62 THE LIFE OF E. J. PECK 



ice mass that loomed in the distance, and sure 

 enough, presently, the sledge got jammed under a 

 boulder. 



"The dogs tugged and howled, but at last gave up 

 the job in despair, and when we finally arrived on 

 the scene they looked up at us in the drollest man- 

 ner, as much as to say, ' You've got us, it's true, 

 but it is not our fault.' ' 



Then, too, how rapacious is the Eskimo dog. " I 

 have known," writes Mr. Peck, " one of them die 

 from the effects of eating a dishcloth. Another, on a 

 certain occasion, actually made a good meal of a 

 dress belonging to Mrs. Peck's servant, a girl we 

 had at our first station, Fort George. The dress had 

 been hung out to dry." 



We now glance at the hunter. He has to search 

 for his chief game, the seal, over the frozen sea. 

 The neighbourhood of his prey is indicated by a 

 hole in the ice. While the ice is still thin the seal 

 makes holes for breathing, and he keeps them open 

 by repeated visits during the winter. 



Having discovered a hole (and each seal has 

 several) the hunter builds a wall of snow to shelter 

 himself from the piercing wind, and patiently sits 

 watching, hour after hour, with his harpoon ready 

 for use, until a peculiar, unmistakable blowing 

 sound announces the arrival of the seal. 



Silently, stealthily he rises, poises his harpoon 

 over the breathing hole which in the winter 



