During the greater part of the year the only passable road is that
afforded by the ice and snow; therefore sledges (qamuting) of different
constructions are used in traveling.
[Illustration: FIG. 482. Qamuting or sledge.]
The best model is made by the tribes of Hudson Strait and Davis Strait,
for the driftwood which they can obtain in abundance admits the use of
long wooden runners. Their sledges (Fig. 482) have two runners, from
five to fifteen feet long and from twenty inches to two and a half feet
apart. They are connected by cross bars of wood or bone and the back is
formed by deer’s antlers with the skull attached. The bottom of the
runners (qamun) is curved at the head (uinirn) and cut off at right
angles behind. It is shod with whalebone, ivory, or the jawbones of a
whale. In long sledges the shoeing (pirqang) is broadest near the head
and narrowest behind. This device is very well adapted for sledging in
soft snow; for, while the weight of the load is distributed over the
entire length of the sledge, the fore part, which is most apt to break
through, has a broad face, which presses down the snow and enables the
hind part to glide over it without sinking in too deeply.
[Illustration: FIG. 483. Sledge shoe. (National Museum, Washington.
34096.) ¼]
The shoe (Fig. 483) is either tied or riveted to the runner. If tied,
the lashing passes through sunken drill holes to avoid any friction in
moving over the snow. The right and left sides of a whale’s jaw are
frequently used for shoes, as they are of the proper size and permit the
shoe to be of a single piece. Ivory is cut into flat pieces and riveted
to the runner with long treenails. The points are frequently covered
with bone on both the lower and upper sides, as they are easily injured
by striking hard against hummocks or snowdrifts. Sometimes whalebone is
used for the shoes.
The cross bars (napun) project over the runners on each side and have
notches which form a kind of neck. These necks serve to fasten the
thongs when a load is lashed on the sledge. The bars are fastened to the
runners by thongs which pass through two pairs of holes in the bars and
through corresponding ones in the runners. If these fastenings should
become loose, they are tightened by winding a small thong round them and
thus drawing the opposite parts of the thong tightly together. If this
proves insufficient, a small wedge is driven between the thong and the
runner.
The antlers attached to the back of the sledge have the branches removed
and the points slanted so as to fit to the runners. Only the brow
antlers are left, the right one being cut down to about three inches in
length, the left one to one and a half inches. This back forms a very
convenient handle for steering the sledge past hummocks or rocks, for
drawing it back when the points have struck a snowdrift, &c. Besides,
the lashing for holding the load is tied to the right brow antler and
the snow knife and the harpoon line are hung upon it.
Under the foremost cross bar a hole is drilled through each runner.
A very stout thong (pitu) consisting of two separate parts passes
through the holes and serves to fasten the dogs’ traces to the sledge.
A button at each end of this thong prevents it from slipping through the
hole of the runner. The thong consists of two parts, the one ending in a
loop, the other in a peculiar kind of clasp (partirang). Fig. 484
represents the form commonly used. The end of one part of the thong is
fastened to the hole of the clasp, which, when closed, is stuck through
the loop of the opposite end (see Fig. 482). A more artistic design is
shown in Fig. 485. One end of the line is tied to the hole in the under
side of this implement. When it is in use the loop of the other end is
stuck through another hole in the center and hung over the nozzle. The
whole represents the head of an animal with a gaping mouth. The dogs’
traces are strung upon this line by means of the uqsirn, an ivory
implement with a large and a small eyelet (Fig. 486). The trace is tied
to the former, while the latter is strung upon the pitu.
[Illustration: FIG. 484. Clasp for fastening traces to sledge.
(National Museum, Washington. 34110.) ½]
[Illustration: FIG. 485. Artistic form of clasp for fastening traces
to sledge. (Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin.) 1/1]
The dogs have harnesses (ano) made of sealskin (Fig. 487) or sometimes
of deerskin, consisting of two bights passing under the fore legs. They
are joined by two straps, one passing over the breast, the other over
the neck. The ends are tied together on the back, whence the trace runs
to the sledge. According to Parry (II, p. 517), the Iglulik harnesses
consisted of three bights, one passing over the breast and shoulder and
two under the fore legs.
