When he wished to punish
a dog he could cut it with the lash tip even to the extent of breaking
the skin, if he desired, and he never missed the animal he aimed at.
Each dog had an individual trace which was fastened to a long, single
thong of sealskin attached to the front of the komatik. These traces
were of varying length, the leader, or dog trained to the Eskimos'
calls, having the longest trace, which permitted it to go well in
advance of the others.
For several days the journey was monotonous and uneventful. Gradually
as they advanced the travelling improved again, as the March winds
drifted away the soft, loose snow and left the bottom solid and firm
for the dogs.
Ptarmigans were plentiful, as were also arctic hares, and a white fox
and one or two white owls were killed. The flesh of all these they
ate, and were thus enabled to keep in reserve the provisions they had
brought with them. Bob was rather disgusted than amused to see the
Eskimos eat the flesh of animals and birds raw. They appeared to
esteem as a particular delicacy the freshly killed ptarmigans, still
warm with the life blood, eating even the entrails uncooked.
One afternoon they turned the komatik from the land to the far
stretching ice of a wide bay directing their course towards a cove on
the farther side, where the Eskimos said they expected to find
igloos.
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