164 BY ESKIMO DOG-SLED 



sleds in the snow, planning and smoothing and 

 polishing the runners, binding up slack joints 

 and patching weak places with plates of iron ; 

 harpoons are pushed among the rafters of the 

 roof, and kayaks are hoisted on poles, out of 

 reach of the prowling dogs ; women are 

 stitching as if for dear life, getting ready for 

 the great occasion, all eager to send their 

 men out with the best boots and clothing 

 possible ; there is stir and bustle everywhere, 

 and work and chatter go on in every hut 

 from morning to night. 



All this is a prelude to the great deer hunt ; 

 and at last the day comes, and with shoutings 

 and crackings of whips the sleds are away in 

 the dark of the morning, and the hunters 

 have started. I have watched them off in the 

 gathering light, stern-faced and eager, each man 

 to his own sled, and mostly alone. A boy of 

 thirteen is handy with a gun, and useful to 

 take care of the dogs ; but smaller folk must 

 stay at home, beseech they never so prettily. 

 The deer hunt is no time for useless weight 

 upon the sled : I knew a man who took his 

 wife with him, but the lady had to walk the 

 seventy or eighty miles home, trailing 

 laboriously beside the sled, because there was 

 such a glorious load of meat and skins that 

 the dogs could haul no more ; and up the 



