42 TUSKI SLEDGES. 



Tuski travelling sledge — for there are two other kinds 

 — is constructed principally for speed, being exceed- 

 ingly light, and of an elegant form. Six or nine arches 

 of wood, let into flat runners, support a seat about five 

 feet long and fourteen inches broad, connected at the 

 head with the runners by thin springy curves ; a sort 

 of basket is formed at the back of the sledge, and 

 broad strips of whalebone are secured under the 

 wooden runners, which render friction scarcely 

 observable. Braces and uprights further bind the 

 parts together, and all is fastened with whalebone in 

 a manner perfectly neat and secure. A single thong of 

 seal-hide from the under part of the seat serves to attach 

 the dogs, which vary from two to as many as ten ; as 

 far as eight they all run abreast, the single traces of 

 their harness radiating from the main thong, to 

 which they are secm'ed by loops of ivory. The dogs 

 are generally small, long-haired, and wiry, with 

 pointed ears and bushy tail ; they have many points 

 resembling both the w^olf and the fox, the bark 

 especially being a very melancholy w^hine. A 

 favoured few of the Tuski were possessors of a tall 

 and strong mongrel breed — probably by communi- 

 cation with the Russians — with short hair, and 

 something of the pointer look. One train of dogs we 

 saw resembled the staghound, and were capable of 



