3382 Fauna of Western Eskimaux-land. 



the blood was actually streaming from every unprotected part of my 

 body. The tropical mosquitoes are small and swift, and although it 

 generally proves a vain attempt to kill them, yet they may be driven 

 away. Far different are these northern ones. They are much larger, 

 sluggish in their movements, and, after having once taken up their 

 position, they are with difficulty frightened. Fifty to a hundred may 

 be destroyed by a single dash of the hand; yet all is of no avail : their 

 places are instantly occupied by fresh recruits, and at last a person 

 becomes so fatigued, after so many unsuccessful attempts to free him- 

 self from his tormentors, that he is obliged to give up killing them in 

 despair, and submit patiently to their irritating operations." 



The only domestic animal is the Eskimaux dog, which, according 

 to some naturalists, is merely to be considered as a tame wolf. The 

 resemblance between the two is indeed striking. Both have the same 

 low melancholy howl, and, although the head and ears of the dog are 

 shorter, its eyes smaller and more sunk, its tail handsomely curled 

 over the back, its paws smaller and less spread, and its colour of every 

 hue, yet these distinctions are not sufficiently characteristic to raise it 

 to the rank of a separate species. The natives are very proud of their 

 dogs, and some of the principal men have teams corresponding in co- 

 lour and size, as a wealthy European would have his horses. The dogs 

 are employed for no other purpose than that of drawing the sledges 

 and baidars. While yet puppies they are placed in harness, and thus 

 early accustomed to the labour they are to perform. When tied to 

 sledge they evince their joy by the wildest antics, and set off at a 

 quick pace, which, however, soon changes to a steady trot. The 

 females are seldom used for draught, and only a few kept for breeding. 

 The dogs, upon scenting, will start in full pursuit, but unless driven 

 by hunger never attack the deer. The natives treat them with kind- 

 ness and attention, and never use harsh measures; a word is gene- 

 rally sufficient to quicken their pace or bring them to a halt. The 

 women even go so far as to chew the food for the pups, and give them 

 a share of the furs. This treatment, indeed, differs essentially from 

 that inflicted by the Tchukchies, on the north-eastern shores of Asia, 

 who guide and beat their dogs most unmercifully. 



Bedford Pim, Lieut. R.N. 



January, 1852. 



