exploring the coast line to the westward; whilst a larger party, which was entrusted to my conduct, was to push across the rugged polar pack, and endeavour to reach as high a northern latitude as possible. The exploration of the north side of Greenland, to the eastward, and the examination of the fiords in Robeson Channel, were left to the sledge parties from the "Discovery."

The difficulties to be encountered and the serious obstacles to be overcome in the journey due north over the frozen sea were well understood. We had made ourselves acquainted with the nature of the travelling to be anticipated by various short excursions on the ice in the vicinity of the ship, and were, therefore, fully aware of the serious character of the work that was before us. None were so rash as to indulge in any extravagant ideas of successfully reaching a very high position. The parallel of 84°, or perhaps 85° by the more sanguine, was regarded as the highest that could possibly be attained.

It was a well-known fact, before the ship went into winter quarters, that the polar pack, composed of extraordinarily heavy ice, was in motion at that season. This motion, or perhaps a general disruption, would occur, it was calculated, in about July or August, possibly in June. It was, therefore, not only a measure of prudence, but one of absolute necessity, that the party destined to travel over this frozen ocean should be provided with the means of safety to themselves, if a disruption should take place at an earlier period than was anticipated. It was therefore decided that two boats,[5] capable of conveying the whole party from one floe to another, should form part of the equipment of the northern division. This additional weight, of course, seriously augmented the labour of the men.

The only previous attempt to advance over a frozen sea, away from the land, was made by Sir Edward Parry, in his memorable journey towards the North Pole in 1827.[6]

For reasons already stated, the northern party was unable to lay out depôts on the ice, nor could our sledges be met by supporting sledges until after their return to the land. It therefore became necessary that they should carry with them sufficient provisions to last for the whole time of anticipated absence. This, with the boats, obliged the two sledge crews composing the division to take with them a _third_ sledge, so that under the most favourable conditions of travelling, they would be compelled, after advancing two sledges, to return over the same road and drag on the third. This we fondly hoped on starting we should be able to accomplish; little did we think that the fearfully rugged nature of the road would necessitate the same distance being traversed five or even seven times.

For the same reason that the men were ordered to emblazon arms and crests on the backs of their clothes, we had the boats which were to accompany the sledges painted with gay and brilliant devices. The rose, shamrock, and thistle were painted on the hulls, and the royal arms decorated their sterns. Moss, on this as on other occasions, was the artist; his great difficulty in accomplishing the work being that in spite of the quantity of turpentine with which the paint was mixed, it persisted in freezing in the brush, rendering that article more like a stick than an artist's pencil.

The sledges were, of course, all named by their commanders.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The eight-men sledge has six uprights eighteen inches apart. It is eleven feet long, three feet two inches wide, eleven inches high, and weighs 130 lbs. complete. In former expeditions sails were frequently used on the sledges to great advantage, when travelling over smooth ice. But we were seldom so fortunate as to meet with ice which was suitable for sailing, in any of our sledge journeys. May and Egerton got their sledges under sail on an extensive floe in Robeson Channel, when they crossed over to the Greenland side; but as a rule the ice we met with was far too rough to make the use of sails practicable. In rigging a sail on the sledge two tent poles are lashed together as a yard, with a spare pole as a foot yard. The other two tent poles are used as shears, and at their ends a mast-head iron, or shear head, is fitted, consisting of two rings united by a piece of iron about three inches long, from the centre of which there is a hook on each side for the steadying guys, and a small block for the halyards is seized on to the iron between the rings. A spare cross-bar is placed on the top of the lading, over the midship uprights, and lashed down to the bearer. It is fitted with a span seized along its top-side, and the bights, with a thimble in each, project just beyond the cross-bar. The ends of the shears are then stepped into the thimbles attached to this cross-bar, and the sail hoisted. On smooth ice, with the wind aft or on the quarter, a sledge will travel under sail at a good pace. But smooth ice was almost unknown in the region explored by our expedition.

[2] The tents were of light, close, unbleached duck. The eight-men tents were nine feet four inches long at the bottom, and eight feet at the top, seven feet wide and high, and weighed 44 lbs. The tent ropes are six fathoms long of one and a quarter inch, and the tent poles eight feet six inches long.

