'ANIMAL LIFE IN THE ARCTIC REGION 219 



It does not come from any particular gland but seems a general 

 emanation. 



In habits the musk-ox is gregarious, moving in herds of twenty 

 or thirty in search of food, which consists of moss, lichens, herbage 

 and the twigs of small trees which grow in parts of their country. 



In winter they migrate south from the most northern and 

 exposed places, to localities where food is more abundant, and 

 where they are constantly hunted by the Eskimos for food and skins. 

 Fur traders and explorers have killed a great many in addition, 

 so that now their numbers are much diminished. 



By all odds the most useful animal of the Arctic is the Arctic 

 dog. The Eskimos use dogs exclusively to draw their sledges, 

 as being the most hardy and easily handled draught animal within 

 their reach. It is not necessary to shelter them, as they very clev- 

 erly bury themselves in the snow when getting ready to sleep. 

 They will eat any kind of meat or fish and can make great speed 

 over the ice. For these reasons they are of incalculable value to 

 polar explorers. These big, powerful, heavily furred dogs are so 

 like wolves that it is not difficult to believe that they are first cousins 

 of the Arctic wolves. In fact many Eskimo dogs are more closely 

 related to their wolfish neighbors and often there does not seem to 

 be a hair's difference between dog and wolf. 



The Eskimos hitch them up in teams to their sledges, the 

 number of dogs varying with the load to be drawn. No reins are 

 used, but the dogs are guided either by a lead dog which is clever 

 enough to follow a trail or by word of mouth backed up by the 

 long stinging whip. 



An animal of little use to mankind, except for its fur, is the 

 Arctic fox, otherwise known as the blue fox. In summer this animal 

 is of a brownish color, but in winter the fur turns pure white with a 

 bluish under-fur. 



This species lives upon birds, which it is able to run down on 

 the ground, upon young seals, and upon whatever offal it is able 



