It was pretty venturesome, perhaps, and I might be excused if I
was nervous, for twice before I had broken through on a sled and bathed
in the waters of Hudson's Bay. But I was anxious to reach the ships and
finish what work I had to do, so as to get back to Depot Island in time
to have all the dogs well fed before starting upon our long journey.
I should here say that the dogs of Hudson's Bay and contiguous
territory do not resemble those usually pictured in the illustrated
editions of Arctic works, which are the Greenland dogs. From what I
gather by reading of the performances of the dogs in Greenland and
North-eastern Asia, and comparing them with our experience in Hudson's
Bay, I should judge the animals from the latter country to be
immeasurably the superior in endurance and pluck, though perhaps
inferior in speed for one or two days' travel. When food is plentiful
the dogs are fed every other day while travelling; but if living in
camp once in ten or twelve days is considered enough, and often twenty
days will intervene between meals. Not but that they pick up a trifle
now and then, and by a raid on an igloo will secure meat enough to last
for several days. Their mode of life forces upon them the character of
thieves, and all their waking moments are devoted to the one object of
making a raid.
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