THE ESKIMO DOG.
The importance of this half-tamed variety (see figure on p. 105) to the cold stunted beings who keep it can hardly be over-estimated. An undoubted authority, Dr. Robert Brown, F.L.S., observes:—
“When the Greenland Dogs die off, the Greenlander must become extinct: more certainly even than must the ‘Plain’ Indian when the last Buffalo is shot. It is impossible for him to drag home the Seals, Sharks, White Whales, or Narwhals which he may have shot in the winter at the ‘strom-holes’ in the ice without his Dogs; or for the wild native in the far North to make his long migrations, with his family and household goods, from one hunting-ground to another without these domestic animals of his. Yet that sad event seems to be not far distant. Several years ago, a curious disease, the nature of which has puzzled veterinarians, appeared among the Arctic Dogs, from high up in Smith’s Sound down the whole coast of Greenland to Jakobshavn (69° 13′ N. lat.), where the ice-fjord stops it from going farther south; and the Government uses every endeavour to stop its spread beyond that barrier by preventing the native Dogs north and south from commingling. Kane and Hayes lost most of their Dogs through this disease; and at every settlement in Danish Greenland the natives are impoverished through the death of their teams. It is noticed that whenever a native loses his Dogs he goes very rapidly down-hill in the sliding scale of Arctic respectability, becoming a sort of hanger-on of the fortunate possessor of a sledge-team.
“During the latter portion of our stay in Jakobshavn, scarcely a day elapsed during which some of the Dogs were not ordered to be killed, on account of their having caught this fatal epidemic.
“The Dog is seized with madness, bites at all other Dogs, and even at human beings. It is soon unable to swallow its food, and constipation ensues. It howls loudly during the continuance of the disease, but generally dies in the course of a day, with its teeth firmly transfixing its tongue. It has thus something of the nature of hydrophobia, but differs from that disease in not being communicable by bite, though otherwise contagious among Dogs. The Government sent out a veterinary surgeon to investigate the nature of the distemper; but he failed to suggest any remedy, and it is now being ‘stamped out’ by killing the Dogs whenever seized—a heroic mode of treatment, which will only be successful when the last Dog becomes extinct in Greenland.”
The Eskimo Dog is found throughout a great part of the Arctic regions—the herds found in Siberia, Kamtschatka, and Arctic America being all closely allied to one another, and all resembling, to a wonderful degree, the great Arctic Wolf, from which there can be little doubt they are descended. In form they resemble the Shepherd’s Dog, and attain to the size of the Newfoundland. The muzzle and ears are pointed, the hair long, and with a short yellowish-grey fur between the hairs. The eyes are often oblique, and the howl peculiarly wolfish. The colour varies a good deal: some of the Dogs being black, with a white breast; others white; others reddish, yellowish, or spotted. This variety in colour is very characteristic of domesticated races of animals. There is never the same amount of difference found between the individuals of a wild species.
Not only does the Eskimo Dog agree with the Wolf in appearance, but also in disposition: it is wild, savage, and obstinate to a degree almost inconceivable to us, who are only acquainted with civilised Dogs. In illustration of the wolf-like disposition of the beast, Dr. Robert Brown relates an incident which shows that it is but little removed from its probable ancestor. We said above that it was only half-tamed; so certainly is this the case, that it“can only be kept in subjection by the most unmerciful lashing, for its savage nature will out. When at Clyde River, in 1861, I heard of a most horrible tragedy which had been enacted there a few years before. A man, a boy, and a little girl landed there from anomiak(or open skin-boat), on an island where, as is usual, some Dogs were confined. Before the poor people could escape to their boat, the animals, infuriated by hunger, sprang upon them. The man and the boy, though much lacerated, managed to regain theomiak, but the poor girl was torn to pieces.”
Wolves could hardly be much worse than this. These Dogs were, however, confined and half-starved; but another writer[111]relates how he very nearly fell a victim to a pack of Dogs in actual use, at the door of his own hut.
