210 



V EETEBRATA. 



ESQUIMAUX DOOS. 



Tn winter the hair is three or four inches long: under this is a coating of fine close wool, which 

 drops off in the spring. They have the half-savage character of the people with whom they are 

 bred. When the Esquimaux goes in pursuit of the seal, the reindeer, or the bear, these dogs 

 carry the materials of his temporary hut, and his few simple necessaries of life. Sometimes they 

 assist in the chase, and run down and kill the hear and reindeer on the land, and the seal on the 

 coast. A few are used as beasts of burden in summer, and each will carry from thirty to fifty 

 pounds. The majority, however, are sent adrift at this season, and pick up a living by hunting 

 wild animal-, or feeding on fish along the coast, or by thieving around the settlements. Winn 

 winter sets in, they return to their several masters, and then their services become important, 

 They are harnessed by r<>pes to the sledges, which they draw over the snow at great speed, carry- 

 their master and his family wherever they desire to go. 

 Capt. Lyon informs us that three dogs drew a sledge weighing one hundred pounds and him- 

 self one mile in six minutes; his leader dog, which is generally more powerful than the others, 

 drew one hundred and ninety-six pounds the same distance in eight minutes; seven dogs ran one 

 mile in four minutes and thirty seconds, with a heavy sledge full of men attached, to them; ten 

 logs ran one mile in fii .■ minutes; nine dogs drew one thousand six hundred and eleven pounds 

 the same distance in nine minutes. 



'! hey have been known for several successive days to travel more than sixty miles. They sel- 

 dom miss their road, although they may be driven over an untrodden snowy plain, where they 



■ "• casionally unable to reach anyplace of shelter. When, however, night comes, they partake 



with their master of the scanty fare which the sledge will afford, and, crowding round, keep him 

 warm and defend him from danger. If any of them fall victims to the hardships to which they 

 are exposed, their master or their companions frequently feed on their remains, and their skins 

 are converted into warm and comfortable dresses. . 



The manner of these creatures in harness is thus described by Capt. Parrv : 

 '•A number of dogs, varying from Bix to twelve, are attached to each sledge by means of :i 

 single trace, but \\ ith no reins. Aji old ami trio] dog is placed as the leader v who, in their simple 

 journey-, and when the chase i- the object, steadily obeys the voice of the driver sitting in front 



