180 BY ESKIMO DOG-SLED 



pranks ; the boys are growing strong and 

 hardy, and that is a great thing for a hunter ; 

 and, after all, their mischief is never malicious. 



Springtime provides the most exciting game 

 of the whole year, when the ice breaks, and 

 the tides that come oozing up the beach bring 

 great pans and little flat pieces floating shore- 

 wards. 



A floating piece of ice makes a splendid raft, 

 to Eskimo ways of thinking, and I have seen 

 crowds of our Okak boys standing in ones and 

 twos on these very unstable punts, and moving 

 along by paddling with their hands in the 

 water or prodding at the bottom with poles. 

 The favourite idea is to put a boy on a big 

 ice-pan and shove him away into deep water, 

 and then, after leaving him helpless for a suit- 

 able time, to scramble and pole along to rescue 

 him. Sometimes a dog is pressed into service 

 to play this Robinson Crusoe sort of role ; but 

 the dog generally considers itself in real danger, 

 and does not wait for a formal rescue ; on the 

 contrary, it takes matters into its own hands 

 (or paws), and after a time of terrified whining 

 slips miserably into the water and swims 

 ashore. 



I watched one bold spirit among the boys 

 who had found a long and narrow piece of 

 ice that struck him as a suitable kayak. He 



