Norwich bulletin., 1909-09-23

many serious objections Nansen in- troduced the kayak and most explorers since have adopted the same device. The ESl1imc canoe serves the purpose very well, but to carry 1t for three
 months without hopeless destruction requires an amount of energy which stamps the polar venture with fail- ure.
 Selecting a Boat. Sectional boats, aluminium boats.
 skin floats and other devices have been triec but to all there is the same fatal | objection of impossible transportation. It seems rather odd that the ordinary folding canvas boat has not been pressed into this service.
 We found it to fit the situation ex- actly. selecting a twelve-foot Eureka
 shaped boat with wooden frame. The
 slats, spreaders and floor pieces were utilized as parts of sleds. The can-
 vas cover served as a floor cloth for | our sleeping bags. Thus the boat did
 useful service for a hundred days and was never in evidence as a cumber- some device.
 When at last the craft was spread | and covered. in it we carried the sled, | in it we camped, in it we sought game, the meat of which took the place of exhausted supplies. Without it we, too, would not have returned Preparation of the staple food sup ply is of even greater importance
 than means of locomotion To the sue
 cess of a prolonged Arctic enterprise in transit successive experience is bound to dictate a wise choice of equipment but it does not often edu- cate the stomach.
 From the published accounts of , Arctic travellers, it is impossible to select a satisfactory menu for future xxv1n or,I hDe f1 fIof perhaps our experience will be equally
 unsatisfactory to subsequent victims. Nor is it safe to listen to scientific advice, for the stomach is the one | organ of the body which stands as the autocrat over every other human
 sense and passion and will not easily | yield to foreign dictates.
 The problem differs with every man. It differs with every expedition and
 it is radically different with every na- | tion. Thus when De Gerlache forced i Norwegian food into French stomachs ] he learned that there was a nation ality in gastroncmics
 Depending on Eskimo Food. In this respect as in others, I was helped very much by the people who were to line up my forces. The Els kimo is ever hungry. but his taste
 is normal. Things of doubtful value in nutrition form no part in his diet ary. Animal food. meat and fat, is
 entirely satisfactory as a steady diet without other adjuncts. His food re- quires neither salt TOT sugar, nor is cooking a matter of necessity.
 Quantity is important, but quality applies only to the relative propor- ton of fat With this key to the gastronomics of our lockers pemmican- was selected as the staple food, which also served equally well for the dogs.
 We had an ample supply of pemmi- can, made by Armour of pounded dried beef, sprinkled with few rais- ins, some entrants and a small quan- tity of sugar. This mixture was ce- mented together Nith heated beef tal- low and run into tin cans containing six pounds each.
 This combination was invented by an American Indian. It has been used before as part of the long list of food stuffs in Arctic products, but with us it was the whole bill of fare when away from game haunts.
 Only few palate surprises were carried and these will be indicated in the narrative of camp life. The entire winter and night were spent with busy hands, under direction of Eskimo and Caucasian ingenuity in working out the clothing and camp comforts, with out which we could not invade the forbidden mysteries of the polar ba- sin.
 Although we did not follow closely either the routes or methods of our predecessors, we are, nevertheless, doubly indebted to them, for their ex- periences, including their failures, were our stepping stones to success.