Travelling with Dogs in Northern Wilds 245 



than with dogs, except going on foot, and 

 even that becomes impossible when dis- 

 tances are greater than those where men 

 can carry their own supplies. For their 

 supplies mean much more than merely the 

 food a man would consume. It means his 

 bedding, weapons of defence, axe, snow- 

 shoes and various other things, in addition 

 to kettles in which to cook his food. Hence 

 to those who would there travel, the dog is 

 simply invaluable, in spite of his many 

 defects. 



As so much is said in other parts of this 

 book about dogs in general, as w r ell as about 

 some individual ones, I need not in this 

 chapter give any further description of 

 them. My readers must imagine that we 

 are travelling with the splendid dogs else- 

 where described or with others like them. 



The dog-sleds are not always of the same 

 form or construction. In those regions 

 where there is but little dense forest coun- 

 try, the sleds are made much wider than are 

 those which are used where the trails run 

 through the densely wooded regions. Then 

 in many places experience has shown that 

 the sleds constructed with strong runners, 

 which keep the body of the sled well up 



