36 ANIMALS OP NORTH AMERICA. 



little training or breaking in. The sledges are usually con- 

 structed for only a single person, and are drawn sometimes 

 by three, but more frequently by five dogs, one of which acts 

 as leader. They are guided not by reins, but by striking on 

 the ice with a stick, the voice being occasionally employed ; 

 and in a country where there are no roads, the direction must 

 depend On the instant obedience of the leader to the indica- 

 tions of the driver, otherwise danger would often be incurred 

 from a precipice or impediment. When any of the dogs are 

 inattentive to their duty, the rider punishes the delinquent 

 by throwing his stick at him, which he dexterously again 

 picks up without stopping. It is said, these cunning animals 

 very soon ascertain when the stick is lost ; and unless the 

 leader is uncommonly well trained, the driver is in peril, since 

 they set off at full speed, and do not stop till they are ex- 

 hausted, or the sledge overturned. They possess the most won- 

 derful sagacity in finding their way during snow storms, when 

 their master can see no path, nor even keep his eyes open in 

 the blinding storm. In such cases they seldom miss their 

 way ; but if at a loss, they will go in different directions, 

 until satisfied of the course, probably by the smell. If during 

 a long journey, it is found that the place of destination cannot 

 be reached, and it is impossible to proceed further, then the 

 dogs are unharnessed, and lying down in the snow with their 

 master in the midst, they keep him from freezing, and if 

 necessary defend him from danger. A popular writer and 

 traveller, Bayard Taylor, says, that " driving Esquimaux 

 dogs is very much like driving a lively sturgeon in rough 

 water. As soon as you are seated in your sledge, which is 

 like a little canoe, off they start, and as the bottom of the 

 sledge is perfectly round and slippery, it is no easy matter to 

 maintain your balance. If you are a new hand, your first 

 experience is head-first downward in a snow-drift." The 

 value and use of the Esquimaux dog in the Arctic expedi- 

 tions, seem to have been appreciated only by our recent 



