The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1906-03-23
SAVAGE DOGS OF LABRADOR
The Bloodthirsty Brutes Are Ever
Ready to Fall Upon HUI
man Beings.

AS the Labrador mail steamer
pushed into the strait one of the Of
ficers said: Now, listen and you'll
hear the Battle Harbor band" In a
moment the whistle blew to announce
our coming and almost Immediately
from the shore arose a strange sound
"a blend of song, yell and roar. 1t
assembled along the scale till it sug-
gested a riot One might fancy cries
of rage, screams of command, howls
of pain There was fierce crescendo,
then after a time the noise died away
into murmur. 1t was our welcome by
the "huskies," or Eskimo dogs. AS
we approached we could see these
wolves, for such they are, seated with
their noses pointed straight at the
zenith, singing as if their hearts would
break.
When we landed several of them
assembled to see us come ashore, not
with the slightest hope of advantage,
for they are kicked oftener than they
are petted-indeed, never saw one
petted-but drawn by idle curiosity,
like the rest of the populace. The
husky is a trife larger than collie.
He is shaggy, has pointed ears, is
more or less battered and there is an
adage that if you give dog a bad
name you must hang him. The husky
has the most evil of regulations, but
he is oftener dubbed and whipped
than hanged, because hanging takes
time.
saw no misconduct on the part of
these animals myself. They usually
gathered about the fish flakes or the
rocks where we made our landings and
watched us narrowly as we went
ashore, gfinning sardonically with
an 81 could an If would" express
sion, and sometimes lifting their heads
a bit or tossing them one side if they
saw kick coming in their direction.
AS a rule the fishermen and Give
yeres" paid no attention to them, but
now and then a man would sheer off
a little with command to Get out,
you brute!" Ga command that the dog
would obey or not, precisely as he
pleased, for the prevalent attitude
among the pack would be one of half
concealed contempt).
If they dislike the human race there
is reason enough for it. They get
hard fare, hard words and hard work
from it, and why should they love
it? Yet, they tell me that they are
fond of the human race, as meat, and
l was cautioned that whatever fool
ishness l might commit when ashore
I was not to slip and fall, for that
would be the signal for the dogs to
eat me- This was consoling for one
whose shoes had just been cobbled
with steel nails, which, being slippery,
will guarantee falls anywhere and
ought to be forbid by law. Yet took
these yarns with several grains of
salt.
1 saw no cases of bloody murder
while in Labrador, though I believe
it is a fact that the little son, aged
three, of the factor in the Hudson
bay post at Cartwright fell when he
was set upon Before he could be res
cued the dogs had inflicted 40 wounds
on him. He was made as comfortable
as possible in box and carried to the
hospital at Battle Harbor and the en-
tire pack of 20 dogs was shot next
morning. We found another one there
of apparently the same instincts,
and possibly 1t was as well to kill ami
mails that had tasted human blood.
People who go aside from the settle
ments are advised to take cudgels,
whips or firearms in case they should
meet any of the packs, for if the dogs
were suddenly to exhibit hunger ths
meeting would be unpleasant. Pr
cause of these dogs it is impossible 10
keep live stock of any kind in Labra,
dor. There is one mule, to be sure,
at a sawmill they have established on
Hamilton inlet, but that is quite way
from any of the settlements. The
mule frightened the 'liveyeres" nearly
to death when they saw him first and
l suppose as reports of him pass from
settlement to settlement he assumes
proportions as important as those of
labyrinthodon or megatherium and
vices more extravagant than the boo
jum's and the sharks.