' iliP
 
 (UBRARY] 
 UNIVf -IV OF 
 CAHHJRNIA 
 SAN DIEGO 5
 
 My DOGS IN THE NORTHLAND
 
 LGSRTON R. YOUNG IN WINTER DRESS.
 
 MY DOGS IN THE 
 NORTH LAN D 
 
 BY 
 
 EGERTON R; YOUNG 
 
 Atithor of 
 
 ON THE INDIAN TRAIL," " THE APOSTLE OF 
 THE NORTH," "THREE BOYS IN THE 
 WILD NORTHLAND," ETC, 
 
 NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO 
 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
 
 FIFTH EDITION 
 
 Copyright, 1902, by 
 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 (September)
 
 Dedicated 
 
 to 
 
 My Dear Wife and Children, 
 
 partners with me in many of the scenes 
 
 herein related.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 ALL the dogs of which I here write 
 are dead. Was it not Sir Walter 
 Scott who said, " I hate to love a 
 dog, he lives so short a life? " Yet Sir 
 Walter did love dogs with rare devotion, 
 as the traditions of Abbotsford, as well as 
 much that he himself has written, affirm. 
 
 When a lad I was not allowed to keep a 
 dog. My father in his early manhood days 
 saw a man smothered to death between two 
 great feather beds because he was a hope- 
 less victim of hydrophobia, caused by the 
 bite of a mad dog. So no dog was allowed 
 in our home. 
 
 Fortunately for us boys, or rather for 
 the dogs, we (and there were only seven of 
 us) were all very fond of these prohibited 
 animals, and were ever ready to lend our 
 jackknives or skates to any neighbouring 
 boy if he would only let us play with his 
 dog. 
 
 It was a marvellous transition from that 
 country parsonage w r here the joyous bark 
 7
 
 8 Introduction 
 
 of a canine friend, " The first to welcome, 
 the foremost to defend," was never heard, 
 to the wild adventurous life in the North- 
 land. There, in the first business transac- 
 tion with my predecessor, I was told that 
 there were a dozen dogs and puppies of 
 Huskie breed, outside, anxious to make my 
 acquaintance ! 
 
 It is a trite saying that " all things come 
 to him who waits." It was correct in this 
 case anyway, for the man who as a boy had 
 peremptorily been refused the possession of 
 the smallest puppy now entered into the 
 ownership of a pack of cunning rascals who 
 were quite competent to test his patience 
 and sharpen his wits. 
 
 If in Nature's broad domains there is a 
 place for everything, we think that the 
 natural home of the large dog is in the cold 
 Northland. There, during those long win- 
 ters he can work and thus prove his right 
 to a comfortable living. Amidst the bliz- 
 zards of the Arctic frosts often exposed to 
 hardships and privations that no other crea- 
 ture than man and himself could stand, 
 there he thrives, and endures and with his 
 master, triumphs. 
 
 For years, with great dogs, I toiled and
 
 Introduction 9 
 
 often with them was in great perils. Much 
 of my work was accomplished by their aid. 
 So I believe in dogs, and here in this book 
 I have written of some of them and their 
 deeds.

 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 I. MY ESKIMO OB HUSKIE Doas. . . . 17 
 II. WITH WILD ESKIMO DOGS UNDER THB 
 
 AURORA 30 
 
 III. ROBBER DOGS AND AN INDIAN COUNCIL . 46 
 
 IV. JACK, THE GIANT ST. BERNARD. . . 66 
 V. JACK, AND MANY THINGS CONCERNING HIM 80 
 
 VI. JACK TRIUMPHANT IN THE BLIZZARD. . 96 
 
 VII. JACK IN CIVILIZATION 113 
 
 VIII. CUFFY, THE BEAUTIFUL NEWFOUNDLAND 
 
 DOG -125 
 
 IX. VOYAGEUR, THE MATCHLESS LEADER. . 143 
 
 X. VOYAGEUR, THE BROKEN-HEARTED. . . 164 
 
 XI. ROVER I, THE SUCCESSFUL DOG DOCTOR. . 173 
 
 XII. ROVER II, ALSO CALLED KIMO. . . .184 
 
 XIII. MUFF, THE AFFECTIONATE MOTHER DOG. . 195 
 
 XIV. CAESAR, THE CLEVER RASCAL. . . .210 
 XV. KOONA, THE ESKIMO LEADER. . . . 230 
 
 XVI. TRAVELLING WITH DOGS IN NORTHERN WILDS 243 
 
 XVII. STILL ON THE TRAIL WITH THE DOGS. . 260 
 
 XVIII. OUR DOGS IN SUMMER TIME. . . .270 
 
 XIX. Cm BONO? . 278
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Facing Page 
 
 Dr. Young in Winter Dress Title 
 
 They Dashed in Wild Excitement After the Fox. . 40 
 
 I Belaboured Him With the Oak Whip-handle 42 
 
 It Was a Wild, Mad Leap 44 
 
 A Half-dozen Wild Looking Indians Rushed into 
 
 Our Midst 55 
 
 Dr. Young and Jack 66 
 
 Jumping Around the Fire Like a Dancing Bear. ... 90 
 
 A Ride in a Wild, Howling Blizzard 106 
 
 Dr. Young and Cuffy 126 
 
 The Lordly Pines in Winter Dress 245 
 
 Still on the Trail With the Dogs 260 
 
 A Medicine Man... .. 280
 
 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 MY ESKIMO OR HUSKIE DOGS 
 
 THEY haunt me to this very day 
 those Eskimo dogs ! I wake up some- 
 times in the night with a start, for I 
 have been dreaming that the jealous, quar- 
 relsome fellows were once more fighting for 
 what seemed to be the honour of sleeping on 
 my head. 
 
 And yet they were good dogs for their 
 work, and, I suppose, take them all in all, 
 they have been able to perform what no 
 other dogs in the world could have accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Nansen, Greely, Rae, and many others 
 have given unstinted praise to the courage 
 and endurance, as well as to the sagacity 
 and intelligence of these northern dogs, 
 that generally receive more kicks and curses 
 than caresses or kind words. Denizens of 
 those Arctic regions, where a chronic state 
 17
 
 1 8 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 of starvation is the normal condition of all 
 the inhabitants, where might is right, with 
 both man and beast, it is hardly to be won- 
 dered at, that it is next to an impossibility 
 ever to teach the Eskimo dog to be honest. 
 Steal he will, from puppyhood to old age. 
 
 This weakness for appropriation, with my 
 dogs of this breed, to put it thus mildly, was 
 the constant cause of many rows and con- 
 flicts with them. It was the ultimate reason 
 why, after some winters' experience and ef- 
 forts for their reformation, I at length 
 banished them from my kennels, as far as 
 possible, and filled up my trains with St. 
 Bernards and Newfoundlands or a mixture 
 of breeds in which these predominated. 
 
 Still these Eskimo, or Huskie dogs for 
 they are sometimes called by one name and 
 sometimes by the other, have justly won for 
 themselves a name and a record that will 
 cause them to hold a high place among ani- 
 mals that have been of real service to the 
 human race. But few of them are ever kept 
 for mere pleasure or pastime. It is because 
 they are so serviceable to man, and at times 
 absolutely invaluable to him, that they de- 
 servedly stand in such esteem with tbe ad- 
 mirers of the canine race.
 
 My Eskimo or Huskie Dogs 19 
 
 The pure Eskimo dog is not devoid of 
 beauty. His compact body, well furred ; his 
 sharp-pointed, alert-looking ears; his fox- 
 like muzzle; his good legs and firm, hard 
 feet ; his bushy tail, of which he often seems 
 so proud ; and his bright, roguish eyes, place 
 him in no mean position among the other 
 dogs of the world. His colour varies from 
 the purest white to jet black. I owned two 
 so absolutely white that not a coloured hair 
 could be found on either of them. They 
 were named Koona and Pa-qua-sha-kun, 
 Snow and Flour, by the Indians, on account 
 of their spotless whiteness. 
 
 A favourite colour is a kind of light 
 mouse-grey. Dogs of this kind are, however, 
 rare, but when obtained from the natives are 
 considered of greater intelligence than 
 others and are valued accordingly. Still 
 the colour, as a general thing, is not often 
 taken into consideration, or considered as 
 evidence against the purity of their blood. 
 
 The working weight of my Eskimo dogs 
 ranged from sixty to a hundred and thirty 
 pounds. It seemed rather remarkable that 
 some of the lighter dogs were quite equal in 
 drawing power to others that were very 
 much larger and heavier. In my first win-
 
 2O My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 ter's experience with dogs in the Hudson's 
 Bay Territories, I was the fortunate or un- 
 fortunate owner of twelve of them. It was 
 evident from their appearance that, in the 
 eyes of an expert, they would not all have 
 been classed as pure bred Eskimo. Still 
 there was enough of that breed in them to 
 dominate everything else and to cause them 
 to act in the most thoroughbred fashion. 
 
