THE VARIOUS USES OF DOGS 209 



itself in its calling by actual practice. Of course 

 this difficult work is the monopoly of dogs having the 

 highest degree of intelligence, notably the water- 

 spaniel. ' ' 



1 i That 's the one sure to be called upon wherever 

 unusual ability is needed, " Jules observed. 



"We have just seen the dog rival the pig, even 

 surpass it, in the art of unearthing the truffle. Now 

 I will show him to you taking the donkey's place as 

 a draft animal. An enormous dog harnessed to 

 a light cart is not a rare sight in towns, where butch- 

 ers especially make use of this singular equipage for 

 the transport of their meat. But as I have some- 

 thing much more interesting to tell you I will not 

 linger over this example. There is a country where 

 the dog is the only draft animal, a country where it 

 takes the horse's place for carrying the master on 

 long journeys. That country is Greenland." 



* ' Greenland is where they heat water in a leather 

 bag by throwing in red-hot stones?" Jules inter- 

 posed. 



"And where they lick the piece of meat chosen for 

 the distinguished guest 1 9 ' added Emile. 



"Yes, Greenland is the country." 



"It must be a sorry sort of country." 



' * More so than you could imagine. In Greenland, 

 as everywhere else near the Pole, winter with its 

 snows and ice lasts two thirds of the year, and the 

 cold is intense. Navigators who have passed the 

 winter in that bitter climate tell us that wine, beer, 

 and other fermented liquors turn to solid ice in their 



