SIBERIAN SLEIGH-DOGS. 
459 
that whole country at the end of their long and severe 
winters, melting sometimes with destructive rapidity 
during the first spell of warm w'eathcr, rushes down to 
the sea in swollen streams that uproot trees, dislodge 
huge rocks, and most efiectually put a stop to all travel- 
ling until the green patches once more appear upon the 
hill-sides, and the turbid streams, gradually decreasing in 
dimensions, finally disappear entirely, leaving their un- 
even beds spotted here and there with silent pools as the 
only indication of their short-lived existence. It was 
over one of those uneven and spotted beds that wo now 
picked our way, and, as we climbed the opposite bank 
and came suddenly upon the various groups of dogs, 
they raised their shaggy heads and howled most piteously. 
And that was the extent of the notice that they deigned 
us. There was no wagging of tails, no bristling of the 
backs, not even any skulking behind corners, — nothing 
but the protracted howl, and a sleepy indifference to our 
proximity ; and, as they turned their vacant eyes upon us, 
we were convinced of the truth of the character ascribed 
to their peculiar breed, — ie. that they are utterly worth- 
less in every point of view, except as regards their docility 
and power of endurance before a sleigh. Their kennel, 
as I have already observed, was a large log-house, and in 
it they were locked up at night, while around it they were 
fed and watched during the day. They had their regular 
keepers, whose only duty consisted in attending to their 
wants and keeping them from wandering away. They 
gave ua a parting howl as we left their unsavory locality, 
and again crossed the dry bed of the vernal torrent on 
our way to “old Fryhark’s” two-story domicil. 