 They had, in common with all other 
 dogs and there were hundreds of them in 
 the Indian village where we resided the 
 habit of setting up the most discordant 
 bowlings three or four times during the 
 night, especially in the winter months. 
 
 These strange, weird bowlings would be- 
 gin at about nine o'clock. At that hour the 
 people were generally in their little houses 
 or wigwams, and the place was as quiet as 
 midnight. Then suddenly would break on 
 the stillness of that wintry night, the dis- 
 tant wolf -like bowlings of an Eskimo dog. 
 
 At first it sounded very eerie-like, and 
 not unmusical. It seemed when heard far 
 away like a succession of O-O-O-O's, long 
 drawn out, rising and falling on the clear 
 frosty air. This alone would not have been 
 annoying, but the trouble was, it was the
 
 My Eskimo or Huskie Dogs 21 
 
 signal for every dog within hearing and 
 there were multitudes of them in those days 
 of abundance of fish to take up the doleful 
 notes and add to them every sound in a dog's 
 gamut. Then for a few minutes there was 
 the most ear-splitting din that ever mortals 
 heard. From the deep voices of the old dogs 
 down to the comical yelps of the little pup- 
 pies, the air was charged and surcharged 
 with all manner of noises, musical and 
 otherwise, that it is in the power of dogs to 
 make. At first it nearly drove us wild. My 
 dozen dogs were just as bad as the others. 
 When the nerve-breaking din began, vainly 
 would I rush out among them, armed with 
 the first weapons that came to hand. It 
 made not the slightest difference for howl, 
 roar, squeal, yelp, bark, and make other 
 sounds indescribable they would, until the 
 spell was over, even if assailed with clubs, 
 whips, boot-jacks, ink bottles, whitefish, or 
 whatever else came first to hand. At about 
 midnight these horrid choruses were re- 
 peated and then again at about three o'clock 
 in the morning. 
 
 When I first mentioned this strange habit 
 of those dogs to the gentlemen of the Hud- 
 son's Bay Trading Company, and spoke of
 
 22 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 the annoyance they occasioned, they only 
 laughed and replied, " Oh, you will get used 
 to it and then never notice it." And so it 
 was, impossible though it seemed. In a few 
 weeks we peacefully slept while, like fiends 
 just outside our window, these brutes were 
 howling their loudest, as if in rivalry to the 
 scores of other packs all around them. 
 
 I fancy I might have had more love for 
 those Eskimo animals if by training, coax- 
 ing, petting, feeding or punishing, I could 
 have succeeded in conquering their thievish 
 habits. But it was an utter impossibility. 
 Steal they always would and did. Any- 
 thing eatable, and many things considered 
 uneatable, they could not pass by. I have 
 known them to leave their supper of white- 
 fish to go and tear smoked moose-skin moc- 
 casins down from a clothes-line and greedily 
 devour them. An old leather shirt was con- 
 sidered a dainty morsel, and at times there 
 seemed to be more than even poetic justice 
 in the fact that, if they could find the whip 
 of a cruel driver, they speedily devoured the 
 lash, even if it were ten feet long and only 
 made of braided buckskin and loaded with 
 shot! 
 
 Sometimes when on a journey, and a halt
 
 My Eskimo or Huskie Dogs 23 
 
 was called for a rest or a meal, if the Indian 
 drivers were not on the alert some of the 
 dogs while apparently resting, would be 
 eating the traces or harness of the dogs 
 cuddled close beside them. 
 
 My good wife and I got tired of living on 
 whiteflsh twenty-one times a week for six 
 months of the year, as our principal article 
 of food, and then the other six months hav- 
 ing the same article of food only varied by 
 the game of the country, such as wild cats, 
 muskrats, rabbits, beaver, venison, snow- 
 birds, and other things, with a limited sup- 
 ply of flour, tainted sometimes with coal- 
 oil. So one summer, when I was going into 
 what was then known as the Eed Kiver Set- 
 tlement, the good wife said to me : 
 
 " Why not buy a sheep from one of the 
 settlers and bring it out in your boat? We 
 can keep it here in this stockaded yard 
 where there is plenty of grass until the cold 
 weather. Then it can be killed and the frost 
 will keep it as long as desired. A little mut- 
 ton occasionally would be an agreeable 
 change in our bill of fare, and it would also 
 remind us a little of civilization." 
 
 This was a capital suggestion, and so, 
 when the time came, I put it into execution.
 
 24 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 I had no difficulty in buying a fine, large 
 sheep; and my friendly Indian boatman 
 cheerfully prepared a safe, comfortable 
 place for it in the stern of the boat. I pur- 
 chased a good sickle, and every night when 
 we camped on the shore, I found little 
 trouble in securing abundance of wild 
 luxuriant grass for my sheep. Without any 
 accident we succeeded in reaching my dis- 
 tant northern home. 
 
 The sheep was duly placed in the well- 
 stockaded yard and seemed perfectly safe 
 from either prowling wolves or vicious Es- 
 kimo dogs. 
 
 The stockades were made of young spruce 
 trees. The bark was peeled off and they 
 were securely set in a trench dug in the 
 ground. They were from eight inches to a 
 foot in diameter, and from twelve to fifteen 
 feet in height. They were placed as near 
 together as possible, and all securely spiked 
 to cross-bars on the inside. 
 
 Yet, in spite of all the efforts made for 
 the safety of my sheep, my native dogs suc- 
 ceeded in getting in one night. Like wolves 
 they speedily devoured poor Nannie, much 
 to our sorrow and annoyance. The roguish, 
 cunning rascals! The next morning after
 
 My Eskimo or Huskie Dogs 25 
 
 they had thus feasted on my mutton that I 
 had brought with such care four hundred 
 miles, they prudently kept at a distance 
 from me. They would sit up on their 
 haunches and let me come within about a 
 hundred feet of them but, " No nearer, 
 thank you," they seemed to say. Clever 
 fellows, they knew they deserved a good 
 thrashing, but they seemed to think it best 
 to put off the evil day until the master had 
 in a measure got over his anger and would 
 be more lenient in his punishment. 
 
 Wise dogs were they. For as I could not 
 get my hands upon them to punish them the 
 day the crime was discovered, I did not pun- 
 ish them when I did get hold of them. I 
 argued, I think justly, that they would not 
 have had the slightest idea of the reason 
 why they were being chastised. So by pru- 
 dently keeping beyond my reach for twenty- 
 four hours, they escaped altogether. 
 
 Disappointed, but not discouraged, in this 
 attempt to have some mutton for an occa- 
 sional meal in that great Northland, I next 
 tried to see what I could do with some pigs. 
 So the next summer, when I made my an- 
 nual trip to the Red River Settlement, I 
 bought from a flourishing farmer a couple
 
 26 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 of little pigs that were perhaps four or five 
 months old. At a mill in the Settlement I 
 purchased a quantity of ground pease and 
 meal and away we started on our homeward 
 journey. 
 
 Without any mishap we safely reached 
 our destination. Improvements had been 
 constantly going on and I had already built 
 a new log stable. In it, near to the stalls of 
 my cows for I now had two of these valu- 
 able animals, I prepared a strong pen for 
 my little porkers. The lively little fellows 
 were there safely placed, and as the door of 
 the stable was made of two-inch spruce 
 plank, I felt that we were fairly sure of 
 having some nice fresh pork for the coming 
 winter. 
 
 Vain prognostications ! What was a sin- 
 gle door of spruce wood against the sharp 
 teeth of a dozen Eskimo dogs ! 
 
 I had noticed how alert and nervous the 
 dogs ever were when it came near feeding 
 time for the little pigs, as they, in the usual 
 manner of their kind, expressed it by their 
 lively squealing for their supper of sour 
 milk and meal. 
 
 As the days went by, and no very serious 
 efforts had been made by the dogs to get into
 
 My Eskimo or Huskie Dogs 27 
 
 the stable, I began to feel that I had the 
 upper hand this time and they were not to 
 triumph over me, as they had in the matter 
 of the sheep. 
 