[Illustration: FIG. 486. Uqsirn, for fastening traces to pitu. _a_
(National Museum, Washington. 34122.) 1/1 _b_ (Museum für
Völkerkunde, Berlin.) ½]
It was mentioned at another place (p. 475) that in sealing a dog is
taken out of the sledge to lead the hunter to the breathing hole. For
this purpose the traces of some harnesses are made of two pieces, which
are united by the sadniriaq, a clasp similar to that of the pitu (Figs.
487, 488). If the dog is to be taken from the sledge the fore part of
the trace is unbuttoned.
[Illustration: FIG. 487. Ano or dog harness. (Museum für
Völkerkunde, Berlin. IV A 6730.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 488. Sadniriaq or clasp. (National Museum,
Washington.) ⅔]
Besides this form of sledge a great number of others are in use.
Whenever whales are caught their bone is sawed or cut into large pieces,
which are shod with the same material. If large bones are not to be had,
a substitute is found in walrus skins or rolls of sealskins, which are
wetted and sewed up in a bag. This bag is given the desired form and
after being frozen to a solid mass is as serviceable as the best plank.
In Boothia frozen salmon are used in the same way and after having
served this purpose in winter are eaten in the spring. Other sledges are
made of slabs of fresh water ice, which are cut and allowed to freeze
together, or of a large ice block hollowed out in the center. All these
are clumsy and heavy and much inferior to the large sledge just
described.
Parry (II, p. 515) states that at Igiulik the antlers are detached from
the sledge in winter when the natives go sealing. The tribes of Davis
Strait do not practice this custom, but use scarcely any sledge without
a pair of antlers.
As to the appearance of the dogs I would refer to Parry (II, p. 515) and
other writers and confine my remarks to a description of their use by
the Eskimo.
As the traces are strung upon a thong, as just described, the dogs all
pull at one point; for that reason they may seem, at first sight, to be
harnessed together without order or regularity; but they are arranged
with great care. The strongest and most spirited dog has the longest
trace and is allowed to run a few feet in advance of the rest as a
leader; its sex is indifferent, the choice being made chiefly with
regard to strength. Next to the leader follow two or three strong dogs
with traces of equal length, and the weaker and less manageable the dogs
the nearer they run to the sledge. A team is almost unmanageable if the
dogs are not accustomed to one another. They must know their leader, who
brings them to terms whenever there is a quarrel. In a good team the
leader must be the acknowledged chief, else the rest will fall into
disorder and refuse to follow him. His authority is almost unlimited.
When the dogs are fed, he takes the choice morsels; when two of them
quarrel, he bites both and thus brings them to terms.
Generally there is a second dog which is inferior only to the leader,
but is feared by all the others. Though the authority of the leader is
not disputed by his own team, dogs of another team will not submit to
him. But when two teams are accustomed to travel in company the dogs in
each will have some regard for the leader of the other, though
continuous rivalry and quarrels go on between the two leaders. Almost
any dog which is harnessed into a strange team will at first be
unwilling to draw, and it is only when he is thoroughly accustomed to
all his neighbors and has found out his friends and his enemies that he
will do his work satisfactorily. Some dogs when put into a strange team
will throw themselves down and struggle and howl. They will endure the
severest lashing and allow themselves to be dragged along over rough ice
without being induced to rise and run along with the others.
Particularly if their own team is in sight will they turn back and try
to get to it. Others, again, are quite willing to work with strange
dogs.
Partly on this account and partly from attachment to their masters, dogs
sold out of one team frequently return to their old homes, and I know of
instances in which they even ran from thirty to sixty miles to reach it.
