Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 33.djvu/396

382 was given up, and in less than a mile from the starting-point all hands were upon snow-shoes. These shoes are from three to five feet in length, bowed and curved upward at the toes, and tapering to a point behind. In the center are thongs upon which the foot rests. They are secured to the feet by two thongs crossing just forward of the instep, passing around the heel, and attached to the shoe near the toes. This gives the foot full play, and enables one to rise upon the ball of the foot, as in walking, and shove the shoe forward over the snow instead of lifting it. It is very easy to walk a short distance, but, when running after a sled over the uneven country, the tendency of the shoes to rise is equal to that of a pair of roller-skates upon the feet of a novice.

The first sledging-trip was to the northward. At 4, after a hard day's march, a camp was established, it being then too dark to travel. The dogs are first unharnessed, and chained separately to bushes, to prevent fighting. After an hour's rest they are fed upon dried fish, this being the only meal they receive in twenty-four hours. They are given all they can eat unless the supply is short, and in such cases their endurance is wonderful, a small piece of fish once a day sufficing a dog and enabling him to work for a couple of weeks. A great many interesting facts could be given illustrating the sagacity and endurance of these animals. As a rule, they have no affection. They recognize the person who feeds them as their master, but they obey only through fear. They are more than half wolf, as all young wolves caught are raised and used as dogs. In every team there is generally one dog who constitutes himself master. He is naturally one of the most powerful of the number, and the others seem to recognize his supremacy. This dog, upon seeing any one of the others habitually shirking while the rest are pulling, will attempt to reach and punish him, and if it is impossible to do so while in harness, will deliberately go to him when the day's sledging is finished and administer the deserved chastisement.

In establishing a night-camp when in a wooded country, the most sheltered spot is selected and a pit is dug in the snow about fifteen feet in diameter and a foot deep. The bottom is then stamped down to make a hard floor. Around this pit is built a wall about four feet high, by laying young spruce-trees on top of one another and cutting off their inside branches. This wall has two openings or breaks diametrically opposed, dividing the pit into halves with a through passage-way separating them. Along this way, which must always face the wind, dried wood is piled and fired. On either side pine-boughs are laid on the snow, and on top of them the sleeping-bags. Such night-camps are easily made, and the coldest nights can be comfortably passed in them. The only drawback is the difficulty in getting wood.