 I confess I was two or three times dis- 
 turbed somewhat, on going to feed the pigs, 
 to find that in several places the dogs had 
 with their sharp teeth, torn out the heavy 
 pieces of wood that had been firmly fastened 
 in between the great logs. However, as that 
 only left them at the best, a space of two or 
 three inches wide, they were still powerless 
 to do any harm, and so I only laughed at 
 their useless toil. I was also interested in 
 noticing that every morning there were so 
 many well-defined dog tracks around the 
 stable. It was evident that they were not 
 idle and so took the satisfaction when it was 
 dark, to go and, as we used to say, at least 
 have a good smell of the pigs. 
 
 Alas for our boastings! One morning 
 when I was going out to see my piggies, 
 which for weeks had been growing so fa- 
 mously, I was met by an Indian, who, in 
 the quiet, cool manner of his people, said, 
 " I think you need not trouble yourself or 
 have Martin bother to waste any more food 
 on the pigs."
 
 28 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 Away I hurried. There before me was 
 Martin, my faithful man of all work, at the 
 stable. In the pen but little was left of the 
 pigs. In a corner of the stable, with heads 
 bloody and tempers roused, were some of 
 my Eskimo dogs. Martin had caught them 
 at this feast and had wisely blocked their 
 way until I should arrive. 
 
 Keeping a watch on the dogs that were 
 now wild to escape, we made an investiga- 
 tion of the manner in which they had won 
 their victory over us this second time. Mar- 
 tin, when attending to his morning work, 
 had found the door securely fastened as 
 usual, but right through those spruce planks 
 those dogs had cut their way with their 
 teeth. They must have worked in turns and 
 at a good deal of discomfort to themselves, 
 as many of the slivers torn off were quite 
 tinged with blood. Yet with all the mad 
 frenzy of their natures, when aroused, after 
 undoubtedly laying their plans to succeed 
 in this way, they had thus triumphed. The 
 cunning fellows selected a dark, wild, 
 stormy night. We afterward remembered 
 how the winds had howled and raged and 
 had so aided them. Thus the noise they 
 must necessarily have made in their cutting
 
 My Eskimo or Huskie Dogs 29 
 
 and tearing at that wood, and their attack 
 upon the pigs, had not been heard even by 
 any of the Indians, although some of their 
 dwelling places were not far distant. Dis- 
 gusted and annoyed, I turned away. 
 
 " Shall we punish the dogs? " asked 
 Martin. 
 
 " Do as you like," I replied, " but what 
 good will it do them? Such is their nature 
 and I am going to get rid of them as soon 
 as possible. There are other kinds of dogs 
 with none of their miserable ways, and I 
 am going to have them if money or friends 
 can secure them." 
 
 At once I returned to the house. Whether 
 Martin gave them a thrashing or not, I 
 never inquired. My efforts for the uplift- 
 ing and the reformation of Eskimo dogs, as 
 a class, then and there ceased. I had in- 
 dividual dogs afterward that I could trust 
 when in harness, or tied securely to a tree 
 or post, but that was the extent of my use 
 for them.
 
 II 
 
 WITH WILD ESKIMO DOGS UNDER THE AURORAS 
 
 at once, and come as quickly 
 .as you can, for I have taken an over- 
 dose of quinine and am afraid I will 
 die of hydrophobia ! " 
 
 Such was the unique and startling com- 
 munication that was brought to me one win- 
 try day by an Indian hunter from an Indian 
 settlement two hundred miles away. 
 
 The writer of it was an Indian native 
 helper, who had been placed in temporary 
 oversight of a mission station until an or- 
 dained missionary could be secured to take 
 full charge of the place. This native worker 
 was not destitute of ability or zeal, but he 
 had had the misfortune to get hold of a medi- 
 cal volume that gave a rather vivid descrip- 
 tion of many of the ills to which the human 
 frame is subject. The Indian, who had 
 quite a good knowledge of the English lan- 
 guage, read this book with a feeling of hor- 
 ror. He was fascinated by it It nearly 
 30
 
 With Wild Dogs Under the Auroras 3 1 
 
 frightened him out of his wits. He fancied 
 he was the possessor of nearly every disease 
 therein described. 
 
 With all the medicines with which I had 
 furnished him to heal the sicknesses of his 
 people, he liberally dosed himself, until 
 from their effects upon him he really became 
 sick. This, of course, added to his horror 
 and alarm. He neglected his work and 
 spent his time in feeling his pulse, looking 
 at his tongue in the glass, and industriously 
 dosing himself with every variety of drugs 
 in his possession. The climax was reached 
 when he took an overdose of quinine. The 
 word " hydrophobia," to him incomprehen- 
 sible, seemed at the time a fitting word to 
 represent his fears, as well as his feelings., 
 and hence the remarkable epistle from him 
 to me, which begins this chapter. 
 
 As speedily as possible I prepared three 
 trains of dogs. Our sleds were heavily 
 loaded, principally with food supplies for 
 this Indian and his household. 
 
 I secured a capital Indian guide, whose 
 duty was to run on his snowshoes ahead of 
 our dogs, to indicate the direction. There 
 was but little vestige of a road, as frequent 
 blizzard storms swept through those north-
 
 32 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 era wastes and forests and obliterated any 
 trail that might have been made by passing 
 hunters. 
 
 As is customary and essential in travel- 
 ling with dogs in that country, we had with 
 us on our sleds our kettles, provisions, bed- 
 ding, guns and everything absolutely essen- 
 tial to living out in the open air, independ- 
 ent of the rest of the world. We did not 
 see a house on the whole route and only met 
 with a few hunters through whose hunting 
 grounds we passed. Three times when night 
 overtook us we made our camp in the woods 
 and there slept with no roof over us. 
 
 Abundance of fur robes and warm blank- 
 ets made our wintry beds under the stars. 
 We spent the nights as best we could. 
 Sometimes as there we slept, the clouds 
 arose and from them a heavy fall of snow 
 silently covered us like a great warm 
 blanket, and added much to our comfort. 
 
 After various adventures and mishaps, 
 incident to such lands and such methods of 
 travel, we reached the southern end of a 
 lake about thirty miles long. On the north- 
 ern end of this lake was situated the mis- 
 sion where lived my hypochondriacal In- 
 dian, towards whose house we were travel-
 
 With Wild Dogs Under the Auroras 33 
 
 ling. As it was about sundown when we 
 came in sight of the lake, and there was 
 abundance of good wood for a winter camp, 
 we there decided to spend the night and go 
 on in the morning. However, ere we had 
 unharnessed our dogs, we heard the shouts 
 of Indians and the merry jingling of dog- 
 bells. 
 
 It did not take long for my men to notify 
 these strangers of our presence, and very 
 speedily we were joined by them. To our 
 surprise we found that the party consisted 
 of my afflicted friend and a couple of Indian 
 dog drivers. They each had a train of very 
 large and fierce-looking Eskimo dogs. On 
 my expressing my pleasure and satisfaction 
 at seeing him so much better than I had 
 expected, in view of his letter, he replied 
 that the medicine book had told him that 
 his disease would run its course in so many 
 days, and so he thought that while it was 
 doing so he would just run up and see me 
 about it, 
 
 My Indian companions, whom I had 
 told of the probably imaginary character 
 of his ills, wanted as did I, to laugh at him, 
 but we managed to keep our faces straight 
 while he told us of the various diseases that
 
 34 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 had assailed him since we had seen him six 
 months before. 
 
 I comforted him with the assurance that 
 I had not only food and other supplies in 
 my dog-sleds for him, but medicine that 
 would speedily drive out of him all of his 
 diseases. This latter piece of information 
 so delighted him that he at once proposed 
 that I should give the medicine to him then 
 and there. 
 
 However, this was not my plan for curing 
 such a case of imaginary sickness, and so I 
 decided that it would be much more effective 
 and thorough, if we waited until we re- 
 turned to his home. This did not satisfy 
 him and then I had to tell him that I must 
 insist on delay. As a compromise, however, 
 it was decided that after a good supper at 
 the camp fire, now brightly burning, we 
 would continue the journey instead of 
 camping there for the night. 
 
 The trail most of the way had been very 
 difficult. Our loads were heavy and our 
 dogs were so tired that they were in no 
 humour for rapid travelling. It seemed al- 
 most cruel to push on, but this man, with 
 all his imaginary ills, could not think of 
 delay.
 
 With Wild Dogs Under the Auroras 35 
 
 To judge by his appearance and energetic 
 actions he was the healthiest man in the 
 crowd. My Indians would have objected to 
 continuing the journey if the stalwart In- 
 dian had not so eloquently detailed his mul- 
 titudinous troubles. So it was resolved 
 that we should go on, and as the lake was 
 covered with fairly smooth ice, the travel- 
 ling would now be much easier for the dogs. 
 
