MARCUS AND JACOB.
My other two Esquimau hunters, Marcus and Jacob, are lodgers with the Hans family. They are a pair of droll fellows, very different from Hans and Peter. Marcus will not work, and Jacob has grown like the Prince of Denmark, "fat and scant of breath," and cannot. As for hunters, they are that only in name. They have been tried at every thing for which it was thought possible that they could be of any use and it is now agreed on all sides that they can only be serviceable in amusing the crew and in cutting up our game; and these things they do well and cheerfully, for out of these pursuits grows an endless opportunity to feed; and as for feeding, I have never seen man nor beast that could rival them, especially Jacob. The stacks of meat that this boy disposes of seem quite fabulous; and it matters not to him whether it is boiled or raw. The cook declares that "he can eat heself in three meals," meaning, of course, his own weight; but I need hardly say that this is an exaggeration. The steward quotes Shakespeare, and thinks that he has hit the boy very hard when he proclaims him to be a savage "of an unbounded stomach." The sailors tease him about his likeness to the animals which he so ruthlessly devours. A pair of antlers are growing from his forehead, rabbit's hair is sprouting on his distended abdomen, and birds' feathers are appearing on his back; his arms and legs are shortening into flippers, his teeth are lengthening into tusks, and they mean to get a cask of walrus blubber out of him before the spring; all of which he takes good-naturedly; but there is a roguish leer in his eye, and if I mistake not he will yet be even with his tormentors. So much for my Esquimau subjects.
October 21st.
I have had another lively race to the glacier, and have had a day of useful work. Hans drove Sonntag, and Jensen was, as usual, my "whip." We took Carl and Peter along to help us with our surveying; and, although there were three persons and some instruments on each sledge, yet this did not much interfere with our progress. We were at the foot of the glacier in forty minutes.
The dogs are getting a little toned down with use, 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.
HABITS OF DOGS.
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 are afraid to turn against him, for when they do so there is no end to the chastisements which they receive. Now Oosisoak (for that is his name) has a rival, a huge, burly fellow with black uniform and white collar. This dog is called Karsuk, which expresses the complexion of his coat. He is larger than Oosisoak, but not so active nor so intelligent. Occasionally he has a set-to with his master; but he always comes off second best, and his unfortunate followers are afterwards flogged in detail by the merciless red-coat. The place of Oosisoak, when harnessed to the sledge, is on the left of the line, and that of Karsuk on the right.
THE LEADER OF THE PACK.
There is another powerful animal which we call Erebus, who governs Sonntag's team as Oosisoak governs mine, and he can whip Karsuk, but he never has a bout with my leader except at his peril and that of his followers. And thus they go along, fighting to preserve the peace, and chawing each other up to maintain the balance of power; and this is all to my advantage; for if the present relations of things were disturbed, my community of dogs would be in a state of anarchy. Oosisoak would go into exile, and would die of laziness and a broken heart, and great and bloody would be the feuds between the rival interests, led by Karsuk and Erebus, before it was decided which is the better team.