246 THE ESKIMO DOG 



comings. One morning half the dogs were found 

 frozen fast in the snow, some by the legs, some by 

 the tails, and some by both. Two were dead, and 

 all were in a most pitiable condition, their fur a 

 mass of ice and snow, driven into it by the pitiless 

 wind. As the result of an expedition on the ice- 

 cap, Mr. Peary remarks : " I confess that previous 

 to this experience I had believed the Eskimo Dog 

 of Whale Sound capable of enduring the severest 

 stress of weather possible in this latitude. This 

 may hold true at sea level, but on the ice-cap, when 

 the weather is in its fiercest mood, the toughest 

 Eskimo Dog needs shelter." 



Added to the rigours of the climate, they are 

 prone to suffer from a dread disease, locally known 

 as piblockto, which seems to be a form of madness. 

 A sufferer will mutilate himself in a terrible manner 

 and bite any of his fellows that may be within 

 reach. In spite of his disappointments, Mr. Peary, 

 in closing, pays this handsome tribute to his four- 

 footed servitors : " Every true man and every true 

 woman loves a noble dog, and there are no more 

 splendid dogs in all the world than those magnifi- 

 cent brutes of Whale Sound. Perhaps my reader 

 may think me prejudiced. I have a right to be. 

 They saved my life and the lives of my two comrades. 

 Powerful, savage brutes, as one would expect from 

 dogs whose ancestors were wolves, yet they are 

 susceptible to kindly treatment. My favourite, the 

 leader of my team, was a tall, steel-muscled animal, 

 quick and strong as a panther and brusque as a bull, 

 easily the match of the entire team, yet when I 

 approached he would come and rub his big head 

 against my leg with that deep bass growl of satisfac- 