“Leaving the hunters to look after their teams, I returned to the hut. The blinding snow, which battered my face, made me insensible to everything except the idea of getting out of it; and, thinking of no danger, I was in the act of stooping to enter the doorway, when a sudden noise behind me caused me to look around, and there, close at my heels, was the whole pack of thirteen hungry Dogs, snarling, snapping, and showing their sharp teeth like a drove of ravenous Wolves. It was fortunate that I had not got down upon my knees, or they would have been upon my back. In fact, so impetuous was their attack, that one of them had already sprung when I faced round. I caught him on my arm, and kicked him down the hill. The others were for the moment intimidated by the suddenness of my movement, and at seeing the summary manner in which their leader had been dealt with; and they were in the act of sneaking away, when they perceived I was powerless to do them any harm, having nothing in my hand. Again they assumed the offensive; they were all around me; an instant more and I should be torn to pieces. I had faced death in several shapes before, but never had I felt as then; my blood fairly curdled in my veins. Death down the red throats of a pack of wolfish Dogs had something about it peculiarly unpleasant. Conscious of my weakness, they were preparing for a spring; I had not even time to halloo for help—to run would be the readiest means of bringing the wretches upon me. My eye swept round the group, and caught sight of something lying half-buried in the snow about ten feet distant. Quick as a flash I sprang, as I never sprang before or since, over the back of a huge fellow who stood before me, and the next instant I was whirling about me the lash of a long whip, cutting to right and left. The Dogs retreated before my blows and the fury of my onset, and then suddenly skulked behind the rocks. The whip had clearly saved my life; there was nothing else within my reach, and it had been dropped there quite accidentally by Katutunah as he went down to the sledges.”
The horrible savagery of these poor wretches can hardly be wondered at; they live in a country where there is hardly a chance for them in any independent foraging expedition; they are half-starved by their masters, being fed chiefly on frozen walrus hides in the winter, and allowed to shift for themselves in the summer when their services are not required, and are in so perennial and acute a state of hunger that they are ready at any time to eat their own harness if allowed to do so.
It is generally stated that they are perfectly insensible to kindness, and only to be kept in order by a liberal application of the lash, or even of a more formidable weapon; for the Eskimo, if their Dogs are refractory, do not scruple to beat them about the head with a hammer, or anything else of sufficient hardness which happens to be at hand. They will even beat the poor brutes in this horrible manner until they are actually stunned. Notwithstanding the absolute dependence of the Eskimo on their Dogs, little or no care is taken of them; they receive nothing in any degree approaching petting, and spend all their time in the open air.
The chief use of the Eskimo Dog is to draw the sledges, which are the only possible conveyance in that frozen land. In all the Arctic expeditions which have been sent out at various times, a good supply of Sledge-dogs has been one of the greatestdesiderata, as without them it would be absolutely impossible to proceed far. No other animal would answer the purpose, both horses and cattle being quite useless in journeys over ice and snow, amongst which the pack of light, active Dogs make their way with wonderful ease and safety.
The presence of a good leader to every sledge-team is of the first importance: the other Dogs obey him far more implicitly than the driver, as he has gained his proud positionvî et armis, and keeps all his subordinates in the strictest order. Notwithstanding this, the behaviour of the team whilerunning is far from exemplary. Captain Lyon says “they are constantly fighting, and I do not recollect to have seen one receive a flogging without instantly wreaking his passion on the ears of his neighbour.” So that it is always best to trust to a good leader than to any amount of whipping, as the latter may only involve the whole concern—team, sledge, driver, and all—in hopeless and inextricable confusion. “Among the Eskimo on the western shores of Davis Straits, a loose Dog usually precedes the sledge, and, by carefully avoiding broken places in the ice, acts as a guide to the sledge-team, which carefully follows his lead.”
Besides their use as draught animals, these Dogs are employed in Bear and Seal hunting. Their skin is also valuable, and the natives are extremely fond of their flesh, although, as the Dog is getting gradually scarcer, they can seldom indulge in the dainty.