Sometimes they do so when a sledge is traveling for a few days from one
settlement to another, the dogs not having left home for a long time
before. In such cases when the Eskimo go to harness their team in the
morning they find that some of them have run away, particularly those
which were lent from another team for the journey. In order to prevent
this the left fore leg is sometimes tied up by a loop which passes over
the neck. When one is on a journey it is well to do so every night, as
some of the dogs are rather unwilling to be harnessed in the morning,
thus causing a great loss of time before they are caught. In fact such
animals are customarily tied up at night, while the others are allowed
to run loose.
Sometimes the harnesses are not taken off at night. As some dogs are in
the habit of stripping off their harness, it is fastened by tying the
trace around the body. Though all these peculiarities of the dogs give a
great deal of trouble to the driver, he must take care not to punish
them too severely, as they will then become frightened and for fear of
the whip will not work at all.
Before putting the dogs to the sledge it must be prepared and loaded.
In winter the shoes of the runners are covered with a thick coat of ice,
which diminishes the friction on the snow. If the shoes are of good
bone, ivory, or whalebone, the icing is done with water only, the driver
taking a mouthful and carefully letting it run over the shoe until a
smooth cover of about one third of an inch in thickness is produced. The
icicles made by the water which runs down the side of the runner are
carefully removed with the snow knife, and the bottom is smoothed with
the same implement and afterward somewhat polished with the mitten. Skin
runners and others which have poor shoes are first covered with a
mixture of moss and water or clay and water. This being frozen, the
whole is iced, as has been described. Instead of pure water, a mixture
of blood and water or of urine and water is frequently used, as this
sticks better to the bone shoe than the former.
This done, the sledge is turned right side up and loaded. In winter,
when the snow is hard, small sledges with narrow shoes are the best. In
loading, the bulk of the weight is placed behind. When the snow is soft
or there are wide cracks in the floe, long sledges with broad shoes are
by far the best. In such cases the heaviest part of the load is placed
on the middle of the sledge or even nearer the head. Particularly in
crossing cracks the weight must be as near the head as possible, for if
the jump should be unsuccessful a heavy weight at the hind part would
draw the sledge and the dogs into the water.
The load is fastened to the sledge by a long lashing (naqetarun). This
is tied to the first cross bar and after passing over the load is drawn
over the notch of the next bar, and so on from one notch, over the load,
to a notch on the opposite side. After having been fastened in this way
it is tightened. Two men are required for the work, one pulling the
lashing over the notch, the other pressing down the load and lifting and
lowering the thong in order to diminish the friction, thus making the
pulling of the other man more effective. The end is fastened to the brow
antler. Implements which are used in traveling are hung upon the antlers
at the back of the sledge. In spring, when the snow is melting and water
is found under it, the travelers frequently carry in their pouch a tube
for drinking (Fig. 489).
[Illustration: FIG. 489. Tube for drinking. (National Museum,
Washington. 10383.) ¼]
When the sledge has been loaded the dogs are hitched to it and the
driver takes up the whip and is ready for starting. The handle of the
whip is about a foot or a foot and a half in length. It is made of wood,
bone, or whalebone and has a lash of from twenty to twenty-five feet in
length. The lash is made of walrus or ground seal hide, the lower end
being broad and stiff, thus giving it greater weight and a slight
springiness near the handle, which facilitates its use. A broad piece of
skin clasps the handle, to which it is tied with seal thongs. Another
way of making the lower part heavy is by plaiting ground seal lines for
a length of a foot or a foot and a half.
When starting the driver utters a whistling guttural sound which sounds
like h!h!, but cannot exactly be expressed by letters, as there is no
vowel in it, and yet on account of the whistling noise in the throat it
is audible at a considerable distance. The dogs, if well rested and
strong, jump to their feet and start at once. If they are lazy it
requires a great deal of stimulating and lashing before they make a
start. If the load is heavy it is difficult to start it and the Eskimo
must use some strategy to get them all to pull at once. The sledge is
moved backward and forward for about a foot, so as to make a short track
in which it moves easily. Then the driver sings out to the dogs, at the
same time drawing the traces tight with his hands and pulling at the
sledge. The dogs, feeling a weight at the traces, begin to draw, and
when the driver suddenly lets go the traces the sledge receives a sudden
pull and begins to move. If assistance is at hand the sledge may be
pushed forward until it gets under way.
