344 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE 



carried by his helper and twisted it into corkscrew 

 shape, and then, snatching up the man who had been 

 carrying it, hurled him to a distance and killed him, 

 and then made off. My friend Zedekiya, poor man, 

 adventurous as he was, had come home to rest his nerves." 

 Sledge dogs, such as those used in the Arctic expedi- 

 tions, are very near akin to the wolf. The following 1 

 amusing story, related by Mr. Vanderlip in his volume 

 of travel in Siberia, 1 is striking evidence of this. " We 

 were off with a dash and a happy howl of mingled dogs 

 and village children at one in the afternoon, and that 

 night we spent at ChrisofT sky's village. The next morn- 

 ing we were off again in the grey light at seven o'clock, 

 up the bed of the Ghijiga River. The third day out we 

 neared the yourta of a wealthy TungUse magistrate. 

 At four o'clock in the x afternoon the dogs suddenly broke 

 into a swift run, and we knew they had scented some- 

 thing that interested them. We soon perceived that 

 we had struck a deer trail, and that we were near ing 

 an encampment. We turned a bend in the road, and 

 there, a hundred yards ahead of us, saw the cause of 

 the dogs' excitement. A team of reindeer were running 

 for their lives. Their Tunguse driver was lashing them 

 with the whip and urging them on with all his might, 

 for he knew as well as we that if our dogs overtook 

 them before the camp was reached, we seven men would 

 be utterly powerless to prevent the dog's from tear- 

 ing the deer to pieces. ChrisofTsky put on the brake 

 with all his might, but it had not the least effect. Our 

 fourteen dogs had become wolves in the turn of a 

 hand, and no brake could stop them. There were 

 many stumps and other obstructions along 1 our path, 

 1 See Bibliography, 26. 



