DOG CONCERTS RESUMED 195 



few more, and, finally, the whole hundred. As a rule, 

 during a concert like this they sit well down, stretch 

 their heads as high in the air as they can, and howl to 

 their hearts' content. During this act they seem very 

 preoccupied, and are not easily disturbed. But the 

 strangest thing is the way the concert comes to an end. 

 It stops suddenly along the whole line no stragglers, 

 no " one cheer more." What is it that imposes this 

 simultaneous stop? I have observed and studied it 

 time after time without result. One would think it 

 was a song that had been learnt. Do these animals 

 possess a power of communicating with each other? 

 The question is extraordinarily interesting. No one 

 among us, who has had long acquaintance with Eskimo 

 dogs, doubts that they have this power. I learned at 

 last to understand their different sounds so well that I 

 could tell by their voices what was going on without 

 seeing them. Fighting, play, love-making, etc., each 

 had its special sound. If they wanted to express their 

 devotion and affection for their master, they would do 

 it in a quite different way. If one of them was doing 

 something wrong something they knew they were not 

 allowed to do, such as breaking into a meat-store, for 

 example the others, who could not get in, ran out and 

 gave vent to a sound quite different from those I have 

 mentioned. I believe most of us learned to distinguish 

 these different sounds. There can hardly be a more 

 interesting animal to observe, or one that offers greater 



