ing
animal. The staff is so heavy that the animal may readily get its
death by such a throw. The dogs know this, and in consequence are so
afraid of this grim implement that the rattling of the rings is
sufficient to induce them to put forth extreme efforts. During rests
the team is tied to the staff, which is driven into the snow.

The dog harness is made of inch-wide straps of skin, forming a neck
or shoulder band, united on both sides by a strap to a girth, to one
side of which the draught strap is fastened. Thanks to the excellent
protection against the harness galling which the bushy coat of the
dogs affords, little attention is needed for the harness, and I have
never seen a single dog that was idle in consequence of sores from
the harness. On the other hand, their feet are often hurt by the
sharp snow. On this account the equipment of every sledge embraces a
number of dog shoes of the appearance shown in the accompanying
woodcut. They are used only in case of need.

[Illustration: DOG SHOE. One-third of natural size. ]

The Chukch dogs are of the same breed, but smaller, than the Eskimo
dogs in Danish Greenland. They resemble wolves, are long-legged,
long-haired, and shaggy. The ears are short, commonly upright, their
colour very variable, from black or white, and black or white
spotted, to grey or yellowish-brown. For innumerable generations
they have been used as draught animals, while as watch dogs they
have not been required in a country where theft or robbery appears
never to take place. The power of barking they have therefore
completely lost, or perhaps they never possessed it. Even a European
may come into the outer tent without any of the dogs there informing
their owners sleeping in the inner tent by a sound of the
foreigner's arrival.

On the other hand, they are good though slow draught animals, being
capable of long-continued exertion. They are as dirty and as
peaceable as their owners. There are no fights made between
dog-teams belonging to different tents, and they are rare between
the dogs of an encampment and those of strangers. In Europe dogs are
the friends of their masters and the enemies of each other, here
they are the friends of each other and the slaves of their masters.
In winter they appear in case of necessity to get along with very
little food, they are then exceedingly lean, and for the most part
are motionless in some snow-drift. They seldom leave the
neighbourhood of the tent