Another vitally important article of equipment for the polar explorer is the cooker and cooking-stove, and here again we were indebted to the practical genius of Nansen who designed the form of cooker that is now invariably used in polar work. The stove was the ordinary "primus," burning kerosene, vapourised in the usual way. Such was the efficiency of the cooker and stove that, in a temperature of forty or fifty degrees below zero, the snow or ice, which would be at this temperature, could be melted and a hot meal prepared within half an hour from the time the cooker was placed on the primus. The whole apparatus, including the primus, did not weigh more than fifteen pounds. The next important item was the tent, and as the usual unit for sledging consists of three men, our tents were designed to contain that number. The tent cloth was thin Willesden duck, with a "snow-cloth" of thicker material round the lower edge, and instead of a single tent-pole we used five bamboo rods fastened together at one end in a cap, over which the apex of the tent fitted. Inside the tent was placed on the snow a circle of thick Willesden water-proof canvas to protect the sleeping-bags from actual contact with the ground. It has been generally assumed by polar explorers that sledge travellers must wrap themselves up in furs, but my experience during two expeditions convinces me that except for the hands and feet in the way of personal clothing, and the sleeping-bags for camping, furs are unnecessary. The term "bag" literally describes this portion of the sledging gear, for it is a long bag with closely sewn seams, and is entered by means of a slit at the upper end. The appetite of a man who has just come to camp after a five-hours' march in a low temperature is something that the ordinary individual at home might possibly envy but would scarcely understand, and, indeed, the sledger himself is sometimes surprised when his ration is finished, and he feels just about as hungry as before his meal. In choosing supplies I tried to provide those of heat-giving and flesh-forming materials, and to avoid foods containing a large amount of moisture. Our cuisine was not varied, but a voracious appetite has no nice discernment, indeed all one wants is more, and this is just what cannot be allowed if a party is to proceed a great distance while confined to man-haulage. It is hard for a hungry man to rest content with the knowledge that the food he is eating is sufficient for his needs, when he does not feel satisfied after his meal and the aching void has not even temporarily disappeared. Pemmican, which consists of the finest beef powdered with 60 per cent, of fat added was one of the main items of our food supply, and biscuits are also a standard food in polar work.