Page:Polar Exploration - Bruce - 1911.djvu/112

108. It must be acknowledged, however, that it is very difficult to make absolutely sure that all the preserved meat-stuffs on board are reliable, expecially as there are scandalous contractors, who care nothing for sacrificing the health, and even the lives, not only of those who penetrate the Polar Regions, but of those who journey to other parts of the world, both in times of peace and war.

The great maxim to follow in Polar exploration as regard food supplies is to live as far as possible on the products of the sea or land where the work of the expedition lies. If the expedition is exploring in the Antarctic Regions, let it feed on the excellent flesh of the seals and fish which can be got plentifully there, and on the eggs and flesh of the innumerable penguins and other birds. If the expedition is in the Arctic Regions, let it luxuriate in the flesh of the musk-ox, reindeer, hare, and ptarmigan; and let the meat of bear, walrus, seal, and guillemot, as well as other birds, be utilised, remembering that all this "flesh is grass," and let scurvy-grass and sorrel be eaten as the natural vegetables of the Polar Regions. Tinned foods, if risked at all, should be used merely as a variety apart from the staple fresh foods above mentioned. Then there will be no sign of scurvy.