48 REPORT ON THE INTRODUCTION OF 



act as fenders if an obstruction is met with, and a back-rest is raised 

 up on the hind end of the sled. The bottom of the runners are 3 inches 

 wide and are shod with bone taken from the whale. The bone has no 

 commercial value, but is a good substitute for iron or steel, and, 

 although heavy and clumsy, it slips over the snow quite smoothly. 



The braces which support the runners of the sled as well as all the 

 woodwork about it are fastened together with seal thongs. Not a nail 

 is used in its construction, but the thongs are so nicely woven and inter- 

 laced around the underwork that scarcely a joint is loose, and were the 

 wood hickory or some other good quality of timber it would be practi- 

 cally indestructible. But the natives have to depend upon driftwood 

 for everything from which to make their implements, and it is generally 

 water-soaked or partly decayed, and as a result their sleds are con- 

 stantly being broken. 



The style of whip used with reindeer is a stock or straight piece of 

 wood wound with seal-thong for the purpose of making it stronger. It 

 is about 6 feet long, and on the end is fastened a piece of ivory about 

 2 inches long, and it is tied on crosswise, both ends being pointed. 

 The whip is carried in the left hand and answers a very good purpose 

 if the deer are inclined to lag. 



The first thing done with a deer that is to be broken is to teach him 

 to lead with the headstall or halter on. Afterwards he is fully har- 

 nessed and led around in this condition. An old sled-deer is now 

 brought up, and the two are securely tied together by means of ropes 

 extending from the girths as described above. The young deer is 

 placed on the opposite side from that in which the old one is in the 

 habit of working, and when another young one is broken he is usually 

 hitched up with the old one's mate, so that when the two young ones 

 are hitched together they occupy the same position in which they were 

 broken. They are now ready for the first drive, and if the old one is 

 steady he usually has to drag the young one around or else hold him 

 back. If he is inclined to be frisky, however, and they both take it 

 into their heads to run there is generally a parrot and monkey time of 

 it, in which the driver has not only his hands full, but his eyes, ears, 

 and nose, and more or less snow is deposited under his clothing as 

 he is being dragged about, completely at the mercy of his team. 



It sometimes happens, however, that a young deer will go off on the 

 start as quietly as an old hand at the business; but I have found that, 

 like colts, the best driving team is one that will start off at a rush. 

 When this occurs, if one is fond of excitement, he will find enough to 

 satisfy him before the team has got quieted clown. 



It is not, however, until the two young ones are considered sufficiently 

 well broken to be driven together that real, downright, fine enjoyment 

 is to be had. It is of a kind that intoxicates one and makes his head 

 grow dizzy; that concentrates all his thoughts, if he can be said to 

 have any at such a time, into the single one if, when the deer finally 



