5. The ship in its winter harbour is the only place of refuge, in all cases where a meeting with Eskimos cannot be counted on. Except for the accidents of hunting, on which no dependence should be placed, the country itself affords no kind of means of subsistence; hence all the necessaries of life must be carried in the sledges. The heavily laden sledge becomes in truth a ship of the icy wastes, and its loss involves the destruction of the whole party. In order to lighten its load and yet prolong the journey as much as possible, supplies of provisions are often deposited along the routes to be traversed. This may be done, either by previous shorter journeys, or by leaving behind a part of the provisions which have been taken from the ship, or by burying the product of the chase in the manner adopted by fur-hunters and Indians. The danger to such stores from the inroads of bears or the breaking up of the ice must be guarded against by a careful selection of localities; and the place being chosen, the provisions should either be buried four feet deep in snow between steep rocks, somewhat above the level of the sea, or the bags containing them should be suspended on the inaccessible faces of the rocks. The choice of an elevated point is some security against visits from bears. But it is never advisable to build confidently on finding the depôt, or to make the possibility of return dependent on this contingency. A small stock of the necessaries of life should always be kept in reserve, as a prudent precaution in case the depôt should be destroyed. If however the depôts remain untouched and uninjured, and their numbers be considerable, the duration of the journey, which can be prolonged for thirty or forty days only where provisions are carried in the sledges, may thus be doubled in extent. The depôts for journeys in the spring are often formed in the preceding autumn, though their preservation is of course exposed to great risk.