THE ESKIMOS. 143 



teen feet long, built of wood and placed about eighteen 

 inches apart, upon the top of which are lashed a number 

 of cross bars or slats. The runners are shod either with 

 ivory or with mud, the latter answering the purpose 

 exceedingly well. The mud covering is, of course, put on 

 in a soft state, when it can be easily worked and formed 

 into proper shape. When the mud is on, and the surface 

 nicely smoothed off, it is allowed to freeze, and speedily 

 becomes as hard as stone. In order to complete the 

 vehicle, and put it in good running order, there is one 

 thing to be done. The shoeing, whether of mud or 

 ivory, must be covered with a thin coating of ice, in 

 order to do which the Eskimo overturns the komitick, 

 fills his spacious mouth with water from some convenient 

 source, and then from his lips deposits a fine stream 

 along the runner, where, quietly freezing, it forms a 



Eooth glassy surface. 

 During the winter season the komitick forms an 

 portant factor in the Eskimo's life. It is drawn by a 

 team, not of horses, nor even reindeer, but of dogs. The 

 number of animals forming a team varies greatly, some- 

 times consisting of not more than three good dogs, but 

 at other times fifteen or more are attached to a single 

 sled. Each dog is attached by a single line, the length 

 of which varies according to the merits of its owner. 

 Thus the best dog in the team acts as leader, and has a 

 line twenty or twenty-five feet in length. 



In order to control the team the driver carries a whip 

 of somewhat startling dimensions. This instrument of 

 torture has a short wooden handle only about eighteen 

 inches long, but what is lacking in stock is more than 

 made up in lash, for this latter, made of the hide of 



