PREPARING FOR ARCTIC DAY 219 



and faster we went, and at last the inevitable hap- 

 pened. 



Half way down the incline the sledge struck the 

 bunch of dogs squarely in the center, scattering them 

 in every direction. The howling was terrible. One 

 poor fellow was jammed under the komatik in such 

 a manner that it was only after much hard work that 

 I finally succeeded in extricating him, when I found 

 he was so badly injured that it was necessary to cut 

 his trace and leave him to follow as best he could. 



Now my troubles began. A balky horse is not in 

 it with ten Eskimo dogs. The team had lost what 

 small confidence they might have had in me before. 

 They had no respect for me now whatever. My 

 orders to them to proceed were answered by sullen, 

 threatening growls and snarls. They were like a 

 pack of wolves at bay. They had decided, I believe, 

 to eat me, and only the fact that they were bound 

 by their traces prevented them from attacking. 

 Finally one of them sprang at me. I met him with 

 the butt end of the whip handle, and while I was 

 beating him the whole bunch charged me. I re- 

 treated to a safe distance beyond the length of their 

 traces, and wore myself out in vain endeavors to cut 

 them with the whip lash, but my arm grew so tired 

 finally that I had to give up attempts to subdue them. 



There was nothing else left for me to do but seek 

 Kudlar's assistance, so I turned the sledge over to 

 anchor the dogs, and walked on half a mile, where I 

 found him sitting on his komatik waiting for me. 

 I explained to him my predicament, and very re- 



