266 THE ESQUIMAUX DOG. 
He would have sent his Dog to look for it, had not the animal chosen to accompany a 
friend in a short walk. However, as soon as the Dog arrived, his master explained his 
loss to the animal, and begged him to find the lost cane. Just as he completed his 
explanations, dinner was announced, and he was obliged to take his seat at table. 
Soon after the second course was upon the table, a great uproar was heard in the hall ; 
sounds of pushing and scuffling were very audible, and angry voices forced themselves on 
the ear. Presently, the phalanx of servants gave way, and in rushed the Newfoundland 
Dog, bearing in his mouth the missing cane. He would not permit any hand but his 
master’s to take the cane from his mouth, and it was his resistance to the attempts of the 
servants to dispossess him of his master’s property that had led to the skirmish. 
Iv HAS BEEN mentioned that the Newfoundland Dog is employed during the winter 
months in dragging carts of hewn wood to their destin ation, and that it is unkindly 
treated by the very men who derive the most benefit from its exertions. 
The Esquimaux Doc, however, spends almost its entire life in drawing sledges, or 
in carrying heavy loads, being, in fact, the only beast of burden or traction in the 
northern parts of America and the neighbouring islands. Some, indeed, are turned 
loose at the beginning of the summer, and many get their living as they can, until winter 
summons them back ; again to scanty meals and perpetual toil. But many of the Esqui- 
maux Dogs are retained in servitude for the entire year, and during the summer months 
are called upon to give their aid in draught and in carriage. Indeed, those Dogs which 
are thus kept to their work during the entire year are comparatively happy, for their work 
is not nearly so heavy as in the winter, and their food is much better. 
The Esquimaux Dog is rather smaller than the Labrador, being only twenty-two or 
twenty-three inches in height. There is something very wol lfish about the Dog, owing to 
its oblique eyes, bushy tail, and elongated muzzle. In its full face the Esquimaux Dog 
presents a ludicrously exact likeness of its master’s countenance. The colour is almost 
invariably a deep dun, marked obscurely with dark bars and patches; the muzzle is 
black. 
When harnessed to the sledge, the Dogs obey the movements of their leader, who is 
always a faithful and experienced old Dog. “There are no means of guiding the animals in 
their w ay, for each Dog is simply tied to the sledge by a leathern strap, and directed by the 
voice and whip of the driver. The whip is of - very great importance to the charioteer, 
for by the sounds which he elicits from the lash, and by the ably-directed strokes 
which he aims at refractory Dogs, he guides the canine team without the aid of bit or 
bridle. 
The old and experienced animal which leads the team knows the master’s voice, and 
will dash forward, slacken speed, halt, or turn to right and left at command. 
The actual stroke of the whip is used as little as possible, for when a Dog feels the 
sting of the biting lash, he turns round and attacks the Dog nearest to him. The others 
immediately join in the fight, and the whole team is thrown into admirable confusion, 
the traces being entangled with each other, and the sledge in all likelihood upset. 
When such a rupture occurs, the driver is generally forced to dismount, and to harness the 
Dogs afresh. Usually, the leading Dog is permitted to run his own course, for he is able 
to follow the right path with marvellous accuracy, and to scent it out, even when the 
thickly-falling snowflakes have covered the surface of the ground with an uniform white 
carpet, on W hose elittering surface no impress is left of the subjacent earth. 
These Dogs are able to travel for very ereat distances over the snow-clad regions of the 
north, and have been known to make daily journeys of sixty miles for several days in 
succession. 
Captain Parry, in his well-known “ Journal,” remarks very happily, that “neither the 
Dog nor his master is half civilized or subdued,” the former indeed being the necessary 
consequence of the latter. The Esquimaux bears no love towards his Dogs, and only looks 
upon them as animated machines, formed for the purpose of conveying him and his pro- 
perty from one place to another. He is a most exacting and cruel master, feeding scantily 
his Dogs on the merest offal, and then inflicting severest torture upon them if they 
