Even the dogs could not
pull to any advantage. Some would be floundering in the slush and
water, while others were scrambling over the broken ice, and yet under
all these disadvantages we were able to make a march of ten miles,
through the skill and experience of our Inuit dog driver. Without the
assistance of dogs and natives, it is altogether probable that we would
not have been able to accomplish more than two or three miles at the
best; and I can well understand that Dr. Hayes had so much difficulty
in crossing Smith Sound through the heavy hummocks in the spring of
1861. But at the same time I feel pretty well convinced that with
plenty of good dogs and competent native drivers to manage the sledges,
there is no ice in the Arctic that would prevent an average march of
ten miles a day, with light loads, during the long days of spring. I
would not even stipulate for such an exceptionally excellent guide and
driver as our faithful Toolooah. Such as he are rare anywhere, and
especially so among the Esquimaux. He is not only the best hunter in
his tribe, but the best dog driver, and the most energetic man I have
seen among all the tribes with whom I have come in contact. He is more
like a capable white man, in that respect, than an Esquimau, and there
is a legend in his tribe that he was never known to be tired.
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