Koona, the Eskimo Leader 231 



of him. If the guide were a mile or so in 

 advance it would be all right with him. 

 Then he seemed to fancy he was independ- 

 ently doing his work. But if the guide just 

 kept in front of him, Koona would often 

 sulk and be of little use. ITe ever did his 

 best work when leading over the great icy 

 stretches of lakes or along the hard storm- 

 swept frozen rivers. Then : " Marche, 

 Koona ! " was all the instruction he needed, 

 and to the far away point indicated he would 

 gallantly lead his train. 



His courage, however, gave out in a bliz- 

 zard. He would refuse to face it and would 

 cleverly drop back on the lee side of big Jack 

 and allow him to do not only the work of 

 leading but also of drawing that portion of 

 the load which ought to have been shared 

 between them. Jack often thus favoured 

 him and helped him out of some very diffi- 

 cult situations. He seemed to think more 

 of Koona than he did of any other Eskimo 

 dog I ever owned, but that is not saying 

 much. 



Like all the Eskimo dogs, Koona was a 

 first-class thief and very clever at his work. 

 If he was off duty and around the kitchen 

 door, it was generally expected that there 



