THE HUMAN BEAST OF BURDEN. 257 



pounds, and two or three others above 200 pounds. The runners are 

 sometimes made of the left jaw-bones of a whale, but more commonly 

 of several pieces of wood or bone, scarfed and lashed together ; the 

 interstices being filled to make all smooth and firm, with moss stuffed 

 in tight and then cemented by throwing water to freeze upon it. The 

 lower part of the runner is shod with a plate of harder bone, coated 

 with fresh- water ice to make it run smoothly and to avoid wear and 

 tear. This coating is effected with a mixture of snow and fresh water, 

 about a half inch thick, rubbed over until it is smooth and hard upon 

 the surface. When the ice is only in part worn off, it is removed by 

 taking some water in the mouth and spirting it over the former coating. 



u We noticed a sledge which was curious on account of one of the run- 

 ners, and a part of the other, being constructed without wood, iron, or 

 bone of any kind. For this purpose a number of seal-skins were rolled 

 up and disposed into the required shape, and an outer coat of the same 

 kind was sewed tightly around them. This formed the upper half of the 

 runner; the lower part consisted entirely of moss, molded while wet 

 into the proper form, and being left to freeze, adhering firmly together 

 to the skin. The usual shoeing of smooth ice completed the runner, 

 which for six months of the year is as hard as wood. The cross pieces 

 which form the bottom of the sledge are made of bone, wood, or some- 

 thing they can muster. Over these is generally laid a seal-skin as a 

 flooring, and in summer a pair of deer's horns are attached to the sledge 

 as a back, which are removed in winter to enable them, when stopping, 

 to turn the sledge up, to prevent the dogs running away with it. The 

 whole is secured by lashings of thong, giving it a degree of strength, 

 combined with flexibility, which no other mode of fastening could effect." 

 (Parry's Expedition, 514,515.) 



Of the natives of Point Barrow, Lieutenant Bay says : u The sleds which 

 they use for this purpose are made from drift-wood fastened with whale- 

 bone and rawhide lashing; they are about 10 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 

 the runners 8 inches wide and 1 J inches thick, straight on top, and have 

 no rail ; they are shod for ordinary use with strips of bone cut from the 

 whale's jaw-bone, and sometimes with walrus ivory; but this would not 

 do in hauling a heavy load over the snow, where there is no beaten trail, 

 so they are shod with ice in the following manner: From the ice on a 

 pond that is free from fracture, they cut the pieces the length of a sled- 

 runner, 8 inches thick and 10 inches wide ; into these they cut a groove 

 deep enough to receive the sled-runner up to the beam; the sled is care- 

 fully fitted into the groove, and secured by pouring the water, a little 

 at a time, and allowing it to freeze. Great care is taken in this part of 

 the operation, for should the workmen apply more than a few drops at 

 a time the slab of ice would be split and the work all to do over again ; 

 after the ice is firmly secured the sled is turned bottom up and the ice- 

 shoe is carefully rounded with a knife, and then smoothed by wetting 

 the naked hand and passing it over the surface until it becomes per- 

 H. Mis. 600, pt. 2 17 



