GRAND RAPIDS 



15 



ing in store for me. Our team was composed of four dogs, 

 harnessed one before another. The Eskimo method of driving 

 them in packs with a trace for each dog, is never employed by 

 the Indians of the Canadian Northwest, who always drive them 

 tandem. 



Two of the team require special training. Tne leader, called 

 the foregoer, sets the pace and changes his course at a word 

 from the driver who, whatever his nationality may be, speaks 

 to his dogs in the French patois of the North. 



Hu and chac, anglicised to "you" and "chaw" are the words 

 necessary to turn the foregoer to the right or left. The dogs 

 are started by the command marche, though a few of the 

 northern Indians still use the Athabascan word of command, 

 — M'ni t-la. The "sled dog," usually the heaviest in the team 

 is trained to swing the head of the sled away from obstacles; it 

 is important that he should be well trained when following a 

 crooked track through the forest. A team which has been 

 trained together is much better than a "picked-up team," as 

 the dogs have a uniform pace, are less apt to fight each other, 

 and will unite against all comers for self protection. 



The Northern dog is always a draft animal. Regardless of 

 age, sex or birth, his destiny is to haul. I have seen every vari- 

 ety, from a greyhound to a water spaniel, toiling painfully 

 along in the harness. Most of them are of the wolfish breed 

 known as Indian dogs, or, in the far North, — giddes; these are 

 smaller and more uniform in color than those kept by the 

 whites. The latter are of a variety of colors, and all dislike 

 work, particularly the yellow ones ! The dogs of Mackenzie 

 District are the largest and best trained of all that I saw in the 

 North. They have been bred especially for hauling upon the 

 established routes of travel, where weight, rather than endur- 

 ance, is desired. Many of them have been disfigured by hav- 

 ing their tails docked. The brush is a great protection to the 

 nose and feet of the animals when lying curled up in the snow, 

 exposed as they are to the lowest temperatures, and the loss of 

 it through this senseless practice, causes much needless suffer- 

 ing. Some of them are tricky, making a great pretense of 

 straining at the collar while really hauling very little. A few 

 are willing workers, for which they are seldom rewarded; some 

 are vicious brutes and have to be stunned by a blow upon the 



