DOGS WATCH CANOES RETURN 159 



It will have been gathered that all sled-dogs 

 are idlers in summer ; many but little cared for, 

 since the caring means work ; others are more 

 fortunate who have masters who consider them 

 their property summer and winter. 



Every summer day, except when storms of 

 wind prevent them, canoes go out to fishing- 

 grounds from Fort Du Brochet to lift their gill- 

 nets and bring in fish for human food and dog- 

 food. And every day the keen eyes of many 

 eager dogs watch from the shore-front for the 

 return of the canoes, which they welcome at the 

 water's edge, in a body — much in the manner that 

 hand-fed colts cluster to their grain-trough at 

 feeding hour. If the catch allows it, each dog 

 gets one fish per day in summer — Whitefish, 

 Jackfish (Pike), or Trout, weighing 2£ lbs. up- 

 wards. Down by the water's edge, when a canoe 

 runs ashore, there are gathered other dogs besides 

 those belonging to the two fishermen at the 

 moment landing. Therefore, when they are 

 ready to feed the dogs, one Indian steps ashore 

 armed with a stout stick or pole and stands among 

 them to preserve order, and guard against the 

 interlopers, while the other calls the name of a 

 dog in deep tones as he tosses a fish from the 

 canoe into the air toward the dog he has selected, 

 which dog adroitly catches the fish in the air, 

 rounds his shoulders protectingly over it, and 

 commences to tear it to pieces while holding it 

 between sharp-clawed fore-paws. Thus the fish 

 are distributed to the rightful dogs. There is 

 seldom any mad rush ; both dogs and men know 

 their business. The fish, once dealt out, are 



