50 BY ESKIMO DOG-SLED 



we had to stay at home. We dressed in 

 mottled sealskins and fur caps caps made of 

 the skins of musk rats seemed to be the most 

 fashionable and so we braved the coldest 

 days, and took our nice level walk upon the 

 smooth hard sled track. If we got off the 

 track we were over our ankles in soft snow, 

 and so we kept to the slippery path that the 

 Eskimos had worn, and looked forward to the 

 time when we should be sure-footed like they 

 are, instead of treading so gingerly for fear 

 of falling down. We used to meet the sleds 

 as we stumbled along : " Aha," the drivers 

 used to say, " you will have proper legs some- 

 day." As long as the wind was behind us we 

 did not feel it, but as soon as we turned to 

 face the wind we had to watch one another's 

 nose. Ears were covered with flaps of fur- 

 lined blanket tied beneath the chin, but noses 

 and cheeks must go bare, and they used to 

 ache and burn and tingle as the keen air 

 nipped them. And because you cannot tell 

 for yourself when your nose is frozen it 

 simply turns white, and the pain does not 

 come until afterwards we used to do our 

 neighbour that kindness, and tell him when 

 his nose was white, and maybe rub it for him 

 with a handful of snow. 



It seems queer to think of a country that 



