I06 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



When the dogs slackened their pace, the sight of a seal or 

 bird was sufficient to put them instantly to their full speed ; 

 and even though none of these might be seen on the ice, 

 the cry of 'a seal!' — 'a bear!' — or 'a bird!' &c., was 

 enough to give play to the legs and voices of the whole pack. 

 The voice and long whip answer all the purposes of reins, 

 and the dogs can be made to turn a comer as dexterously 

 as horses, though not in such an orderly manner, since they 

 are constantly fighting ; and I do not recollect to have seen 

 one receive a flogging without instantly wreaking his passion 

 on the ears of his neighbours. The cries of the men are 

 not more melodious than those of the animals ; and their 

 wild looks and gestures when animated, give them an appear- 

 ance of devils driving wolves before them. Our dogs had 

 eaten nothing for forty-eight hours, and could not have gone 

 over less than seventy miles of ground ; yet they returned, 

 to all appearance, as fresh and active as when they first 

 set out." 



A Hard Lot. The Unhappy condition of the Eskimo dogs 

 under native treatment is pathetically referred to in " Cassell's 

 Natural History," edited by Professor Duncan. The writer 

 says " the horrible savagery of those poor wretches can hardly 

 be wondered at; they live in a country where there is hardly 

 a chance for them in any independent foraging expedition; 

 they are half-starved by their masters, being fed chiefly on 

 frozen walrus hides in the winter, and allowed to shift for 

 themselves in the simamer when their services are not required, 

 and are in so perennial and acute a state of hunger that 

 they are ready at any time to eat their own harness if 

 allowed to do so. It is generally stated that they are per- 

 fectly insensible to kindness, and only to be kept in order 

 by a liberal application of the lash, or even of a more 

 formidable weapon; for the Eskimo, if their dogs are re- 

 fractory, do not scruple to beat them about the head with 

 a hammer, or anything else of sufficient hardness which 



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