 The frozen lakes and rivers always give 
 us our best roads for dog travelling. On 
 the sick man's discovering that I had my 
 medicines with me in my own cariole, he 
 made a proposition to exchange dog trains 
 with me for that home run. This was the 
 cause of an exciting adventure and much 
 trouble. 
 
 His dogs were large, powerful Eskimos, 
 full of vitality and mischief. He had 
 abundance of fish and so his dogs were in 
 as fine condition as such dogs could be. 
 For days they had been kept tied up in 
 preparation for this long journey of two 
 hundred miles, on which he had started. 
 The thirty miles run on the ice from his 
 home to this place, where we had met, had 
 really only limbered up such animals for 
 their work.
 
 36 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 Our sleds were all repacked, with some 
 of the heaviest bundles placed on those of 
 these Indians who had met us. My tired 
 dogs were unfastened from my cariole, and 
 in their place, was attached the train of 
 four fierce Eskimos. 
 
 My own faithful, cautious guide, as he 
 carefully tucked the warm fur robes around 
 me in the cariole, handed me a heavy dog 
 whip and said that in all probability I 
 would have to use it, if those dogs found 
 out that they were dragging a white man. 
 This whip had a heavy oak handle, less 
 than two feet long, while the heavy, 
 well-shotted lash was over fifteen feet in 
 length. 
 
 The sick man, the owner of these dogs, 
 as he straightened them out in the trail on 
 the ice with their faces towards home, said 
 to me: 
 
 " Now do not speak a word and there will 
 be no trouble. They will run you to my 
 home in less than three hours. They will 
 keep on the trail we have made in coming 
 on the ice even if there has been but little 
 snow in which to mark it. They do not like 
 white people, but if you do not speak to
 
 With Wild Dogs Under the Auroras 37 
 
 them, in their anxiety to get home, they will 
 never suspect." 
 
 I looked the fierce brutes over and then 
 so placed my heavy whip that I could in- 
 stantly seize it, if necessary, and made up 
 my mind that I was in for a wild, exciting 
 ride. 
 
 It was a magnificent night. The sun had 
 gone down in unclouded splendour, and 
 now the stars were shining with a beauty 
 and clearness that only can be witnessed 
 where there is absolutely no fog, or mist, or 
 damp. The intense cold had cleared away 
 all such obstructions. Before me was the 
 great frozen lake stretching away and far 
 beyond the distant horizon. To my inex- 
 perienced eye, there was on that icy expanse 
 not the vestige of a road. Yet during the 
 long hours of this intensely cold night, 
 without a single human companion, I was 
 going to trust myself to the care of four 
 Eskimo animals, to run me thirty miles to 
 a lonely log house on the distant shore. 
 During those long hours, I was neither to 
 cough, nor speak a single word, for fear of 
 trouble, or perhaps a fierce battle with 
 these savage brutes and, if it should take
 
 38 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 place, who could tell which side would win 
 in the conflict? No wonder my spirits rose 
 and I felt that this was indeed a trip of no 
 ordinary interest. 
 
 With the consolatory words of my guide 
 that, after resting the weary dogs for an 
 hour or two, they would follow in my trail, 
 and with the hope that they would find me 
 safe at the end, my adventurous journey 
 was suddenly begun by the owner of the 
 dogs applying his long whiplash to them, 
 which of course started them off on a 
 furious gallop. 
 
 It was indeed a glorious ride. The well- 
 trained dogs were splendidly matched, and 
 so in perfect unison they dashed along. 
 My cariole was about ten feet long and 
 eighteen inches wide. Its bottom was made 
 of inch oak boards and its sides were of 
 parchment I sat well back in the rear end 
 and was so well muffled in furs that only 
 my eyes were visible. So narrow was my 
 cariole that a certain amount of balancing 
 was necessary when dashing over occa- 
 sional snow-drifts, which at times are found 
 even out on the great frozen lakes. But I 
 had become used to this work, and so had 
 no fear of an upset For about fifteen miles
 
 With Wild Dogs Under the Auroras 39 
 
 we thus sped on. The dogs would some- 
 times drop into a swift trot and then again 
 resume their rapid gallop. They were on 
 the home stretch, and so required no fur- 
 ther incentive to urge them along. 
 
 It was a unique ride and exhilarating in 
 the extreme. To add to the splendour of 
 the starry heavens the wondrous aurora 
 came dancing and flashing and blazing up 
 before me in the northern sky. It formed 
 into great armies which fought out the 
 ghostly battles with no rude sounds to dis- 
 turb the northern solitudes. Then when 
 apparently satisfied with this performance 
 they rolled across the heavens in great rib- 
 bons of light, from which they flung out 
 long flags of purest white, which seemed as 
 flags of truce from heaven to earth. Then 
 suddenly, with all the rapidity of electrical 
 phenomena, they changed to pink and yel- 
 low and then to blood-red crimson until the 
 whole heavens seemed aglow with vivid 
 colours so intense that the snowy particles 
 on the ice caught the reflection, and when 
 we dashed through them it seemed as 
 though they were pools of the blood of thou- 
 sands slain. Then again there was another 
 transformation; and now as from the re-
 
 40 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 gions of departed spirits, noiselessly flitted 
 into dim vision the ghostly forms of multi- 
 tudes clad in purest white or in robes of 
 pink or yellow. In rhythmic measure, they 
 danced along, just above the horizon and 
 then with a sudden bound, they flew up 
 into the heavens above us, only pausing in 
 the midway course for a second, to flash 
 out in some more glorious colour or to be 
 changed into forms of more ravishing 
 beauty. When the zenith was reached the 
 grandest transformation of all took place. 
 For here came whole multitudes from those 
 who seemingly had been engaged in the car- 
 nival of blood, to the white-robed innocent 
 and unstained spirits of light. In myriads 
 they came, and as though every one knew 
 its place they rapidly formed in the very 
 zenith above us the crowning glory of the 
 auroral displays, the perfect corona, the 
 grandest vision the eye of man ever gazed 
 upon. How it scintillated and blazed above 
 us, a crown of splendour, a fit diadem for 
 Him, " on whose head are many crowns ! " 
 Then, as the whole corona blazed out in 
 equal brightness, the shadow of my dogs 
 was thrown completely under them. These 
 ghostly shadows seemed to startle and
 
 With Wild Dogs Under the Auroras 41 
 
 stimulate their pace, as, to the sole music 
 of their little bells, they rapidly sped along. 
 They seemed also to startle something else. 
 for out from a rocky island on our left, 
 there dashed a splendid black fox. He was 
 indeed a beauty, and so vivid was the Au- 
 rora that I had a very fine view of him, as 
 he rapidly hurried across our trail and 
 struck out for a well-wooded, rocky island, 
 perhaps half a mile on our right. 
 
 The sight of him very much excited my 
 dogs. Home, and their comrades and ken- 
 nels, were for the time forgotten, and away 
 from the home trail they dashed in wild, 
 excitement after that fox. How far they 
 would run in the pursuit, I could not tell, 
 but every moment was taking us farther 
 from the trail, and if it were once lost, 
 could we find it again? 
 
 Thus I had to do a lot of thinking in a 
 very short time and quickly decide what 
 to do. We had come about half of the dis- 
 tance and there being at least fifteen miles 
 yet to run, it was not safe to be madly rac- 
 ing after a fox out on this great lake. So 
 I resolved to break the silence, and to turn 
 the clogs into the home stretch, even if I had 
 to fight them. The preparations necessary
 
 42 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 were not many. Quickly bracing myself on 
 my knees with my robes well around me, I 
 gripped the heavy whip so that I could, if 
 necessary, use the handle of it as a club. 
 Then I sternly shouted to the dogs in In- 
 dian language to stop and then turn to the 
 left. The instant they heard my voice, they 
 did stop, and that* so suddenly, that my 
 rapidly moving cariole went sliding on and 
 passed the rear dog of the train, as far as 
 his traces would allow. Then they came 
 for me furiously. The leader of the train 
 was the fiercest of the four, and he led in 
 i\he attack. 
 
 It was certainly well for me that he did 
 so, for swinging the others around, brought 
 them all into such a position that only one 
 at a time could reach me. I am left-handed, 
 and so, as he sprang at me, I guarded my 
 face with my right hand well wrapped in 
 furs, while I belaboured him over the head 
 with the oak whiphandle. Three or four 
 well administered blows were all he needed, 
 and with a howl he dropped on the ice while 
 the next one in the train tried his best to 
 get hold of me. One fortunate clip on the 
 side of his head sent him tumbling over on 
 bis leader, and then I had to face the third
 
 With Wild Dogs Under the Auroras 43 
 
 one of the train. He proved the ugliest cus- 
 tomer of all, and I never before imagined a 
 dog's head could take such a pommelling 
 ere he would give in. Failing to get hold 
 of me, he tore the robes and parchment side 
 of the cariole. It was well for me that the 
 traces of the fourth dog, fastened to the 
 front of the cariole, so held him back, that 
 he was unable to do more than savagely 
 growl at me, while he at times fastened his 
 teeth into everything within reach. His 
 efforts however kept the cariole twisting in 
 a most erratic fashion, and so I had to keep 
 up the fight and at the same time look well 
 to my balance so as not to be upset. 
 
