HAYES, PI ALL AND OTHER ADVENTURERS 301 



The sun sank out of sight behind the southern hills on the I5th 

 of October; and the little company of brave men were face to face 

 with the long winter darkness of the Polar World. At first a kind 

 of soft twilight prevailed, and the golden glow of the unseen orb 

 of day rested on the mountain tops; but surely and steadily the 

 partial radiance lessened, and slowly and surely came on the sad 

 obscurity of the Arctic night. 



Dr. Hayes occasionally amused himself with taking his team 

 of dogs on an excursion. They were twelve in number, healthy, 

 strong and swift of foot. They would carry the sledge over the 

 ice at a tremendous speed, accomplishing six miles in twenty-eight 

 to thirty-three minutes. But to manage them is quite an art, for 

 they are guided solely by the whip and voice. 



On the outside are placed the strongest dogs; and the team 

 sways to right and left, according as the whip falls on the snow to 

 the one side or the other, or as it touches the leading dogs. The 

 voice aids the whip, but the experienced driver relies more upon 

 compulsion than upon persuasion. This whip is a wonderful in- 

 strument. Its lash is about four feet longer than the traces, and 

 tipped with a "cracker" of hard sinew, quite capable of phleboto- 

 mizing a refractory animal. Its material is simply raw seal-hide, 

 and it is attached to a light whip-stock only two feet and a half in 

 length. Hence, to roll out the lash to its full length is a truly diffi- 

 cult undertaking, and in this, as in other arts, it is practice only that 

 makes perfect. 



Driving an Eskimo team, take it all in all, seems to be, as Dr. 

 Hayes describes it, the very hardest kind of hard work. Inces- 

 santly must the driver ply his whip, and ply it mercilessly as well as 

 incessantly, or it will avail him nothing. The least hesitancy or 

 weakness on the driver's part is immediately detected by his dogs, 

 and they act accordingly. Unless fully convinced that the sound- 

 ness of their skins is at his mercy, they will indulge in the greatest 

 liberties. "If they see a fox crossing the ice," says Dr Hayes, "or 



