176 DOGS DRAWING HEAVY LOADS. 



Card well) , and it is not strange that this should be regarded as an 

 unusual year on the coast of Labrador. Still another drawback 

 exists, and one that would work in the exact opposite way in any 

 other country : the weather has been mild instead of cold, — the 

 bays hardly frozen over. Now if the bays do not freeze fast 

 sledding between places becomes almost impossible, since the dogs 

 must draw the sleds over steep and high hills, and can carry only 

 a small load ; while if the weather be cold, the bays freeze quickly 

 and sleds draw immense loads with the greatest of ease. 



It is an old saying that "you cannot load a well-made komatik." 

 The sled balances so nicely and draws so evenly on the ice that you 

 may pile on all that you can, yet once start the load and the dogs 

 will draw it fast enough. This does not necessarily prove that the 

 dogs are not powerful creatures, or that they do not exert great 

 power in drawing the loads imposed upon them. I have seen three 

 stout dogs draw over a thousand pounds of old iron (upon one of 

 these sledges) over seven miles in about an hour and twenty-five 

 minutes ; while again I have seen these same dogs draw a load 

 of twelve twelve-foot deal board plank, weighing not one-half as 

 much, and when the sled became stuck in the slush, all their 

 force could not move it. Though this would seem to prove that 

 the sled is easily drawn after being once started, such is not always 

 the case. It must be remembered that dogs must exert a tremen- 

 dous effort to draw even the small weight of an empty komatik over 

 the ice that is smooth as glass and presents no unevenness upon 

 which they may rest the foot to keep it from slipping. I have 

 seen several of these creatures harnessed in such a position where it 

 was impossible to assist in the carrying, and even very little in the 

 starting of the load ; for instance, there were five large, smart dogs 

 harnessed to a huge oak log, eighteen inches square and fifty feet 

 long, embedded in the snow and ice. A few pries with the pick 

 loosened but did not start the log. The dogs strained, often 

 running backward, then rushing forward with a great jump that 

 brought them to the end of the line, with a thug like the sound 

 of a drum, while at other times they strained every nerve, before 

 the log started ; but, once started, was drawn without difficulty. 