[3] The medical stores for each sledge were:--2 phials of sal volatile and aromatic spirits of ammonia; 2 phials of laudanum; 2 phials of wine of opium; a small tin of Gregory's powders; 12 papers (10 grains each) of Dover's powders; 32 papers (15 grains each) of chalk powders; 30 papers (4 grains each) of sugar of lead; a bottle of turpentine liniment; a phial of carbolic acid; glycerine ointment; white ointment; carbolic plaster; 4 dozen purgative pills; oil silk. Sponge, pins, expanding splints, and carbolized tow, cotton wool, a catheter, a tourniquet, a truss with pad, a lancet, twill, Persian gauze, 2 eye shades, small splint, scissors, flannel ice goggles, tape, mustard, 3 calico bandages, 2 flannel bandages, and lint. These stores were in a wooden case, and a medicine tin for bottles, together weighing 4 lbs.; while their contents weighed 7 lbs. 11 ozs., together, 12 lbs.

[4] Our available force was much smaller than that of the expeditions under Sir Horatio Austin (1850-51), and Sir Henry Kellet (1852-54). They enjoyed the great advantage of having a third larger force--ninety instead of sixty men.

[5] The sledges for carrying boats have the two end cross-bars fitted with two cleats, one on each side of the boat's keel. These cleats are seven inches long, and are securely lashed to the cross-bars. Two battens of American elm, each two inches wide and half an inch thick, are lashed in a fore and aft direction to the top of the cross-bars three and a half inches apart, that is to say one and three-quarters inch on each side of the central bearer. They are sufficiently long to allow of being secured to all the cross-bars. When the boat is placed on the sledge the keel rests on the cross-bars between the cleats, and is held in an upright position by one long cushion of stout canvas, stuffed with cork cuttings, on each side, and these are kept in their places by lashings.

[6] As Sir Edward Parry's attempt to reach the Pole was the only extended journey that was ever undertaken due north across the Polar Sea, until the second attempt was made by the northern division of sledges under my command, it will be well to give, in this place, the details of Parry's equipment and the result of his expedition.

A Sir Edward Parry sailed from England in the "Hecla," on April 3rd, 1827; when placing her in a safe harbour on the north coast of Spitzbergen, he commenced his memorable attempt to reach the Pole on June 21st. He had two boats, the "Enterprise" and the "Endeavour." Parry himself, with Mr. Beverley, was in the former, James Ross and Edward Bird in the latter. Ten seamen and two marines formed the crew of each boat. The boats were flat-bottomed, with the extreme breadth of seven feet, carried well forward and aft, and twenty feet long, the timbers of tough ash and hickory. On the outside frame a system of planking was adopted with a view to securing elasticity in the frequent concussions with the ice. This consisted of a covering of waterproof canvas coated with tar, then a thin fir plank, then a sheet of felt, and, lastly, a thin oak plank, all secured to the timbers by iron screws. On each side of the keel there was a strong runner shod with metal, like that of a sledge, on which the boats entirely rested when on the ice. A hide span across the fore-part of the runners had two horse-hair drag ropes attached to it. The boats had two thwarts, a locker at each end, a light framework along the sides for containing provisions and spare clothes, a bamboo mast, and tanned duck sail, fourteen paddles, and a steer oar. They started with seventy-one days' provisions. The weight of each boat was 1,539 lbs., and the total weight, with provisions, 3,753 lbs., or 268 lbs. per man; besides four light taboggan sledges weighing 26 lbs. each. The daily allowance for each man was 10 ozs. of biscuit, 9 ozs. of pemmican, 1 oz. of cocoa, and 1 gill of rum. Parry took no lime-juice. They slept in the boat with sails as awnings, and travelled during the night.

They sailed in the boats until June 23rd, when it became necessary to haul them on the ice in 81° 12´ 51´´ N. The actual travelling then began over floes of small extent, intersected by hummocks. After a journey of thirty days, Parry reached his most northern point on July 23rd, in latitude, by dead reckoning, 82° 45´ N. No actual observation for latitude was obtained at their extreme northern point. They had travelled ninety-two miles over the ice, and two hundred in the boats before they hauled them on to the floe, but were only one hundred and seventy-two miles from the "Hecla." Such had been the drift of the floes to the southward. The boats returned to the "Hecla" on August 21st, and Parry arrived in England again on October 6th.

This journey was made in the middle of summer after the disruption of the ice. The daily allowance of food for the men was insufficient, and the weight of 26 lbs. for each man was too great. But these were points which could only be learnt by experience, and Sir Edward Parry was the pioneer of Arctic sledge travelling. He attained the highest northern latitude ever before reached by man, and it was forty-eight years and two months before any explorer succeeded in going beyond the parallel which Parry reached in 1827.