60 THE LIFE OF E. J. PECK 



cunningly round bits of ice, so as to drag you head- 

 over-heels into the snow. 



" The secret by which this complicated set of 

 requirements is fulfilled consists in properly describ- 

 ing an arc from the shoulder with a stiff elbow, 

 giving the jerk to the whip-handle from the hand 

 and wrist alone. The lash trails behind you as you 

 travel, and when thrown forward is allowed to ex- 

 tend itself without an effort to bring it back. You 

 wait patiently after giving the projectile impulse 

 until it unwinds its slow length, reaches the end 

 of its tether, and cracks to tell you that it is at its 

 journey's end. Such a crack on the ear or fore- 

 foot of an unfortunate dog is signified by a howl 

 quite unmistakable in its import." 



The average day's journey in the winter time is 

 thirty miles, but in the spring, when the days are 

 longer, and when the ice is in good condition, 

 distances of sixty miles in a day have been 

 travelled. 



Eskimo dogs are of a most pugnacious character, 

 and if they think they can take liberties with 

 the driver they will stop and engage in a kind of 

 free fight among themselves a sort of canine 

 Kilkenny. This is particularly liable to occur should 

 there be any strange dogs in the team. 



The dog is also remarkable for sagacity and 

 powers of endurance. When travellers have thought 

 themselves lost in blinding snow-drifts, they have 



