70 REPORT ON INTRODUCTION OF 



good leader, and drive them. As a rule, tbe young deer becomes stub- 

 born and lies down, and if tbe leader is unable to pull it along, tbe 

 driver must get off bis sled and try whipping it across the points of 

 its ears with a thong, or, taking hold of its horns, he must drag it along 

 by main strength. 



On a few occasions while breaking a very wild and fierce deer, Mr. 

 Grubin found it necessary to sit down on the sled and wait several 

 hours until the stubborn animal was ready to go of its own accord. 



HARNESS. 



The Siberian harness is different from all harnesses which we have 

 seen described in books. The strap used for the collar passes over and 

 across the upper half of the fore shoulder and between the forelegs 

 where the ends pass under a girth, and are attached by means of a horn 

 button to a trace which passes outside the right hind leg. The leading 

 deer's trace is made fast to the center of the sled and the off deer's 

 trace to the middle of the left side of the sled. The team is guided by 

 jerking one of two lines which are attached to a halter passing around 

 the deer's horns. These lines are fastened very tightly around the 

 wrists of the driver, so that in case the deer is inclined to rim away 

 he must drag the driver. The single traces passing on the outside of 

 the deer's hind legs necessarily causes them to pull slightly sidewise, 

 making it difficult to drive them on a bee line. Often in driving a dis- 

 tance of 10 or 15 miles the trace chafes through the skin under the 

 belly and on the outside of the hind legs* The fresh blood freezes into 

 sharp crystals on the trace, cutting the poor animal like a saw every 

 step it takes. When this chafing occurs it is necessary for the driver 

 to repeatedly remove the blood with his mittens. This uncivilized har- 

 ness, however, is not without its merits. Its simplicity gives it many 

 advantages over other harnesses for breaking deer. 



At the expense of being ridiculed by our Siberian herders I have tried 

 a harness of my own make, consisting of collar, back and belly band, 

 and two traces. Altbough not so simple as the other harnesses, it has 

 many advantages over them. 



In order to test their relative merits, I sent Mr. Grubin, Ta oo tuk, 

 and So kwee na to Ki now guk (40 miles north). Two of them drove 

 double teams with Siberian harness and the other a single deer with 

 the collar and trace harness. The result of the comparison showed 

 that one deer in the latter harness can draw the same load with less 

 exertion than two in the other harness. We have tried this same bar. 

 ness with a deer hitched in shafts to a cart which An te si look made, 

 • and found it answered the purpose admirably. The shoulders and 

 breasts of reindeer are of an unsuitable shape for the breast harness so 

 common in the States. We think forked or checked lines would be an 

 improvement on their double lines, although when we tried them on 

 some old deer it seemed to irritate them. 



