In Kamchatka and the Arctic Regions generally, where dogs are employed for drawing sledges, they are broken to their work while quite young. Their training begins when they are six months old, but they are not put to actual labor till three years old, unless in times of great distress and a scarcity of dogs. One mode of training is to fasten them to posts or trees, with thongs of green skin, and then place their food just beyond their reach. By reaching for it they stretch the green thong; in this way they learn to pull steadily for some minutes at a time, and the muscles of their necks are strengthened. Occasionally they are harnessed to carts or sledges and made to run for short distances, and are thus gradually trained to the work they are to perform.
Dogs are driven without reins and generally without a whip. The driver has a stick, called an ostoll, with one end pointed with iron; this he uses for stopping his team when he wishes to bring it to a halt, and checks its speed when descending hills. Occasionally he punishes a refractory dog with it, but not often as the hard stick is apt to inflict permanent injury on the slender bones of the animal. The most important dog in the team is the leader, whose position is indicated by his name. He is selected for his superior intelligence and docility, and his training requires much care and attention. An ordinary team dog is worth from eight to twelve dollars, while fifty or even a hundred dollars may be refused for a good leader. The leader obeys the voice of his driver and turns to the right or left, according to directions. When the team is weary and moves at a slow pace, the leader has been known to put fresh life into their movements by suddenly pretending to have fallen on the track of an animal, by putting his nose to the ground or snow and barking violently. Away they go in pursuit, and only the leading dog and the driver are aware of the ruse that has been played.
A team may consist of any number of dogs up to twenty, but the large teams are only used for carrying freight, and rarely travel faster than a walk. A team of running dogs for traveling purposes usually consists of five or seven; the number is almost always odd, as it consists of one or more pairs of dogs and a leader. The sledge is long and narrow, and the size and shape are varied, according to the way it is to be used. The driver sits sidewise on the sledge and clings to it with one hand, while he manages his ostoll with the other. The traveling sledge is as light as possible, and just large enough to support the driver and a very little cargo. It is made of wood, fastened together with thongs of deerskin, and the runners are usually shod with polished bone.
A good team will travel from forty to sixty miles a day with favorable roads. Sometimes a hundred miles may be made in a single day, but such performances are rare. The news of the declaration of the Crimean war was carried from Bolcheretsk to Petropavlovsk, one hundred and twenty-five miles, in twenty-three hours without change of dogs. A good team can average forty miles a day, and even fifty miles for a week or more, but they must be lightly laden, and have favorable roads.
The comparative merits of dogs and reindeer in the countries where both are used may be set down as follows:—
The reindeer seeks his own food; he lives on moss that grows beneath the snow, which he scrapes away to reach it. Thus he may travel any length of time and be in good condition, provided he has sufficient time each day for feeding.
The food for dogs must be carried on the sledge, unless the traveler is certain of finding it along his route. The maximum supply that can be carried by a team for its sustenance is for one week. Consequently where dog food cannot be procured every five or six days those animals are useless.
A forced journey can be made with dogs, but not with reindeer. Dogs may be driven till utterly exhausted, and they will travel an entire day, or even more, after their food has given out. But when the reindeer is weary and hungry he stops and lies down, and no argument that his driver can use will induce him to move on. He may be pounded with sticks, or prodded with goads for hours, but all to no purpose. He wants his food and will have it at whatever risk. When a reindeer team thus halts there is no alternative but to turn the animals out to feed, and wait till they have eaten all they wish.
CHAPTER XIX.
TRAVELING WITH MAN-POWER. PALANKEENS, JINRIKISHAS, AND SEDAN-CHAIRS.
To be carried on the shoulders of his fellow-man is not often the lot of the American; the most frequent form of this species of locomotion in the United States is decidedly uncomfortable and degrading, and is known as "riding on a rail." The costume for an expedition of this sort is inexpensive and ungraceful, though fitting closely; it usually consists of a veneering of warm tar applied to the skin of the tourist, and immediately afterwards he is rolled in a bed of feathers. Thus equipped he is mounted on a pole, generally a fence-rail, without saddle or bridle, and borne on the shoulders of those who supplied his wardrobe. There is no mode of traveling known to civilization where the accommodations are so wretched, and the mental and physical discomforts so great, as in riding on a rail after the American system. The only thing in its favor is its cheapness, as it is generally quite gratuitous.