Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/159

 and I have directed that their rations shall not be quite as heavy as they were. They are lively enough still, but not so hard to keep in hand.

My teams greatly interest me, and no proprietor of a stud of horses ever took greater satisfaction in the occupants of his stables than I do in those of my kennels. Mine, however, are not housed very grandly, said kennels being nothing more than certain walls of hard snow built up alongside the vessel, into which the teams, however, rarely chose to go, preferring the open ice-plain, where they sleep, wound up in a knot like worms in a fish-basket, and are often almost buried out of sight by the drifting snow. It is only when the temperature is very low and the wind unusually fierce that they seek the protection of the snow-walls.

These dogs are singular animals, and are a curious study. They have their leader and their sub-leaders—the rulers and the ruled—like any other community desiring good government. The governed get what rights they can, and the governors bully them continually in order that they may enjoy security against rebellion, and live in peace. And a community of dogs is really organized on the basis of correct principles. As an illustration,—my teams are under the control of a big aggressive brute, who sports a dirty red uniform with snuff-colored facings, and has sharp teeth. He possesses immense strength, and his every movement shows that he is perfectly conscious of it. In the twinkling of an eye he can trounce any dog in the whole herd; and he seems to possess the faculty of destroying conspiracies, cabals, and all evil designings against his stern rule. None of the other dogs like him, but they cannot help themselves; they