
THE ESQUIMAUX DOG. 591 
under my observation was performed by one of the fort 
teams of eight dogs, all, with perhaps one exception, of 
pure Esquimaux breed, but the finest of their class, several 
of them fully equalling in size a Newfoundlander. They 
travelled about forty miles in a single day, part of the dis- 
` tance through freshly fallen and drifted snow, drawing, on 
one of the bons mentioned heavy native sleds, nearly eight 
hundred pounds of reindeer meat; the whole, with the ied; 
probably approaching a thousand pounds in weight. I never 
heard of any team of Esquimaux dogs excelling this, but 
was informed by the late Major Kennicott that the Hudson 
Bay Company traders with a peculiar breed of introduced 
dogs, somewhat resembling the Danish mastiff, load their 
light sleds with an average allowance of about one hundred 
pounds to each dog. 
The art of guiding the team by the whip and voice 
appears to be almost unknown among the Alaskan Esqui- 
maux; it is customary with them to keep a man running 
ahead of the sled to show the way, the dogs following him 
instinctively. When, however, the route has been often 
travelled over before by the same team, or when there is 
a previously made sled track for the dogs to follow, the 
runner is sometimes dispensed with. In the sled teams of : 
the Russian traders, and nót so invariably in those of the 
natives, the leading dog is always the same, and often 
becomes so habituated and attached to this position, that he 
will resent being put in any other place in the team. These 
leaders are generally selected for their willingness to work ; 
pluck and sagacity also being considered. Strength and 
size, though valuable in this position, are of lesondary 
importance; a small plucky dog will sometimes achieve and 
hold this preéminence by sheer moral force, and a first-class 
leader holds it in his ordinary intercourse with the other 
dogs as well as when fastened up with them in harness. 
Much is trusted to the sagacity of a good leader, in the way 
of picking out the route, avoiding obstacles, etc. In fol- 
