Each of these dogs will draw a weight of 120 lb. over the snow, at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour.
It is extraordinary to consider the powers and wonderful speed of these animals, almost equalling that of many horses.
[Captain] Lyon informs us that three dogs drew a sledge weighing 100 lbs. and himself, one mile in six minutes; his leader dog, which is generally more powerful than the others, drew 196 lb. the same distance in eight minutes; seven dogs ran one mile in four minutes and thirty seconds, with a heavy sledge full of men attached to them; ten dogs ran one mile in five minutes; nine dogs drew 1611 lb. the same distance in nine minutes. — Lyon's Journal, p. 243. — L.
In summer, many of these dogs are used as beasts of burden, and each carries from thirty to fifty pounds. They are then much better kept than in the winter; for they have the remains of the whale and sea-calf, which their masters disdain to eat. The majority, however, are sent adrift in the summer, and they live on the produce of the chase or of their constant thievery. The exactness with which, the summer being past, each returns to his master, is an admirable proof of sagacity, and frequently of attachment.
some parts of Siberia, on the borders of the Oby, there are established relays of dogs, like the post-horses in other countries. Four of these are attached to a very light vehicle; but, when much haste is required, or any very heavy goods are to be conveyed, more than treble or quadruple that number are harnessed to the vehicle. M. de Lesseps
gives an almost incredible account of this. He is speaking of the voracity of these poor beasts, in the midst of the snowy desert, with little or no food.
"We had unharnessed our dogs, in order to bring them closer together, in the ordinary way; but, the moment they were brought up to the pole, they seized their harness, constructed of the thickest and toughest leather, and tore it to pieces, and devoured it. It was in vain that we attempted every means of restraint. A great number of them escaped into the wilds around, others wandered here and there, and seized everything that came within their reach, and which their teeth could destroy. Almost every minute some one of them fell exhausted, and immediately became the prey of the others. Every one that could get within reach struggled for his share. Every limb was disputed, and torn away by a troop of rivals, who attacked all within their reach. As soon as one fell by exhaustion or accident, he was seized by a dozen others, and destroyed in the space of a few minutes. In order to defend ourselves from this crowd of famished beasts, we were compelled to have recourse to our bludgeons and our swords. To this horrible scene of mutual destruction succeeded, on the following day, the sad appearance of those that surrounded the sledge, to which we had retreated for safety and for warmth. They were thin, and starved, and miserable; they could scarcely move; their plaintive and continual howlings seemed to claim our succour; but there was no possibility of relieving them in the slightest degree, except that some of them crept to the opening in our carriage through which the smoke escapes; and the more they felt the warmth closer they crept, and then, through mere feebleness, losing their equilibrium, they rolled into the fire before our eyes."
These dogs are not so high as the common pointer, but much larger and stouter, although their thick hair, three or four inches long in the winter, gives them an appearance of more stoutness than they possess. Under this hair is a coating of fine close soft wool, which begins to grow in the early part of winter, and drops off in the spring. Their muzzles are sharp and generally black, and their ears erect.