 With the third dog conquered, I uncoiled 
 the long lash of the whip and shouting 
 " Marche ! " I vigourously and promiscu- 
 ously used it on them. They did not wait 
 for many applications but speedily sprang 
 to their feet. The leader wheeled around 
 to the left and away they flew. At first 
 they seemed tangled up in the traces, but 
 trained dogs are wonderfully clever in 
 straightening out from these mixups and 
 so it was then. On they sped to the left 
 until their sharp scent at once indicated 
 when the home trail was reached, and the
 
 44 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 homeward journey was resumed. I had no 
 hesitancy in speaking now. As my voice in 
 unison with the pistol-like reports of the 
 whip rang out, they showed no more desire 
 for battle, but a desperate resolve to reach 
 home as speedily as possible. 
 
 But ere the journey ended, they played 
 me a shabby trick, and in a measure got 
 their revenge on me. At the bottom of the 
 hill, on which the house of this native agent 
 was built, he had dug a trench and there 
 fixed a heavy stockade to break the force of 
 the wild storms that, sweeping over the 
 lake, drifted the snow around his home. 
 This stockade was fifteen or eighteen feet 
 high. The storms had so piled up the snow 
 on the lake side that it was now level with 
 the top ; while over the other side there was 
 a drift of only about five or six feet in 
 depth. 
 
 There was a regular dog trail around by 
 the gate to the house, but, of course, I knew 
 nothing of this. The dogs knew, however, 
 and were always accustomed to use it. But 
 this night, as though furious and revenge- 
 ful at the white man who had conquered 
 them, when we arrived within a few yards 
 of the house, instead of taking the usual
 
 With Wild Dogs Under the Auroras 45 
 
 route they dashed up this long packed 
 snowdrift on the lake side carrying me over 
 the high stockade into the drifts beyond. 
 It was a mad leap of over ten feet. Fortu- 
 nately the snow into which we plunged was 
 deep enough to break the fall, but, as it was, 
 I felt the effects of it for weeks. With a 
 vengeance the dogs struggled out of the 
 snowdrift. Then up the hill they hurried 
 me to the house. Sharp ears had heard our 
 coming and familiar hands grasped the 
 dogs and led them away, while I was, by 
 a half-frightened woman, taken into the 
 mission home among her alarmed little 
 ones, who required any amount of explana- 
 tion why a paleface had come in that way 
 with their father's dogs. 
 
 I was thankful to be under a roof once 
 more, and after a time was able, especially 
 by the presents which I had brought, to 
 make friends of all the household. 
 
 The rest of the party arrived during the 
 night. The medicines administered to the 
 sick man proved efficacious and he, at this 
 date, is still alive and vigourous.
 
 Ill 
 
 BOBBER DOGS AND AN INDIAN COUNCIL 
 
 THE contrast between the old experi- 
 enced guides, with whom I made 
 most of my journeys, and the inex- 
 perienced Indians, whom I was sometimes 
 obliged to take with me, was very great in- 
 deed. The best guides were not always 
 available. They were great hunters and 
 were often away in their distant hunting 
 grounds. They were also in demand by the 
 great Hudson's Bay Company, which re- 
 quired the very best guides for the prosecu- 
 tion of their widely extended fur trade. The 
 result was, that I was sometimes obliged to 
 start with men who knew but very little 
 more of the duties required of them than I 
 did myself. 
 
 Such trips would be specially unfortu- 
 nate, if, as it sometimes happened, I was 
 compelled to make use of these men when 
 various diseases had made sad havoc among 
 my dogs and the survivors had been so 
 46
 
 Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 47 
 
 hardly worked and had suffered so much, 
 that it would have been cruelty so soon to 
 put them on the trail again. The result was, 
 that while giving my dogs a rest at times, 
 I had to hire not only incompetent guides, 
 but also trains of native dogs that often 
 sorely tried me. 
 
 A queer lot of Indians they were. But I 
 became interested in them as soon as they 
 stated the reason of their coming. They 
 were a deputation from the northwestern 
 side of Lake Winnipeg, and they had been 
 sent to ask me to go over and meet them in 
 council, and advise them, as I had done 
 other Indians who had made treaties with 
 the Government. 
 
 The great in-rush of white settlers and 
 adventurers into Manitoba and the North- 
 west Territories, in the early seventies, 
 greatly troubled the Indians. They feared 
 that in spite of all the fair promises made 
 to them, they were in danger of losing their 
 lands, the hunting-grounds of their fore- 
 fathers, without a fair compensation. Put- 
 ting ourselves in their places, we can see 
 that they had much to perplex and trouble 
 them. They used to come to me in their 
 bewilderment and ask me to explain many,
 
 48 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 of the singular, and to them most incom- 
 prehensible, doings of these strange " pale- 
 faces." Sometimes to draw them out and 
 hear their quaint way of putting things, I 
 would ask for definite information as to the 
 actions of the " palefaces," who had so 
 sadly unsettled them. 
 
 They were not slow to tell me what they 
 had seen, and as I listened I wondered if 
 the busy enterprising white man, as he was 
 rushing hither and thither through that 
 then wild country where the rights of the 
 Indians were still unquestioned, ever knew 
 how often sharp eyes were upon him, be- 
 hind which was a suspicious red Indian, in 
 whose hands was a trusty gun. 
 
 That these red men remained so quiet, 
 both on the prairies and in the forests, con- 
 sidering the numbers of greedy adventurers 
 who invaded their abodes, ere treaties were 
 made with them and their rights assured, 
 redounds very much to their credit. 
 
 " We see him," said one, " that paleface 
 with his little pan, and he go up and down 
 our rivers and lakes, and he stop on the 
 shores and he put sand in that pan, and he 
 whirl it round and round so fast that some
 
 Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 49 
 
 of the sand keep flying out with the water. 
 Then when only little left in the bottom of 
 that pan, that man puts it on white paper 
 and he looks at it for some time through 
 little round things he takes out of his 
 pocket. Then he throws it all away and 
 then he tries again, and then he goes some- 
 where else and tries same as this, and then 
 when night is coming on and he throws his 
 last sand away, he says bad words and goes 
 back to his camp. 
 
 " Then some other day another white 
 man comes into our country, and there be 
 three, four of them. And they pitch their 
 tent by the great rocks where there are 
 some lines of white rock mixed with the 
 rest. There some days these men with their 
 hammers and chisels, hammer and break 
 away pieces of this white rock [quartz]. 
 Then they break it up fine and they do 
 many things with it, all very strange to us. 
 Then they try in some more places all 
 around their camp and some even go miles 
 away, looking for this white rock, and they 
 bring to the camp some loads of it on their 
 backs. They then all work at it and when 
 done they throw it all away, and then they
 
 50 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 say some more bad words, and then they 
 take down their tent and go somewhere 
 else." 
 
 I listened to these and other recitals of 
 their perplexities, and assured them that 
 the Government of the Queen, through the 
 Governor-General, would see that her In- 
 dian subjects were honourably dealt with, 
 and that these pushing white men would 
 not be allowed to rob them of their mines, 
 fisheries, forests or waterfalls. 
 
 My words were received with great satis- 
 faction, especially when they found out that 
 I had already assisted another tribe in help- 
 ing them to make an advantageous treaty 
 with the Government. 
 
 They were so very importunate that I 
 should come and tell at their council-fire, 
 all these assuring things that I had to prom- 
 ise to make them a speedy visit. They were 
 highly elated, that is for Indians, with the 
 success of their visit, and having received 
 some gifts, they speedily returned to their 
 distant home. 
 
 My field of work was already extended 
 over an area equal to all England, and this 
 new place, from which this delegation had
 
 Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 51 
 
 come, was quite beyond what I had consid- 
 ered my field. But the promise had been 
 given and it must be fulfilled. 
 
 I had some out-stations on the western 
 side of Lake Winnipeg at that date, and so 
 I resolved to make a tour, which would in- 
 clude all my work, and enable me, at the 
 same time, to meet these disturbed Indians 
 and quiet their fears in reference to their 
 lands. 
 
