DOGS 251 



tioned. The party consisted of Commander 

 Peary, Hansen, one Eskimo, a colored man, 

 and four dogs. Bridge was chosen to be the 

 leader on account of his size, strength, and 

 power of endurance. He was also an ex- 

 tremely intelligent dog, and fairly good- 

 tempered, a rare trait in an Eskimo dog. 



In appearance Bridge is a fine specimen, 

 both in coloring, size, and proportions. Like 

 all his kind he is curiously wolf -like, and in 

 a dim light it would be almost impossible to 

 distinguish him from a wolf. Before becom- 

 ing the property 'of Commander Peary, 

 Bridge had had a hard time of it, like all 

 other Eskimo dogs, and had been made to 

 travel sometimes thirty or forty miles a day 

 with heavy loads. Added to this hardship, 

 Bridge and his companions were given very 

 little food. It is not much wonder that the 

 dog teams fought viciously among themselves, 

 often injuring one another so severely that 

 they were either killed by their masters at 

 once or left by themselves to die. 



Once with his new master, however, Bridge 



