136 THENORTHPOLE 



For dog harnesses, I have adopted the Eskimo 

 pattern, but have used different material. The 

 Eskimo harness is made of sealskin — two loops joined 

 by a cross strip at the back of the neck and under 

 the throat. The dog's forelegs pass through the loops, 

 and the ends are joined over the small of the back, 

 where the trace is attached. This harness is very- 

 simple and flexible, and it allows the dog to exert 

 his whole strength. The objection to sealskin as a 

 harness material is a gastronomic one. When the 

 dogs are on short rations they eat their harnesses at 

 night in camp. To obviate this difficulty, I use for 

 the harnesses a special webbing or belting, about two 

 or two and a half inches in width, and replace the cus- 

 tomary rawhide traces of the Eskimos by a braided 

 linen sash cord. 



The dogs are hitched to the sledge fanwise. The 

 standard team is eight dogs; but for rapid traveling 

 with a heavy load, ten or twelve are sometimes used. 

 They are guided by the whip and the voice. The Es- 

 kimo whip has a lash sometimes twelve, sometimes 

 eighteen, feet long, and so skilful are the Eskimos 

 in its manipulation that they can send the lash flying 

 through the air and reach any part of any particular 

 dog they wish. A white man can learn to use an 

 Eskimo whip, but it takes time. It takes time also 

 to acquire the exact Eskimo accent to the words 

 "How-eh, how-eh, how-eh," meaning to the right; 

 "Ash-oo, ash-oo, ash-oo," to the left; as well as the stand- 

 ard, "Huh, huh, huk" which is equivalent to "go on." 

 Sometimes, when the dogs do not obey, the usual 

 "How-eh, how-eh, how-eh," will reverse its accent, and 