 The distemper had killed off a number of 
 my dogs, and others had suffered severely 
 in a very hard journey just ended; so in 
 hiring my Indian comrades, I not only en- 
 gaged three who knew that western country, 
 but I also hired three of their dog-trains as 
 well. This gave my own dogs a much- 
 needed rest, but I missed them much before 
 the trip ended. 
 
 We carried with us abundant supplies, 
 for we were going into new regions and were 
 none too sure as to the condition or abun- 
 dance of the food at those places. Reindeer 
 had been killed in goodly numbers that win- 
 ter, by my Indians, so I had a large bag of 
 venison cooked for this long trip. A two- 
 bushel bag of fat, nutritious buns was also
 
 52 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 prepared. These, with the usual supplies 
 of the more substantial food, made us un- 
 usually pleased with our outfit. 
 
 We left our home very early in the morn- 
 ing and with our fresh dogs made a capital 
 day's run, considering our heavy loads. We 
 made our camp in the forest on the eastern 
 shore of the lake, in the snow where a dense 
 balsam grove afforded us protection from 
 the biting cold wind. 
 
 Long ere the stars had faded before the 
 light of the coming day we were on our 
 way. We were now crossing the great lake 
 and were specially anxious to get to the 
 other side ere night should overtake us. So 
 very wide is this great lake, at the place 
 where we were crossing, that it requires 
 many hours of rapid dog travelling to make 
 the journey from shore to shore. About 
 half-way across we struck a little island, on 
 which we found a few dead trees, still stand- 
 ing. We quickly cut down two or three of 
 them and soon had a good fire of burning 
 logs, at which a much enjoyed dinner was 
 prepared and eaten. The journey was then 
 resumed and rapidly did we push on, in our 
 endeavour to reach the western shore in 
 time to make our camp there in the forest
 
 Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 53 
 
 before the darkness fell upon us. To our 
 great disappointment, a wintry haze settled 
 down between us and the distant shore. 
 While we were still able to continue our 
 journey, the Indian attendants became quite 
 bewildered, and missed by some miles, the 
 place at which we wished to strike the land. 
 Darkness fell upon us before the Indian 
 running on ahead was able to announce that 
 we had reached the shore. We found that 
 we had arrived at a place where the bold, 
 high banks rose up perpendicularly from 
 the water, now of course, converted into 
 solid ice. 
 
 After some fruitless attempts to find a 
 place where it was possible to clamber up 
 with our dog trains into the forest above, 
 we gave up the prospect of having a decent 
 camp in the woods that night and began 
 making what preparations we could to 
 spend the night there on the ice. Fortu- 
 nately for us, the banks were of clay, and 
 the fierce storms of many summers had so 
 eaten into them, that many trees, growing 
 on the top, had had the soil so washed away 
 from the roots that they had fallen head- 
 long to the shore beneath. Here amidst the 
 snowdrifts that had accumulated and nearly
 
 54 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 buried these fallen trees out of sight, we 
 vigourously plied our axes and cut out a 
 quantity of logs and branches with which to 
 make a fire. 
 
 In order to make a fire on the ice, that 
 will continue burning long enough for the 
 cooking of a supper, and the thawing out 
 of frozen fish for our dogs, it is necessary 
 first to lay a foundation of logs, the greener 
 and the more difficult to burn the better, on 
 which the actual fire can be built. The sup- 
 ply of wood was limited, or rather very diffi- 
 cult to obtain, so buried was it in the snow. 
 
 We succeeded at last, however, even if we 
 had no light but the stars, and they, owing 
 to the haze, were far from being as brilliant 
 as usual. When at length our fire was 
 brightly blazing out there on the ice, it was 
 a picturesque sight. But there was no time 
 for mere sentiment, as we knew full well 
 that the instant the fire burnt down through 
 its foundation of logs, the steam from the 
 melting ice would extinguish it. Hence 
 everybody was busy and no time was lost in 
 preparing our supper or thawing the fish for 
 the dogs. Everything went off to our satis- 
 faction. Some of the Indians, refreshed by 
 their suppers, hurried off, and by the light
 
 Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 55 
 
 of the still blazing fire cut a fresh supply of 
 wood, including a quantity of green logs for 
 a new foundation. This gave us the means 
 for a brilliant fire with which to prepare our 
 beds for a few hours' needed sleep and rest 
 on the ice. 
 
 Suddenly our pleasant anticipations of a 
 quiet, restful night, which we much needed, 
 were rudely scattered to the winds. Hush- 
 ing into our midst without the slightest in- 
 timation of their approach, there appeared 
 half a dozen wild looking Indians accom- 
 panied by over a dozen of vicious, half- 
 starved Huskie dogs. The men greeted us 
 most effusively, which was a sign that they 
 were thinking of the big supper they ex- 
 pected us to give them. The wolfish dogs, 
 however, did not even have the politeness to 
 greet us, but after a sudden fierce attack 
 upon my hired dogs, whom they drove away 
 from the fire, they at once set upon and be- 
 gan to devour everything eatable, in which 
 they could fasten their teeth. My Indians 
 were indignant, and instantly seizing their 
 whips and firebrands, they vigourously as- 
 sailed these wolfish dogs and at length suc- 
 ceeded in driving them a few yards from the 
 fire. We saw that we were in for a miser-
 
 56 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 able night, with varied experiences that 
 would be anything but pleasant. 
 
 While two of the men with whips and 
 clubs kept the invading Eskimo beasts 
 out of the camp, with my other Indian I 
 chatted with these visiting strangers. They 
 told me that they had come from the Cum- 
 berland district to fish through the ice on 
 Lake Winnipeg, and hunt what game they 
 could find in the forests on the shore. They 
 said that they had had very little success 
 and were very hungry. 
 
 I gave them a liberal supply of food and 
 a package of tea, and after a long chat po- 
 litely requested them to return to their own 
 camp, which was some distance up the coast, 
 and from which they had seen our camp- 
 fire. Its brightness was the cause of this 
 visit. In vain my protestations and kindly 
 request for their departure! The fact of 
 our being tired and weary and wanting the 
 night's rest never seemed to have entered 
 into their minds. What they said was : 
 
 " We are so glad to have met the ' black 
 coat ' the friend of the Indian, that we must 
 stay with him as long as we can." 
 
 So they set to work, and with my kettles 
 cooked the food which I had given them.
 
 Robber Dugs and an Indian Council 57 
 
 Seeing that it was impossible to get rid of 
 them, I held a brief consultation with my 
 men as to the best manner of saving our 
 supplies from that pack of cunning rascals. 
 How innocent they looked, sitting out there 
 bunched together on the ice, and just wait- 
 ing until we would go to sleep. Two of the 
 men turned up the sleds, and, sleeping be- 
 tween them and their loads, they managed 
 to get through the night with but the loss 
 of a few fish and the cutting of numerous 
 deer skin thongs, to which the loads are 
 tied on the sleds. 
 
 My guide and myself took charge of the 
 bag of cooked supplies and placed them 
 under the outer coverings of our beds, which 
 were unrolled and arranged for us on the 
 ice. As on other occasions, under almost 
 similar circumstances, I placed close at 
 hand a number of sticks which I could use 
 as clubs, as well as my heavy dog-whip. 
 
 Our Indian visitors, at length seeing that 
 we were anxious to get some sleep, left us. 
 But not so their dogs. Vainly my men tried 
 to drive the half-starved brutes after their 
 masters. They cared not for the calls 
 sounding in front of them, or the clubs and 
 execrations hurled at them in the rear.
 
 58 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 It was now long after midnight. Our 
 fires in several places had burnt down 
 through their log foundations, and the hiss- 
 ing steam from the melting ice below gradu- 
 ally extinguished the flames, that were, on 
 the higher places, bravely striving to keep 
 up their brightness. 
 
 Darkness at length settled upon us and 
 soon the fun began. In spite of our watch- 
 fulness those Eskimo dogs proved too 
 much for us. They walked over us; they 
 sat down upon us; they fought across us. 
 Waking up, I was as though I had had the 
 night-mare. We threw our clubs at them; 
 we thrashed them with our whips; we 
 chased them far out on the lake, but they 
 were back about as soon as we were. We 
 thought we were good watchmen and that at 
 least some of us were on the alert all the 
 time. But it was all in vain. Those dogs 
 got our venison and buns and many other 
 things. One of them ate several feet off the 
 end of one of the heavy whip-lashes, and 
 another devoured or carried off the mocca- 
 sins of one of the men who had put them to 
 dry when the fire was bright, and had for- 
 gotten to remove them when the flame was 
 suddenly smothered by the steam. We were
 
 Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 59 
 
 a demoralized lot of travellers when the first 
 grey shadows of morning came the next day. 
 My men called in their timid dogs from the 
 distance, and we were grateful that none of 
 them had been devoured. We harnessed 
 them up, tied on our loads or what was 
 left of them and departed with a firm re- 
 solve that, if possible, in the future we 
 would try to reach a forest camp, where, if 
 again assailed by such dogs as these, that 
 had so over-matched us, we would at least 
 have the trees in which we could hang up 
 our supplies, and if necessary climb into 
 ourselves. 
 
