INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 75 



together with some other things, were given to Antisarlook as a start- 

 ing outfit in life. In the course of the winter and spring we found no 

 use for the dogs. All our work could be done by the aid of the rein- 

 deer. In May and the first half of June, when we had the best roads 

 for hauling lumber and fuel, dogs could not be used on account of the 

 icy crust of snow, which was too sharp for the dogs' feet, cutting them 

 to the quick, so that they could not walk, much less haul loads. 



The only time when dogs can be made useful at the station is in the 

 summer, and the only use they can be put to is to haul rafts of lumber 

 along- the shore. For this purpose we have now procured six dogs. 

 These will be sold in the autumn, as we have no use for the dogs during 

 the winter. Dogs bring a higher price in the fall than in tlie spring, so 

 that we get the work done during the summer for nothing. 



No progress has been made in regard to harnesses; that is to say, 

 we have used the same kind as are used in Lapland, which is an 

 improvement of more than TiOO per cent on Siberian harnesses hereto- 

 fore used by tiiis station. This harness is perfectly satisfactory for 

 common use. Until we get new and hitherto unknown ways of train- 

 ing reindeer, any change in the harness is not necessary, uor have 

 we had much time to think of this matter. When you emphasized 

 imi)rovement of the harnesses in your instructions you doubtless were 

 not acquainted with the appearance and excellence of the harnesses 

 now in use at the station, but had in your mind the Siberian harnesses. 

 It would be of but little use to describe the Lappish harnesses; they 

 must be seen and used in order to be appreciated. I may state brietly 

 that they are very much like the shoulder harness used on horses. Of 

 course allowance is made for the restlessness of the reindeer, which 

 keeps jumping up and to the side much more than a horse. In the 

 case of the horse harness the principal weight is put upon the brace 

 and lower part of the shoulder, while in this harness the principal 

 weight rests on the u^iper part of the shoulder and on the neck, where 

 the reindeer have their strength, like oxen, and while training and 

 partly while driving we have employed tugs like those used in driving 

 horses. The only change made in the manner of driving is that two 

 animals are placed side by side drawing the same sled. The country 

 and the absence of trees here permit this kind of driving. In Lapland 

 this is not possible, but the reindeer has been hitched in the American 

 and not in the Siberian fashion. 



According to the Siberian fashion of hitching the reindeer to the sled, 

 one animal is placed about 1 foot in front of the other, and the harness 

 is worn in such a manner that the animal draws with only one shoul- 

 der, which makes it run with its side instead of its head in front. We 

 hitch the deer by means of two equally long tugs fastened to a whipple- 

 tree at the front of the sled. Then there is a strap IS inches long 

 fastened to the halters of both the animals. This keeps the animals 

 side by side and makes them draw with both shoulders and the neck, 



