ays later from a
point still farther on, knits together the broken ends of the trail of
its own division; and when it comes upon the trail of the first
supporting party, reunites such other breaks as have occurred since the
first supporting party went over it on its way back to land. So with the
third and fourth supporting parties.

When I speak of knitting together breaks in the trail, I mean simply
that the passage of the supporting party from that point where the trail
was broken by the movement of the ice to the point where the trail went
on again, some distance either to the east or west, would itself renew
the broken trail, the passage of the men and dog teams packing down the
ice and snow. So that when the main party came back it would simply
follow the track of the supporting party, and not have to scout for the
trail.

As a result of this method of keeping the return trail continuously
open, when the main party starts to return it has a continuous trail
back to the land, which it can follow with from fifty to one hundred per
cent. greater speed than it was possible to make on the outward journey.
The reasons for this are obvious: no time is wasted in selecting and
breaking a trail; the dogs are more energetic when following a beaten
track and when on the road home; no time is wasted in making camp, the
snow igloos built on the outward journey being reoccupied on the return
journey.

[Illustration: TYPICAL TRAIL IN SOFT SNOW (LOOKING BACKWARD)]

It must be understood that when each supporting party reached the land
again, its work in regard to the polar dash was over. It did not come
back onto the ice with any further supplies for the main party.

At the very end, when the supporting parties have performed their
important work of trail-breaking and transportation of supplies, the
main party for the final journey _must_ be small and carefully selected,
as the small party resulting from the successive selection of the
fittest, can travel much faster than a large one.

Each division of four men was absolutely independent and had its
complete traveling outfit; in fact, except for the alcohol stove and
cooking utensils, each sledge was complete in itself. On each sledge
were the provisions for men and dogs, and clothing for the driver. The
standard sledge load would support the driver and the dog team for about
fifty days, and by sacrificing a few dogs and using them as food for the
other dogs and the men, thi