The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-10-31
The Dogs of Siberia.

The Dogs OF 51per4a.
The Esquimaux or Siberian dog, is
found nearly all over the most northern
parts of North America and Siberia,
and, although perhaps he is of more
actual importance to the numerous
tribes which inhabit those inhospitable
regions than any other breed of dog is
to any other people on the face of the
earth, yet many naturalists and writer's
on I" The Dog only notice this animal
in very cursory manner. The Esqui-
maux dog, which is found, with very
little variation In shape, size, or color,
on both sides of Behring's straits, is In
many respects, to the settled tribes in
habiting those districts, what the rein
deer is to the Laplander, and camel to
the Arab. He is their only beast of
burden, and is generally employed in
drawing materials in a sledge over the
boundless and dreary deserts of snow,
where the cold is so intense that no
other domestic animal, except the rein
deer, could exist, and bear the hard
ships this animal is called upon to I'M
dergo. Messrs Dali and Kennan's re-
cord of experiences and travels over ex-
tensive tracts of arctic soil furnishes
some most interesting evidence of the
invaluability of these animals to the
Koraks and other tribes owning them.
The latter gentleman says that these
dogs are little better than half domesti-
Gated arctic wolves, whose instincts and
peculiarities they still retain in great
measure; but there is probably no more
hardy and enduring animal in the world.
Although he is often compelled to sleep
on the snow, with no covering or pro-
lection of any kind, when the tempera-
ture is 20 degrees below zero, to draw
heavy lods until his feet crack open and
paint the snow with blood, and to go
without food for days, until he is
brought to such state of starvation as
to eat up his harness, yet his strength
and his spirits seem alike unconquera-
BILE. 81 have driven team of nine of
these dogs" says KEENAN,, more than
a hundred miles in day and a night,
and have frequently worked them hard
forty-eight hours without being able to
give them particle of food" In gen.
eral, they are fed once day, their al
lowance being simply a dried fish,
weighing, perhaps, pound and half
or two pounds. This is given to them
Mt night, so that they begin another
days work with empty stomachs. The
sledge to which they ara harnessed is
about ten feet in length and two in
width, made with seasoned birch-tim-
Der, and combines, to a surprising de-
gree, the two most desirable qualities
of strength and lightness. It is simply
a skeleton framework fastened together
with lashing of dried seal-skin, aud
mounted on broad curved runners. No
iron whatever is used in the cCnstruc-
ton, and it does not weigh more than
twenty pounds yetit will sustain load
of four or five hundred pounds, and en-
dure the severest shocks of rough
more than ordinarily severe by the er-
ratio behavior of the dogs, who some
times, should deer or fox cross their
route, cannot overcome their wolfish
propensities, but give chase in a most
determined manner, needless alike of
the drivers shouts and the load behind
them, dragging the sledge and its con-
tents at lightning-speed over bluffs, and
down steep inclnes, often not being
brought to stand-still until submerged
several feet in a snow drift. The num-
Der of dogs harnessed to the sledges
varies from seven to fifteen, according
to the nature of the country to be ira
versed, and the weight of the load.
Under favorably circumstances, eleven
dogs will make from forty to fifty miles
a day with man and a. load of four
hundred pounds. They are harnessed
TO the sledge in successive couples, by
long central thong of seal-skin, to which
each dog is attached by collar and a
short trace. They are guided and con-
trelled entirely by the voice mot by the
whip as stated by some writers OF the
5ubiect), and by a leader-dog, who is
trained for the purpose. The
driver carries no whip, but has instead
a thick stick, about four feet in length
and two inches in diameter, called an
yerSteL. This is armed at one end with
long iron spike, and is used to check
the speed of the sledge in descending
hills, and to stop the dogs when they
leave the road in pursuit of reindeer
and foxes. The spiked end is thrust
down in front at one end of the knees
Or uprights of the runners and dragged
in that position through the snow, the
the upper end being firmly held by the
driver, in whose hands it forms power
ful lever by which he can check his
team if inclined to be unruly. These
although treated very inditfer-
emily, are absolutely essential to the ex-
istence of these semi barbarous tribes.
The great distance of the settlements
one from the other, and the absence of
any means of intercommunication in
make each village dependent
on its own resources, and prevent any
mutual support and assistance, so that
should the winter be extra severe a
famine often sets in, and these improvi-
dent people never think of string until
the last dried fish in store has been de-
so that their only hope lies in
their dog-teams, which are often called
upon to commence a journey on an
empty belly of one hundred and fifty
Or two hundred miles over deep snow,
in search of some friendly tribe of wan
1ering Koraks, having been on scanty
rations perhaps for week or fortnight
nreviOusIv-L Land and Water.