boas] traveling by SLEDGE. f)37 



they generally keep their proper place in the team, some will occa- 

 sionally jumi? over the traces of their neighbors or crawl underneath 

 them; thus the lines become quickly entangled, and it is necessary to 

 clear them almost every hour. 



If any dog of the team is lazy the driver calls out his name and he 

 is lashed; but it is necessary to hit the dog called, for if another is 

 struck he feels wronged and will turn upon the dog whose name has 

 been called; the leader enters into the quarrel, and soon the whole 

 pack is huddled up in one howling and biting mass, and no amount of 

 lashing and beating will separate the fighting team. The only thing 

 one can do is to wait until their wrath has abated and to clear the 

 traces. It is necessary, however, to lay the mittens and the whip 

 carefully upon the sledge, for the leader, being on the lookout for 

 the traces tn be strung, may give a start wln'u tlic diivci- is scarcely 

 ready. :iiiil olV tin- team will go again bcfoi-c llic drixcr ciiii faiily get 

 hold of the sli'dge. If anything has drojiped fi'dui it he must drive 

 in a wide circle to the same place before he can stop the team and 

 pick it up. On an old track it is very difficult to stop them at all. 

 When attemptiui;- to do so tlic driver dins liis heels into the snow to 

 ob.striict their ]>roi;i-ess and evi^nl ii.-ill y comes to a stop. Then he 

 stands in front of the sled and maizes the dogs lie down by lashing 

 their heads gently. Should the dogs start off he would be thrown 

 upon the sledge instead of being left behind, which might easily 

 happen shoiild he stand aloni^side. 



The sledge is steei-e(l with the legs, usually with the right foot of 

 the driver, or, if it must he ]iidled aside from a large hummock, by 

 pulling the head aside or by means of the deei-'s antlers. If two 

 persons are on the sledge — and usually two join for a long drive — 

 they must not speak to each other, for as soon as the dogs hear them 

 they will stop, turn around, sit down, and listen to the conversation. 

 It has frequently been said that the method of harnessing is incon- 

 venient, as the dogs cannot use their strength to the best advantage ; 

 but whoever has driven a sledge himself will understand that any 

 other method would be even more troublesome and less effective. 

 On smooth ice and ha,rd snow any method of harnessing could be 

 used; but, on rough ice, by any other method every cross piece would 

 quickly break on attempting to cross the hummocks. Frequently 

 the traces catch a projecting point and the dogs are then pulled back 

 and thrown against the ice or under the sledge if the trace does not 

 ])reak. If for any reason a dog should hang back and the trace should 

 trail over the snow the driver must lift it up to prevent it fi'om 

 being caught by the sledge runner, else the dog will be dragged in 

 the same way as if the trace Avere caught by a hummock. Many dogs 

 are able in such cases to strip off their harnesses and thus escape 

 being dragged along, as the team cannot be stopped quickly enough 

 to prevent this. Besides the driver must see to it that the dogs do 



