Our clothing in moderate temperatures consisted of thick woollen underclothing and Burberry windproof overalls.  This underclothing was specially designed for the purpose; I had myself watched the preparation of the material, and knew that it contained nothing but pure wool.  We had overalls of two different materials:  Burberry “gabardine” and the ordinary green kind that is used in Norway in the winter.  For sledge journeys, where one has to save weight, and to work in loose, easy garments, I must unhesitatingly recommend Burberry.  It is extraordinarily light and strong, and keeps the wind completely out.  For hard work I prefer the green kind.  It keeps out the wind equally well, but is heavier and more bulky, and less comfortable to wear on a long march.  Our Burberry wind-clothes were made in the form of anorak (blouse) and trousers, both very roomy.  The others consisted of trousers and jacket with hood.

Our mits were for the most part such as one can buy in any shop; we wanted nothing else in and around winter quarters.  Outside the mits we wore an outer covering of windproof material, so as not to wear them out too quickly.  These mits are not very strong, though they are good and warm.  Besides these, we had ten pairs of ordinary kid mits, which were bought at a glove-shop in Christiania, and were practically impossible to wear out.  I wore mine from Framheim to the Pole and back again, and afterwards on the voyage to Tasmania.  The lining, of course, was torn in places, but the seams of the mits were just as perfect as the day I bought them.  Taking into consideration the fact that I went on ski the whole way and used two poles, it will be understood that the mits were strongly made.  We also had a number of woollen gloves, which, curiously enough, the others greatly prized.  For myself, I was never able to wear such things; they simply freeze the fingers off me.

But most important of all is the covering of the feet, for the feet are the most exposed members and the most difficult to protect.  One can look after the hands; if they grow cold it is easy to beat them into warmth again.  Not so with the feet; they are covered up in the morning, and this is a sufficiently troublesome piece of work to make one disinclined to undo it again until one is turning in.  They cannot be seen in the course of the day, and one has to depend entirely on feeling; but feeling in this case often plays curious tricks.  How often has it happened that men have had their feet frozen off without knowing it!  For if they had known it, they could not possibly have let it go so far.  The fact is that in this case sensation is a somewhat doubtful guide, for the feet lose all sensation.  It is true that there is a transitional stage, when one feels the cold smarting in one’s toes, and tries to get rid of it by stamping the feet.  As a rule this is successful; the warmth returns, or the circulation is restored; but it occasionally happens