It is extremely hard work to travel with a heavy load, particularly in
rough ice or on soft snow. The dogs require constant stimulating; for
this purpose a great number of exclamations are in use and almost every
Eskimo has his own favorite words for driving. The general exclamation,
used for stimulating is the above mentioned h! h! or aq! aq! which is
pressed out from the depths of the breast and the palate, the vowel
being very indistinct. Others are: djua! the a being drawn very long and
almost sung in a high key, or ah! pronounced in the same way; iatit! or
jauksa koksa! and smacking with the tongue. If a seal is seen basking on
the ice or if the sledge happens to pass a deserted snow hut, the driver
says, Ha! Do you see the seal? Ai! A seal! a seal! (Ha! Takuviuk? Ai!
Uto! uto!) and Ai! There is a house; a small house! (Ai! Iglu;
igluaqdjung!) or, Now we go home! (Sarpoq! Sarpoq!) The latter, however,
are only used when the dogs are going at a good rate.
For directing the sledge the following words are used: Aua, aua! Aua!
ja aua! for turning to the right; χoiaχoi! ja χoia! for turning to the
left. In addition the whip lash is thrown to the opposite side of the
dogs. The leader is the first to obey the order, but a turn is made very
slowly and by a long curve. If the driver wants to make a sharper turn
he must jump up and run to the opposite side of the sledge, throwing the
whip lash at the same time toward the team. For stopping the dogs the
word Ohoha! pronounced in a deep key, is used.
If the traveling is difficult the driver must walk along at the right
side of the sledge and wherever hummocks obstruct the passage he must
direct it around them either by pushing its head aside or by pulling at
the deer’s skull at the back. But notwithstanding all this stimulating
and all the pulling the sledge is frequently stopped by striking a piece
of ice or by sinking into soft snow. As soon as it sinks down to the
cross bars it must be lifted out, and when the load is heavy the only
means of getting on is by unloading and afterwards reloading. In the
same way it must be lifted across hummocks through which a road is cut
with the end of the spear, which, for this purpose, is always lashed in
a place where it is handy for use, generally on the right side of the
bottom of the sledge. The difficulties of traveling across heavy ice
which has been subjected to heavy pressures have frequently been
described. When the sledge stops the dogs immediately lie down, and if
they cannot start again, though pulling with all their strength, the
leader frequently looks around pitifully, as if to say, We cannot do
more!
Traveling with a light sledge and strong dogs is quite different. Then
the team is almost unmanageable and as soon as it is hitched up it is
off at full speed. The driver sits down on the fore part and lets the
whip trail along, always ready for use. Now the dogs have time enough
for playing and quarreling with one another. Though they generally keep
their proper place in the team, some will occasionally jump over the
traces of their neighbors or crawl underneath them; thus the lines
become quickly entangled, and it is necessary to clear them almost every
hour.
If any dog of the team is lazy the driver calls out his name and he is
lashed, but it is necessary to hit the dog called, for if another is
struck he feels wronged and will turn upon the dog whose name has been
called; the leader enters into the quarrel, and soon the whole pack is
huddled up in one howling and biting mass, and no amount of lashing and
beating will separate the fighting team. The only thing one can do is to
wait until their wrath has abated and to clear the traces. It is
necessary, however, to lay the mittens and the whip carefully upon the
sledge, for the leader, being on the lookout for the traces to be
strung, may give a start when the driver is scarcely ready, and off the
team will go again before the driver can fairly get hold of the sledge.
