190 HUNTING DOGS. 



In winter time, dogs are often the main food 

 of the Esquimaux and as fat or oil is generally 

 scarce, are eaten raw instead of cooked, oil be- 

 ing too valuable at this time to be wasted on 

 dog. Its taste to the white man largely depends 

 on one's hunger or digestive cravings. If half- 

 starved, it is voted ^'just excellent." If not, it is 

 ^^just dog," that's all. Yet, if the pangs of hun- 

 ger gnaw one's vitals, repugnance, position in 

 life, creed, superstition, opinions, likes and dis- 

 likes, self-respect, all give way to the cravings 

 of an empty stomach; especially in that track- 

 less great Avhite desert called the "Distant Polar 

 Regions." 



Such is the life and existence of these, the 

 sledge dogs of the north. 