 With supplies very much diminished, our 
 enthusiasm cooled, and our conceit below 
 zero, as regards ability to overmatch Huskie 
 dogs, we proceeded on our way. We were 
 a quiet party only one question that I can 
 remember, being asked that day. It was 
 something about like this: 
 
 " If the Evil One should come to trouble 
 us in the form of an animal, which one 
 would it likely be? " 
 
 The guide said, "Huskie;" and we all 
 affirmatively chorused, " Che-ka-ma." 
 
 Towards night we reached one of our dis- 
 tant outposts. Here we exchanged a few
 
 60 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 pounds of tea for some fish and rabbits, and 
 I lived on them, in place of the supplies the 
 native dogs had appropriated to themselves. 
 After some days' visit here, the journey was 
 resumed and, after varied experience, gener- 
 ally more annoying than pleasant, with 
 these hired dogs, on the day appointed we 
 reached the village of the Indians with 
 whom the council was to be held. 
 
 The natives who had visited me had evi- 
 dently returned with glowing accounts of 
 their interview. We found the people in a 
 very excited condition and eager to hear 
 what the " blackcoat " had to say to them 
 on this all-important question. 
 
 They gave us a salute from all of their 
 guns that were available, and freely offered 
 us the pipe from their own mouths. Never 
 having acquired the " fumigatory art," I 
 was obliged to transfer the calumets to my 
 men, and have them do all of the smoking 
 expected of me, as by proxy. Singular to 
 relate, this my men were ever willing and 
 even anxious to do for me. 
 
 Our first important duties after the noisy 
 welcomes were over and the pipes had been 
 duly passed around, was to secure our sleds 
 with their important loads. My Indian
 
 Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 61 
 
 drivers securely fastened their dogs with a 
 stick and two thongs in the manner de- 
 scribed elsewhere. The village was so in- 
 fested with hungry looking dogs, that we 
 decided our only safe way was to put our 
 sleds and loads not needed upon an empty 
 fish staging at least eight feet above the 
 ground. Here they were fortunately safe. 
 
 The great council was not held until all 
 had returned to their wigwams and had 
 their evening meal. Then the important 
 gathering took place. These Indians had 
 built a log council house which would hold 
 several hundred people. When I was es- 
 corted into it, the sight was picturesque in 
 the extreme. Near the centre on a raised 
 platform of earth the council fire was burn- 
 ing. Grouped around it were the chiefs and 
 principal men of that band of Indians, as 
 well as some distinguished visitors from 
 other places, who had come for information 
 on this important question, which was agi- 
 tating the minds of many Indians of the dif- 
 ferent tribes. All had brought out their 
 finest Indian costumes and many were gor- 
 geously arrayed. 
 
 The calumet, or pipe of peace, was then 
 lit with a good deal of ceremony. After be-
 
 62 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 ing passed around and a whiff or two drawn 
 by them all, it was returned to the principal 
 chief, who handed it to his pipe-bearer. 
 Then the speech-making began and lasted 
 for several hours. Indians are natural ora- 
 tors. They have a readiness of utterance, a 
 fluency of words, a play of fancy and a rich- 
 ness of illustration, that is, at times, very 
 remarkable. Give an Indian orator a theme 
 in which he is interested and time to medi- 
 tate upon it, and he will make a speech that 
 many an orator in highly civilized lands 
 might envy but could seldom equal. 
 
 Indians are very courteous as well as dig- 
 nified in debate. A speaker is never inter- 
 rupted while giving his address. To his re- 
 marks all give the most earnest attention, 
 no matter how much their views may differ 
 from his, or how irritating they may seem 
 to a white man. Such a thing as abruptly 
 interrupting the speaker in the midst of his 
 oration is unknown. 
 
 Another remarkable fact is the tenacity 
 of their memories and the ability of a 
 speaker to reply to the address of an oppo- 
 nent. Such a thing as taking notes is un- 
 known among them, and hence their good
 
 Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 63 
 
 memories have to be depended upon and are 
 very rarely questioned. 
 
 In this council which we visited, there 
 were many divergent views as to the charac- 
 ter of the demands to be made on the Gov- 
 ernment for the surrender of their lands. 
 One very amusing request, which at first 
 was urged as an essential requisite in re- 
 turn for ceding away their country, was that 
 every one of them should be permitted to 
 ride free on the " smoke- waggons," which 
 the palefaces would after awhile be running 
 through their country. They seemed quite 
 glum and disappointed when I candidly told 
 them that this favour would not be granted 
 to them. I told them that, much as it cost 
 us to buy dogs and run dog trains, it would 
 cost the white men so much more to run 
 these railroads, that everybody, with per- 
 haps the exception of the head chiefs, when 
 they went to meet the great Governor on 
 council business, would have to pay for the 
 pleasure of riding. They were still very 
 loath to surrender this point, on which they 
 had evidently set their hearts. 
 
 In the discussion which followed I had 
 to explain that in no lands where railroads
 
 64 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 were running, were these favours granted to 
 the people, and appealing to the chiefs, I 
 tried to show them what an injury it would 
 be to them as a community, when by and 
 by settled on their reserves, if, say, when 
 they ought to be planting potatoes or sew- 
 ing their grain, they were off riding through 
 the country on these railroads. Why, they 
 would soon be starving for food. This ar- 
 gument and the fact that, in all probability, 
 the chiefs themselves would have " passes," 
 for their business visits to the Governor, 
 brought them over to my side of thinking, 
 and so from them we had some most amus- 
 ing impromptu orations on the dire disaster 
 that might occur at critical times, because 
 the people were off gadding about the coun- 
 try, instead of being at home minding their 
 own business. 
 
 About midnight the council ended, after 
 the calumet had made its rounds again, and 
 words of thanks had been uttered to the 
 white brother : " who," they said, " had come 
 so far to quiet their minds, and whose heart 
 was so good towards them." Then the In- 
 dians, one after another, withdrew, and with 
 my men I was left alone in the council 
 house. Near the smouldering embers of the
 
 Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 65 
 
 council fire, my bed was unrolled and pre- 
 pared for me. My travelling companions 
 lay down near me in their rabbit-skin blank- 
 ets, and soon we were fast asleep. The next 
 day we resumed our :ourney, and after mak- 
 ing a few visits to other places, we reached 
 our home without any special adventure. 
 
 The next year, when the Government offi- 
 cials met these Indians, for the purpose of 
 making a treaty with them, they were agree- 
 ably surprised and delighted with the 
 promptness and intelligence with which the 
 Indians discussed the various provisions of 
 the treaty being made with them. They 
 were also surprised that these Indians did 
 not make a stubborn demand for free rides 
 for every one of them in the " smoke- wag- 
 gons." This was so remarkable in contrast 
 to the actions of Indians in other places 
 that some of the white Commissioners could 
 not but ask the reason of the moderation of 
 their demands. 
 
 " Oh," they said; " that is all right We 
 talked that out at our big council with a 
 ' black-coat,' and we there found that it 
 would not do to have the people riding about 
 the country, when they ought to be home 
 .looking after their affairs."
 
 IV 
 
 JACK, THE GIANT ST. BERNARD 
 
 c( \ POOR Missionary's dog; please 
 don't steal him." 
 
 This was what was engraved on 
 the brass plate that was securely fastened 
 to the collar-like strap that was on his neck. 
 He was a magnificent St. Bernard dog, and 
 his name was Jack. For more than a month 
 he had been en route, and during that time, 
 in various styles of conveyances, he had 
 travelled over three thousand miles. He 
 had been accompanied by a very beautiful 
 thoroughbred Newfoundland dog, whose 
 name was Cuffy. They were both the gift 
 of the Hon. Senator Sanford, of Hamilton, 
 Ontario. 
 
 Sick and disgusted with the native Es- 
 kimo and mongrel dogs of that Northland, 
 with their many shortcomings and wretched 
 tricks, I had written out to friends in civili- 
 zation to come to my rescue by securing for 
 me some of the large, valuable dogs that 
 66
 
 EGEKTON R. YOUNG AND JACK.
 
