AND KAYAK 61 



on), and with some dogs it takes a great deal 

 of shouting to get obedience. 



The leading dog has a heavy responsibility 

 on its shoulders : Geshe, my leader, had a 

 trace about forty feet long, and needed to be 

 very wide awake to catch her driver's voice 

 at that distance. When I shouted to her she 

 looked over her shoulder in a surprised sort 

 of way, as if to say " Julius is in charge of 

 this team : what are you shouting for ? ' 

 but when Julius murmured " ouk " away she 

 curved to the right with the whole team 

 wheeling after her, until his cry of " huit ' : 

 checked her. However deaf they may seem 

 to be to " ouk " and " ra " and " huit," there 

 is one word of command that the dogs will 

 obey on the instant. If the driver says " Ah " 

 they all lie down with one accord, a surpris- 

 ingly sudden sort of thing to do. Another 

 thing that they are ready for at all times is 

 food : they seem willing to eat anything. Let 

 the driver run ahead and pretend to sprinkle 

 something on the snow : away tear the dogs 

 as fast as they can scamper, straining at their 

 traces so as to get there the sooner, and the 

 men have a way of playing this little trick 

 on them when they begin to tire. 



One thing that we saw on nearly every 

 journey, and that always set the dogs off at 



