150 HOW TO DRIVE THE DOGS. 



more like a series of At, hi, hi, hi, etc., or ki, i, i, i, i, etc., sends the 

 troop off at a quick pace, while the leader is easily turned to the 

 left by a series of sounds, of which either rudder, rudder, rudder, 

 or da, da, da, da, da, or udder, udder, udder, udder, seems to be 

 the only interpretation (I have found no one yet that can tell me 

 the exact word used) ; and to the right, by another sound like 

 ouk, ouk, ouk, or owk, owk, owk, repeated in a hollow, guttural 

 tone. These are the regular sounds for guiding the leader, while 

 a continual shouting or clapping of hands and a variety of any 

 small words are poured forth till one would easily imagine the 

 driver to have seriously shouted himself hoarse. If any object 

 appears in the distance, this too is a theme for the urging forward 

 of the dogs, who seem to go well enough without all this noise. 

 A crow flying close along the ground, and a komatik in the distance 

 share alike the o-look', o-look (which is grunted rather than spoken 

 out) , crow, crow, or caw, caw, caw, or ko7naiik, komatik, ko77iatik, 

 to which is often appended a single shrill hi. Whether the dogs 

 need this constant urging, or whether it be a custom that seems 

 to have been handed down or not, I cannot conceive. Mean- 

 while the men who are walking have nearly or quite kept up with 

 the sled. The long strides enable one easily to double the ordinary 

 walk of a person, so those behind have kept quite near. On they 

 both go — the dogs at a smart trot which occasionally breaks into 

 a gallop, and the men who present a truly comical appearance as 

 they press forward swinging their legs with their huge appendages 

 and their arms, occasionally their whole bodies, with the violence of 

 the exercise. The wind, which blows the light snow on the top 

 of the thick crust of the late storm in whirls and clouds all about 

 them, sings around their ears and faces, making the one tingle, 

 though encased in a warm covering, and the other ruddy with the 

 glow of health. It is foolishness for one to venture off in such 

 weather, as is here of every-day occurrence, without a sufficient 

 amount of good thick and warm clothing ; and even the dogs seem 

 to be provided by nature with an unusually thick coat of long flow- 



