Upon two skates, placed parallel to each other, that is, upon two branches of a tree, six feet and an half long, three inches wide, and very roughly finished, the extremities of which in front are bent upwards in the form of a demi-crescent, is placed the body of the sledge, which is really nothing more than a frame of open work, five feet long and eighteen inches wide, raised two feet and a few inches above the ground. Two small poles, about five inches in circumference, constitute the frame of this vehicle, the minuter parts of which are formed of thick laths, inserted the one in the other. A cross bar, more substantial than these poles, unites their forward extremities, which are prolonged to the arches of the skates, and fastened to them with leathern thongs. The lower part of this open work rests upon a sort of curvilinear feet, the lower ends of which, spreading out, are inserted in the skates, and the back is constructed in the form of an open calash, being sixteen inches high and twenty-four deep, disposed in a semi-circular form, with short poles ranged at the top, in the perforations of a demi-hoop, nearly like the backs of our arm chairs in a garden. In this narrow inclosure, the traveller commonly places his provisions, or whatever else is destined for continual use. For myself, I employed it to receive my box of dispatches, and seated myself upon it till the moment that I took the place of my guide. His seat is towards the middle of the open work, not far from the cross bar; here he places himself astride, with his feet resting upon the skates of the sledge.