The kayaks, upon which we had long been engaged, were finished about the same time. We had now in all five double and one single kayak. Of these I myself made one, the single kayak, which weighed 32 pounds. All of them were tested in the channel, and proved sound and watertight. Both the kayaks and the sledges were hoisted on the davits, so that they could be let down at a moment's notice in case of need. The petroleum launch, which was of no use to us as it was, but would afford good materials for runners and other things, was brought from the great hummock and taken to pieces. It was built of choice elm, and a couple of planks were immediately used for runners to those of the sledges, which, for lack of material, were as yet unprovided with these appliances. The medicine-chest, which had also lain in depot at the great hummock, was fetched and stowed away in one of the long-boats, which had been placed on the pressure-ridge hard by the ship. The contents had taken no harm, and nothing had burst with the frost, although there were several medicines in the chest which contained no more than 10 per cent. of alcohol. At that time we were also busy selecting and weighing provisions and stores for eleven men for a seventy days' sledging expedition and a six months' sojourn on the ice. The kinds of provisions and their weight will be seen from the accompanying table: Seventy Days' Sledge Provisions for Eleven Men Pounds Cadbury's chocolate, 5 boxes of 48 pounds 240 Meat chocolate 25 Wheaten bread, 16 boxes of 44 pounds 704 Danish butter, 12 tins of 28 pounds 336 Lime-juice tablets 2 Fish flour (Professor Våge's) 50 Viking potatoes, 3 tins of 26 pounds 78 Knorr's pea-soup 5 ,, lentil-soup 5 ,, bean-soup 5 Bovril, 2 boxes 104 Vril-food, 1 box 48 Oatmeal, 1 box 80 Serin powder, 1 box 50 Aleuronate bread, 5 boxes of 50 pounds 250 Pemmican, 6 boxes 340 ,, 7 sacks 592 Liver, 1 sack 102 ---- Total 3016 Besides these we took salt, pepper, and mustard. Provisions for Eleven Men During a Six Months' Stay on the Ice Pounds