114 THE GREENLAND DOG. 



time exceedingly soft ; and I was informed by the commander 

 of Kamtschatka, that this journey was generally performed in 

 two days and a half; and that he had once received an express 

 from that place in twenty-four hours, although the distance bo 

 riot less than one hundred and thirty miles." 



These useful animals are trained to this business of drawing 

 the sledge, when they are only whelps; and although the most 

 general mode is to yoke five of them together, two and two, 

 with a leader, yet deviations from this method take place accord- 

 ing to circumstances. Mr. Lessop informs us, that he and M. 

 Kaslof, governor of Kamtschatka, set out from Bolcheretsk, with 

 their baggage, in thirty-five sledges, drawn by three hundred 

 dogs, and that his sledge was drawn by thirty-seven, and M. 

 Kaslof 's by forty-five of these animals. They arrived at Pons- 

 tarisk with no more than twenty-seven out of the whole number, 

 having lost all the rest by the hardships of the journey : from 

 which circumstance we may conclude, that the sufferings of 

 these useful animals are on these occasions very great. Mr. 

 Lessop describes this mode of travelling as very expeditious, but 

 extremely troublesome. He says, the dogs are sometimes very 

 refractory ; and that on long journies it is almost impossible to 

 enjoy any repose, by reason of the excessive howling which they 

 make in the night. 



In the management of these dogs, great attention is paid to 

 the training of those that are designed for leaders, which are 

 valued in proportion to their steadiness and docility, and one of 

 them is frequently sold for forty rubles, or ten pounds sterling a 

 great sum in that country. 



In driving these sledges, the reins are fastened to a collar put 

 round the neck of the leading dog, and consequently are of littte 

 use in directing the rest. The driver has a crooked stick, an- 

 swering the purpose both of whip and rein, with which, by strik- 

 ing on the snow, he regulates the speed of his dogs. Sometimes 

 he animates them to proceed by his voice ; and when they are 

 inattentive to their duty, he chastises them by throwing his stick 

 at them ; but at the same time he shows great dexterity in re- 

 gaining it, which is the greatest difficulty attending his art : for 

 if he happen to lose this instrument, the dogs immediately dis- 

 cover the circumstance, and seldom fail to set off at full speed, 

 continuing to run till their strength is exhausted, or the carriage 

 overturned and dashed to pieces. Upon the whole, it appears 

 from the relations of Mr. Lessop, and others, who have made 

 the experiment, that when many of these sledges travel together, 

 and are necessarily drawn by a great number of dogs, they form 

 a very noisy and tumultuous caravan. 



When the summer approaches, the dogs are turned out to 



