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, this time could have been extended to sixty days.

Had any sledge and its provisions been cut off from the rest of the division, the man with it would have had everything he needed, except the cooking outfit.

Had the sledge which carried the alcohol stove been lost, either in a lead or otherwise, the party to which it belonged would have had to double up with one of the other divisions.
[Illustration: TYPICAL VIEW OF THE ICE OF THE ARCTIC OCEAN, NORTH OF GRANT LAND] The new alcohol stove, the design of which I had perfected during the winter, was used altogether on this northern sledge trip.