The Voyage of the 'Discovery' Volume 1

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF SLEDGE TRAVELLING History of Polar Sledge travelling--Early English Sledge Travellers-- Ross--McClintock--Peary--Nansen--Visit to Christiania--Difficulties in Selecting Articles of Equipment--Comparison of Sledging Conditions in the North and South Polar Regions--Objects of the Sledge Traveller --Description of our Equipment--The Sledge--The Tent--The Sleeping-bag--Sledging-food--Calculation of Allowances--Packing-- Cooking-apparatus--Cooking-lamp--Permanent weights of a Sledge Party--Spare Clothing--Medical Bag--Details Concerning Clothing and General Equipment. Much more in this great work should we survey The plot of situation, and its model, Question surveyors, know our estate, How able such a work to undertake. --shakespeare. It may be fairly claimed that polar sledging is an English production; it is the direct outcome of that feverish energy in exploration which has distinguished our race for so many centuries and has led them to the performance of such glorious pioneer work within the Arctic Circle. To give my readers some idea of the history of sledge travelling, I cannot do better than quote the words of one who had perhaps the largest share in its making, and who gave more care and attention to the subject than has anyone before or since. The following words were written by Sir Leopold McClintock more than thirty years ago, and give a good idea of the conditions under which this mode of travelling was evolved, the objects it sought to accomplish, and the state of perfection to which it had then been brought: 1902] SIR L. McCLINTOCK ON SLEDGING 299 'In early Arctic voyaging the ship alone was relied upon for penetrating into unknown seas; it was not until the second and third voyages of...