266 THE ESQUIMAUX DOG. 



He would have sent his Dog to look for it, had not the animal chosen to accompany 

 a friend in a short walk. However, as soon as the Dog arrived, his master explained 

 his loss to the animal, and begged him to find the lost cane. Just as he completed his 

 explanations, dinner was announced, and he was obliged to take his seat at table. 

 Soon after the second course was upon the table, a great uproar was heard in the hall ; 

 sounds of pushing and scuffling were very audible, and angry voices forced themselves 

 on the ear. Presently, the phalanx of servants gave way, and in rushed the Newfound- 

 land Dog, bearing in his mouth the missing cane. He would not permit any hand but 

 his master's to take the cane from his mouth, and it was his resistance to the attempts 

 of the servants to dispossess him of his master's property that had led to the skirmish. 



IT HAS BEEN mentioned that the Newfoundland Dog is employed during the winter 

 months in dragging carts of hewn wood to their destination, and that it is unkindly 

 treated by the very men who derive the most benefit from its exertions. 



The ESQUIMAUX DOG, however, spends almost its entire life in drawing sledges, or 

 in carrying heavy loads, being, in fact, the only beast of burden or traction in the 

 northern parts of America and the neighboring islands. Some, indeed, are turned 

 loose at the beginning of the summer, and many get their living as they can, until winter 

 summons them back again to scanty meals and perpetual toil. But many of the Esqui- 

 maux Dogs are retained in servitude for the entire year, and during the summer months 

 are called upon to give their aid in draught and in carriage. Indeed, those Dogs which 

 are thus kept to their work during the entire year are comparatively happy, for their 

 work is not nearly so heavy as in the winter, and their food is much better. 



The Esquimaux Dog is rather smaller than the Labrador, being only twenty-two or 

 twenty-three inches in height. There is something very wolfish about the Dog, owing to 

 its oblique eyes, bushy tail, and elongated muzzle. In its full face the Esquimaux Dog 

 presents a ludicrously exact likeness of its master's countenance. The color is almost 

 invariably a deep dun, marked obscurely with dark bars and patches ; the muzzle is 

 black. 



When harnessed to the sledge, the Dogs obey the movements of their leader, who is 

 always a faithful and experienced old Dog. There are no means of guiding the animals 

 in their way, for each Dog is simply tied to the sledge by a leathern strap, and directed 

 by the voice and whip of the driver. The whip is of very great importance to the char- 

 ioteer, for by the sounds which he elicits from the lash, and by the ably-directed strokes 

 which he aims at refractory Dogs, he guides the canine team without the aid of bit or 

 bridle. 



The old and experienced animal which leads the team knows the master's voice and 

 will dash forward, slacken speed, halt, or turn to right and left at command. 



The actual stroke of the whip is used as little as possible, for when a Dog feels the 

 sting of the biting lash, he turns round and attacks the Dog nearest to him. The others 

 immediately join in the fight, and the whole team is thrown into admirable confusion, 

 the traces being entangled with each other, and the sledge in all likelihood upset. 

 When such a rupture occurs, the driver is generally forced to dismount, and to harness 

 the Dogs afresh. Usually, the leading Dog is permitted to run his own course, for he 

 is able to follow the right path with marvellous accuracy, and to scent it out, even when 

 the thickly-falling snowflakes have covered the surface of the ground with an uni- 

 form white carpet, on whose glittering surface no impress is left of the subjacent 

 earth. 



These Dogs are able to travel for very great distances over the snow-clad regions of 

 the north, and have been known to make daily journeys of sixty miles for several days 

 in succession. 



Captain Parry, in his well known " Journal," remarks very happily, that " neither the 

 Dog nor his master is half civilized or subdued," the former indeed being the necessary 

 consequence of the latter. The Esquimaux bears no love towards his Dogs, and only looks 

 upon them as animated machines, formed for the purpose of conveying him and his prop- 

 erty from one place to another. He is a most exacting and cruel master, feeding scantily 

 his Dogs on the merest offal, and then inflicting severest torture upon them if they 