If anything has dropped from it he must drive in a wide circle to the
same place before he can stop the team and pick it up. On an old track
it is very difficult to stop them at all. When attempting to do so the
driver digs his heels into the snow to obstruct their progress and
eventually comes to a stop. Then he stands in front of the sled and
makes the dogs lie down by lashing their heads gently. Should the dogs
start off he would be thrown upon the sledge instead of being left
behind, which might easily happen should he stand alongside.
The sledge is steered with the legs, usually with the right foot of the
driver, or, if it must be pulled aside from a large hummock, by pulling
the head aside or by means of the deer’s antlers. If two persons are on
the sledge--and usually two join for a long drive--they must not speak
to each other, for as soon as the dogs hear them they will stop, turn
around, sit down, and listen to the conversation. It has frequently been
said that the method of harnessing is inconvenient, as the dogs cannot
use their strength to the best advantage; but whoever has driven a
sledge himself will understand that any other method would be even more
troublesome and less effective. On smooth ice and hard snow any method
of harnessing could be used; but, on rough ice, by any other method
every cross piece would quickly break on attempting to cross the
hummocks. Frequently the traces catch a projecting point and the dogs
are then pulled back and thrown against the ice or under the sledge if
the trace does not break. If for any reason a dog should hang back and
the trace should trail over the snow the driver must lift it up to
prevent it from being caught by the sledge runner, else the dog will be
dragged in the same way as if the trace were caught by a hummock. Many
dogs are able in such cases to strip off their harnesses and thus escape
being dragged along, as the team cannot be stopped quickly enough to
prevent this. Besides the driver must see to it that the dogs do not
step across their traces, which in such cases would run between their
hind legs, for should this happen the skin might be severely chafed.
If the driver sees a trace in this position he runs forward and puts it
back without stopping the team. Particular attention must be paid to
this matter when the dogs rise just before starting.
The sledges are not used until the ice is well covered with snow, as the
salt crystals formed on the top of the ice in the autumn hurt the dogs’
feet and cause sores that heal slowly. Late in the spring, when the snow
has melted and sharp ice needles project everywhere, the feet of the
dogs are covered with small pieces of leather, with holes for the nails,
which are tied to the leg. As they are frequently lost and the putting
on of these shoes takes a long time, their use is very inconvenient.
At this season numerous cracks run through the floe. They are either
crossed on narrow snow bridges which join the edges at convenient places
or on a drifting piece of ice by floating across.
A few more words in conclusion concerning the training of the dogs. The
Eskimo rarely brings up more than three or four dogs at the same time.
If the litter is larger than this number the rest are sold or given
away. The young dogs are carefully nursed and in winter they are even
allowed to lie on the couch or are hung up over the lamp in a piece of
skin. When about four months old they are first put to the sledge and
gradually become accustomed to pull along with the others. They undergo
a good deal of lashing and whipping before they are as useful as the old
ones.
If food is plentiful the dogs are fed every other day, and then their
share is by no means a large one. In winter they are fed with the heads,
entrails, bones, and skins of seals, and they are so voracious at this
time of the year that nothing is secure from their appetite. Any kind of
leather, particularly boots, harnesses, and thongs, is eaten whenever
they can get at it. In the spring they are better fed and in the early
part of summer they grow quite fat. In traveling, however, it sometimes
happens at this time of the year, as well as in winter, that they have
no food for five or six days. In Cumberland Sound, Hudson Strait, and
Hudson Bay, where the rise and fall of the tide are considerable, they
are carried in summer to small islands where they live upon what they
can find upon the beach, clams, codfish, &c. If at liberty they are
entirely able to provide for themselves. I remember two runaway dogs
which had lived on their own account from April until August and then
returned quite fat.
The Eskimo of all these regions are very much troubled with the well
known dog’s disease of the Arctic regions. The only places where it
seems to be unknown are Davis Strait and Aggo. Here every man has a team
of from six to twelve dogs, while in Cumberland Sound, in some winters,
scarcely any have been left. (See Appendix, Note 2.)