Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/379

 *cupied fourteen days—a circumstance which will of itself exhibit the difficult nature of the undertaking, especially when it is borne in mind that forty miles to an ordinary team of dogs, over usually fair ice, is a trifling matter for five hours, and would not fatigue the team half so much as a single hour's pulling of the same load over such hummocks as confronted us throughout this entire journey.

In order to obtain the best result which the Esquimau dog is capable of yielding, it is essential that he shall be able to trot away with his load. To walk at a dead drag is as distressing to his spirits and energies as the hauling of a dray would be to a blooded horse; and he will much more readily run away with a hundred pounds over good ice than to pull one-fourth of that weight over a track which admits only of a slow pace.

We did not halt longer at Cape Hawks than was needful to rest the teams, when we commenced our journey up the coast. The first day's march carried us across the wide bay between Capes Hawks and Napoleon. We were rejoiced to find ourselves now, for the first time, able to carry our cargo all at one load; and yet the traveling was far from good. Owing to the conformation of the coast, the bay had been sheltered from the winds, and the snows of the winter, in consequence, lay loose upon the surface of the ice. We had, however, no alternative but to cross the bay, for to go outside was to plunge again into the hummocks. The snows had accumulated to the depth of more than two feet, through which the wading was very toilsome. The sledge cut in to the cross-ties, and the dogs sank to their bellies; and, to make the matter worse, Jensen's leg gave out so that it