210 
VERTEBRATA. 
ESQUIMAUX DOGS. 
1 
Tn winter the Lair is three or four inches long : under this is a coating of fine close wool, which 
drops off in the spring. They have the half-savage character of the people with whom they are 
hred. When the Esquimaux goes in pursuit of the seal, the reindeer, or the bear, these dogs 
carry the materials of his temporary hut, and his few simple necessaries of life. Sometimes they 
assist in the chase, and run down and kill the bear and reindeer on the land, and the seal on the 
coast. A few are used as beasts of burden in summer, and each will carry from thirty to fifty 
pounds. The majority, however, are sent adrift at this season, and pick up a living by hunting 
wild animals, or feeding on fish along the coast, or by thieving around the settlements. "When 
winter sets in, they return to their several masters, and then their services become important. 
They are harnessed by ropes to the sledges, which they draw over the snow at great speed, carr}^- 
ing their master and his family wherever they desire to go. 
Capt. Lyon informs us that three dogs drew a sledge weighing one hundred pounds and him- 
self one mile in six minutes ; his leader dog, which is generally more pov/erful than the others, 
drew one hundred and ninety-six pounds the same distance in eight minutes ; seven clogs ran one 
mile in four minutes and thirty seconds, with a heavy sledge full of men attached to them ; ten 
dogs ran one mile in five minutes ; nine dogs drew one thousand six hundred and eleven pounds 
the same distance in nine minutes. 
They have been known for several successive days to travel more than sixty miles. They sel- 
dom miss their road, although they may be driven over an untrodden snowy plain, where they 
are occasionally unable to reach any place of shelter. When, however, night comes, they partake 
with their master of the scanty fare which the sledge will aff'ord, and, crowding round, keep hira 
warm and defend hun from danger. If any of them fall victims to the hardships to which they 
are exposed, their master or their companions frequently feed on their remains, and their skins 
are converted into warm and comfortable dresses. 
The manner of these creatures in harness is thus described by Capt. Parry : 
" A number of dogs, varying from six to twelve, are attached to each sledge by means of 
single trace, but with no reins. An old and tried dog is placed as the leader, who, in their simpl 
■journeys, and when the chase is the object, steadily obeys the voice of the driver sitting in fron 
