[Illustration: Dogs sometimes pulled umiaks on sleds.]
In winter, Hilltop and Driftwood often went traveling with their
parents. Riding on sleds, they visited other villages, and sometimes
they built snow houses, just as Papik and Milak had done. But their
sleds were a little different, and the dogs were not harnessed in the
same way. Instead of hitching each dog separately to the sled, Hilltop
tied them all to one line and they all pulled together in single file.
[Illustration]
Eskimo dogs were tough and strong. Each one knew his own name and the
names of all the others in his team. A dog usually hated to leave his
team if he was sold. Sometimes he would run away from his new master
and travel as much as sixty miles to get back home. Eskimos took good
care of their fierce, hard-working dogs, although they weren't gentle
with them. To train them and make them obey, Eskimos used whips. But
they had to be careful. Too much punishment made a dog refuse to work
at all. If their dogs hadn't worked and helped them travel, Eskimos
couldn't have found enough food.
Even though Eskimo families traveled far away over wide snowy plains,
they never got lost. They knew which way the winds blew, and they
could tell by looking at the snowdrifts whether they were keeping on a
straight course. In the darkest night they could find their way just by
feeling the drifts with their mittened hands.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]