SLEDGE DOGS 



had blown in their way. It was all over in a moment, 

 and probably one of them had swallowed my cap 

 whole, so quickly was it demolished. 



One of my drivers, good thoughtful fellow, in- 

 sisted on lending me his cap in spite of my protests. 

 " Me all right," he grinned. " Eskimo brains, no 

 freeze, plenty of hair; you, Kablunak brains, freeze 

 very quick " ; and perhaps he was talking sense, for 

 the Eskimos very seldom wear caps except for 

 travelling ; they walk about on the bitterest, snowiest 

 days with their heads uncovered except for the thick 

 thatching of coal-black hair. 



One thing that we saw on nearly every journey, 

 and that always set the dogs off at a gallop, was 

 the Arctic raven. That seems a solitary bird, for we 

 nearly always saw one only. The great black bird 

 used to stand on the snow, cocking its head this way 

 and that, and perhaps stalking a step or two in an 

 unutterably grave manner; and the dogs, as soon 

 as they caught sight of it, were off with futile haste, 

 each striving its utmost to get there first, and all 

 held in fixed order by their traces. The leading dog 

 had the best chance, but the raven had a wary old 

 eye upon the danger : it waited until the dogs were 

 within a few feet of it, and from the sledge it looked 

 as if it were caught, and then with leisurely flappings 

 betook itself off to a fresh stand, to wait with un- 

 ruffled calm for a repetition of the same performance. 



I have no doubt that the raven would have been 

 demolished, bones, feathers, and all, at a single gulp, 

 if it had waited another second ; but it never waited. 

 I never saw a driver shoot at a raven, though they 

 must be tempted at times, for I have known ravens' 

 wings to be used for cleaning out the stove-pipes. 



151 



