36 
ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 
little training or breaking in. The sledges are usually con- 
structed for only a single person, and are drawn sometimes 
by three, but more frequently by five dogs, one of which acts 
as leader. They are guided not by reins, but by striking on 
the ice with a stick, the voice being occasionally employed ; 
and in a country where there are no roads, the direction must 
depend on the instant obedience of the leader to the indica- 
tions of the driver, otherwise danger would often be incurred 
from a precipice or impediment. When any of the dogs are 
inattentive to their duty, the rider punishes the delinquent 
by throwing his stick at him, which he dexterously again 
picks up without stopping. It is said, these cunning animals 
very soon ascertain when the stick is lost ; and unless the 
leader is uncommonly well trained, the driver is in peril, since 
they set off at full speed, and do not stop till they are ex- 
hausted, or the sledge overturned. They possess the most won- 
derful sagacity in finding their way during snow storms, when 
their master can see no path, nor even keep his eyes open in 
the blinding storm. In such cases they seldom miss their 
way ; but if at a loss, they will go in different directions, 
until satisfied of the course, probably by the smell. If during 
a long journey, it is found that the place of destination cannot 
be reached, and it is impossible to proceed further, then the 
dogs are unharnessed, and lying down in the snow with their 
master in the midst, they keep him from freezing, and if 
necessary defend him from danger. A popular writer and 
traveller, Bayard Taylor, says, that “ driving Esquimaux 
dogs is very much like driving a lively sturgeon in rough 
water. As soon as you are seated in your sledge, which is 
like a little canoe, off they start, and as the bottom of the 
sledge is perfectly round and slippery, it is no easy matter to 
maintain your balance. If you are a new hand, your first 
experience is head-first downward in a snow-drift.’’ The 
value and use of the Esquimaux dog in the Arctic expedi- 
tions, seem to have been appreciated only by our recent 
