CHvr. XXX. THE ESQUIMAUX WHIP. 159 



absolute control by the formidable Esquimaux whip. 

 Even in the middle of summer, the first glimpse of the 

 wliip is sufficient to arrest the most bloody battle. The 

 lash of a good whip is about thirty-five feet long, attached 

 to a handle not more than eight or ten inches. An ex- 

 perienced driver can hit any part of the leader he chooses 

 with the extremity of his formidable weapon. Tlie best 

 ' whippers ' are well known on the coast, and to become 

 an experienced hand is an object of the highest ambition 

 amouG!' the youmT; men of the risino; cjeneration. Abbe 

 Ferland tells a capital tale of a long Boston Yankee, wdio 

 was emulous of the fame of one of the most distinguished 

 Labradorian whippers. He offered, ft)r a bottle of rum, 

 to receive two blows on his legs from the hands of a 

 celebrated driver. With a wise precaution, he enveloped 

 his lower extremities with two pairs of stout drawers, and 

 over them he placed two pairs of strong trousers. Rely- 

 ing upon this fourfold shield, he placed himself in posi- 

 tion, at a distance of forty feet. The Labradorian, 

 arming himself with one of the longest whips, whirled 

 it about his head for a few seconds, and then brought it 

 down with such terrific effect upon the legs of the poor 

 Yankee that the lash cut through trousers, drawers, and 

 fiesh nearly to the bone. A loud and prolonged nasal 

 shriek broke upon the ears of the anxious spectators ; 

 the long Yankee stooped down to probe the depth of his 

 wound, but when the proposition to receive the second 

 blow was made to him, he generously renounced the 

 bottle of rum, and, with characteristic twang, replied, 

 ' Wall ! I guess I 'd be too leaky to hold li(|uor witli 

 another stroke.' 



