162 SLED-DOGS OF THE NORTH TRAILS 



and dog community of Fort Du Brochet, and of 

 many Far North Posts, live almost exclusively 

 on fish with the addition, in winter, of what 

 deer-meat the Caribou migrations provide. Raw 

 fish, fresh from the water in summer, or 

 frozen in winter, is the chief dog-food the year 

 round, and on this they thrive. And, in this 

 respect, it is certain that the fish on which the 

 dogs of the outermost Posts are fed has played an 

 important part in retaining, perhaps even develop- 

 ing, the fine physique which the breed obtain 

 along the trails of the Hinderland, for the fish 

 from the pure cold waters of northern lakes are 

 of surpassing excellence. The dogs themselves, 

 when occasion occurs, show discriminating taste, 

 and marked preference for their home fish, for, 

 in the winter, should any dog-team go south to 

 the Posts of the Frontier it is noticeable that 

 while being fed on fish from inferior waters they 

 will eat without relish and with an air of distaste, 

 and deteriorate in weight and strength. 



Sled-dogs as a rule will eat any of the varieties 

 of fish that are caught in the North — Whitefish, 

 Trout, Jackfish (Pike and Pickerel), Black and 

 Red Suckers, and Dory — but when not ravenously 

 hungry, and the opportunity offers, they will 

 show a nicety of taste, and their preference, by 

 selecting the Whitefish, which is the choicest to 

 the human palate also. 



In a country where food is the one great 

 problem of existence, providing for the sled-dog 

 is no small matter, particularly in winter. There- 

 fore on the eve of the great freeze-up, with pur- 

 pose to store a large supply of fish for winter dog- 



