WADING THROUGH DEEP SNOW. 335 



cupied fourteen days — a circumstance which will of 

 itself exhibit the difficult nature of the undertaking, 

 especially when it is borne in mind that forty miles to 

 an ordinary team of dogs, over usually fair ice, is a 

 trifling matter for five hours, and would not fatigue 

 the team half so much as a single hour's pulling of 

 the same load over such hummocks as confronted us 

 throughout this entire journey. 



In order to obtain the best result which the Esqui- 

 mau dog is capable of yielding, it is essential that he 

 shall be able to trot away with his load. To walk at 

 a dead drag is as distressing to his spirits and ener- 

 gies as the hauling of a dray would be to a blooded 

 horse ; and he will much more readily run away with 

 a hundred pounds over good ice than pull one- 

 fourth of that weight over a track which admits only 

 of a slow pace. 



We did not halt longer at Cape Hawks than was 

 needful to rest the teams, when we commenced our 

 journey up the coast. The first day's march carried 

 us across the wide bay between Capes Hawks and 

 Napoleon. We were rejoiced to find ourselves now, 

 for the first time, able to carry our cargo all at one 

 load ; and yet the traveling was far from good. Ow- 

 ing to the conformation of the coast, the bay had 

 been sheltered from the winds, and the snows of the 

 winter, in consequence, lay loose upon the surface of 

 the ice. We had, however, no alternative but to cross 

 the bay, for to go outside was to plunge again into 

 the hummocks. The snows had accumulated to the 

 depth of more than two feet, through which the wad- 

 ing was very toilsome. The sledge cut in to the cross- 

 ties, and the dogs sank to their bellies ; and, to make 

 the matter worse, Jensens leg gave out so that it 



