VALUABLE ANIMALS OF THE ARCTIC 293 



"'It is the largest and strongest of^the lot that has just died, a hand- 

 some dog; I called him "Lova" (Lion). He was such a confiding, gentle 

 animal, and so affectionate. Only yesterday he was jumping and playing 

 about and rubbing himself against me, and to-day he is dead.' " 



Captain Otto Sverdrup, Dr. Nansen's companion and a leader of expedi- 

 tions himself, thus writes of the dog in his "New Land" : 



"There are two indispensable adjuncts to the carrying out of polar re- 

 search, and these are 'ski' and dogs. . . . For my own part I am inclined 

 to believe ... the Eskimo dog is an ideal companion on a polar expedi- 

 tion. I have had the opportunity of seeing the action of various breeds of dogs 

 upon the polar ice, but none of them come up to the Eskimo dog. It has the 

 persistence and tenacity of the wild animal, and at the same time the domestic 

 dog's admirable devotion to its master. 



"It is, so to speak, the mildest breath of nature and the warmest breath of 

 civilization. 



"As a draught animal it surpasses all other breeds. . . . If it may 

 be said that polar research without 'ski' is extremely difficult, it may be safely 

 said that without dogs it is impossible ; and, so far, they are right who say that 

 the question of reaching the pole is simply and solely one of dogs." 



One of the great advantages of the Eskimo dog on a polar expedition 

 is his ability to eat anything and everything or nothing. Captain Sverdrup 

 writes : 



". . . In weather of this kind a ration of one pound is too little for 

 such big and strong animals, and no matter how sustaining the food may 

 be in itself the quantity is insufficient. . . . Gammelgulen had tried to 

 rectify matters by getting his muzzle off and eating it; he had then appro- 

 priated those of his companions, first gnawing them off and then consuming 

 them. The traces had gone the same way, including the iron swivels, and 

 only a little was left of the harness." 



It is this matter of food that makes the dog the one and only animal the 

 polar explorer is able to use to advantage. Had the horse been possible or 

 the reindeer easily available the necessity of carrying food for them — corn, 

 oats and fodder — would prove an insuperable difficulty, but the dog is car- 

 nivorous. He feeds on blubber, walrus skin, fish, bear or musk ox — food that is 

 to be found all along the journey to the pole, or he can feed on the carcass of 

 his fellow. 



His tractable character and the combined strength of an obedient pack, to- 



