126 THE SIBERIAN DOG. 



selves, and the time is come again when they are 

 to resume their labours at the sleigh. From this 

 period, they are only fed with a very small propor- 

 tion of the offals of putrid fish ; being treated with 

 absolute unkindness, they return the masters' beha- 

 viour by a cunning and a rooted ill will. When 

 about to be yoked to a sleigh they send forth a 

 most dismal howling ; but when once yoked in file, 

 they become silent, and move off at a rapid pace, 

 not without occasional attempts to upset the 

 driver. 



The two dogs figured by Buffon differ from the 

 Kamtschatka race, by having the hair much longer, 

 and particularly by that upon the forehead over- 

 hanging the eyes ; the tail being curled close over 

 the back ; and the colour on that part of the body 

 a dull ashy-brown. The second is figured much 

 lower on the legs, nearly entirely white ; and the 

 face still more marked with a profusion of hair. 

 These two were evidently inland varieties, probably 

 not further north or east than Tobolsk. 