 Jack, the Giant St. Bernard 67 
 
 friends were merely keeping for pleasure. 
 These would be of great service to me in the 
 work which necessitated my journeying 
 some thousands of miles every winter with 
 my dog trains. My appeals caused a great 
 deal of merriment at the time, so unique did 
 they appear to some. A few good friends 
 who could appreciate the situation re- 
 sponded so kindly and generously that it 
 was not long ere I had the finest dogs in all 
 that great country. 
 
 With them it was a very great pleasure 
 to travel. Possessing all the good qualities 
 of the Eskimo dogs and yet none of their 
 thievish habits, I could rely on them in any 
 emergency, knowing full well that they 
 would do, without fail, everything that 
 could, with reason, be expected from dogs. 
 Including young dogs, I often had as many 
 as thirty in my possession at the same time. 
 This may seem a large number for a mis- 
 sionary to have had, but it must be remem- 
 bered that not only did I generally require 
 four trains for efficient work when on my 
 long winter journeys, but, in addition, there 
 were duties at the home Mission that re- 
 quired the services of generally a couple of 
 strong trains.
 
 68 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 My good wife was also the owner of a 
 capital train, that was generally kept well 
 employed, under the charge of an efficient 
 driver, in taking her around, as, on her mis- 
 sions of comfort and helpfulness, she visited 
 the wigwams and other lowly homes of the 
 Indians, where sickness prevailed. All the 
 wood, some winters, required for the great 
 stoves in the church, school house, and Mis- 
 sion home, was dragged from the adjacent 
 forests by my dog trains. In addition to 
 this, after I had been in the country some 
 time, I kept several cows, and for three 
 years tried the risky experiment of keeping 
 a couple of horses in those high latitudes. 
 Of course, I required a large quantity of 
 hay. All this, which had been cut and dried 
 during the short summer months, in distant 
 marshy places and old dried-up beaver 
 meadows, was dragged home to my stables 
 by the dogs on specially prepared sleds. It 
 will thus be seen how essential for efficient 
 work good dogs would be, and so I welcomed 
 the coming of Jack and Cuffy with great 
 anticipation and delight, and never once 
 did either of them fail or disappoint me. 
 
 Jack, when he reached his prime, was 
 thirty-three inches high at the fore-shoulder.
 
 Jack, the Giant St. Bernard 69 
 
 His weight averaged from one hundred and 
 eighty to two hundred pounds. Like all my 
 dogs, his weight was at the lowest point 
 when we returned from our long toilsome 
 trips, often of weeks' duration. I did not 
 have the slightest trouble in breaking him 
 into his work in the harness. A few kind 
 words and a little patience, and from that 
 hour no better dog was ever harnessed. The 
 only battles I ever had with him were about 
 Cuffy, his companion. These will be de- 
 Bcribed later. 
 
 Jack's place was second dog in the train. 
 He could lead splendidly and would re- 
 spond to the various calls as promptly as a 
 well trained horse does to the reins, but he 
 was of too affectionate a nature, and he and 
 his master were on too intimate terms of 
 friendship, for him to be assigned to the 
 post of leadership if the trail on which we 
 were going were a dangerous one, and Jack 
 became possessed with the idea that his be- 
 loved master was running any risk of dis- 
 aster or peril. In the very worst spots, he 
 would sometimes suddenly whirl round with 
 the whole train, and with a rush, would 
 come to the rear of the sled, where I was 
 riding, and shoving his great face in mine,
 
 70 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 would as well as any dog could put it, say : 
 " Master, this is a very risky place, and 
 so I have just come back for a minute to see 
 if you are all right." 
 
 This, of course, was very kind and 
 thoughtful on the part of Jack, but he was 
 only a dog, and so did not realize that in 
 such erratic movements he was, while show- 
 ing his solicitude for his master, very much 
 adding to the risks that were being run. So 
 after some amusing, and two or three very 
 risky adventures, Jack was relegated to the 
 place of the second dog in the train. Cuffy 
 had the place behind him, while a powerful 
 and well trained dog had the dangerous and 
 responsible position of sleigh dog. The 
 sleigh dog is more liable to accident and in- 
 jury than any other dog in the train. His 
 quick eye and active movements to the right 
 or to the left, in the narrow crooked trail, 
 must ever guard the sleigh from striking 
 against the trees, which at times are so nu- 
 merous and so provokingly in the way. 
 Then if the three dogs in front of him have 
 in their foolishness dashed on between two 
 trees growing so closely together, that it is 
 doubtful if there is room for the sleigh to 
 pass through without injury, it is the duty;
 
 Jack, the Giant St. Bernard 71 
 
 of this last dog in the train to so quickly 
 stop and throw himself back, that the three 
 dogs ahead of him are as suddenly brought 
 to a standstill as though pulled up with a 
 lasso. So well trained and intelligent are 
 some of these sleigh dogs, in this work, that 
 it seems as though they can judge within a 
 very few inches whether the narrow passage 
 is sufficiently wide for the sleigh, for which 
 they well know they are held responsible, 
 to pass through. 
 
 The marvellous leader of my own favour- 
 ite train was Voyageur, a great one-eyed dog 
 of unclassed breed, morose and unsociable, 
 but the peerless leader for a number of 
 years. Of him I will have something to say 
 of interest in another place. 
 
 Distempers and other diseases played sad 
 havoc at times among the dogs. Some years 
 at least a third of my trained dogs would 
 be thus cut off. So it was always necessary 
 to have a number of young ones coming to 
 full size, to take the places of those that had 
 fallen. The work of breaking in these new 
 dogs was sometimes a very difficult task. 
 While there were those, like Jack and Cufify, 
 that took naturally and quickly to the work, 
 there were others that offered the most des-
 
 72 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 perate and stubborn resistance ere they sur- 
 rendered and became serviceable. In the 
 work of breaking in obstinate young dogs, 
 I found that Jack was my best assistant. 
 He delighted in the work, and it was simply 
 marvellous at times to see the cleverness 
 and thoroughness with which he seconded 
 my efforts. The plan I generally adopted 
 in breaking in a big, stubborn young dog, 
 was to harness him up in a train with three 
 strong, well trained ones in front of him 
 and Jack in harness behind him. When 
 " Marche ! ", the word for " Go ! ", was 
 shouted, the old dogs would, of course, at 
 once spring to advance. This the new dog 
 would generally attempt to prevent, by 
 stubbornly balking. Most desperately 
 would he exert all of his strength to hold 
 his ground against the efforts of the dogs in 
 front This was Jack's opportunity to show 
 what he could do in speedily bringing the 
 young dog to his senses. 
 
 " Go for him, Jack," was all I had to say. 
 With a rush and a roar Jack would spring 
 at the stubborn dog, and with more noise 
 and furor than actual biting, he would so 
 frighten the now terrified young animal, 
 that he was glad to spring to his feet and
 
 Jack, the Giant St. Bernard 73 
 
 make the most desperate effort to get beyond 
 the reach of the enormous dog that was 
 making it so lively in his rear. As long as 
 the youngster kept going on straight in the 
 trail, Jack did not molest him, but it often 
 happened that a stubborn dog hated to yield 
 quickly, and so tried various other tricks. 
 One was to try to run ahead of the steady 
 dogs in front. This Jack easily prevented. 
 Sometimes he would rush forward, and sud- 
 denly seizing the transgressor by a hind leg 
 or his tail, would speedily drag him back 
 into his place. At other times he would 
 throw himself back with such force that the 
 delinquent was speedily jerked back into 
 line. Thus every trick or artifice of the 
 young dog would be so promptly met and 
 defeated that it was not long ere the train- 
 ing lessons were completely learned, and 
 the young dog was thoroughly fitted for his 
 work. 
 
 It was highly amusing to watch Jack's 
 kindly patronising way towards these dogs, 
 as soon as they were conquered and then let 
 out of their harness. While they were being 
 broken in, he had appeared to be the personi- 
 fication of fierceness and anger; now, how- 
 ever, that they had surrendered, in dog-like
 
 74 My Dogs in the Northlaud 
 
 fashion he licked their faces and bruises and 
 was effusively affectionate in his demeanour 
 towards them. Some of them were, at first, 
 not much inclined to receive these friendly 
 advances, but eventually, perhaps after he 
 had fought a battle or two in their defence, 
 they came to be very much attached to him 
 as their friend, while they never questioned 
 his title as their master in the pack, no mat- 
 ter of how many great dogs it consisted. 
 
 Jack was very helpful to us in the cold 
 wintry mornings in the camps, when we 
 determined to resume our journey long be- 
 fore daylight. It was very provoking when 
 we ascertained that some of the dogs could 
 not be found. Cunning white ones were 
 lying somewhere invisible in the snow, and 
 would not respond to the calls of their 
 names, no matter how endearingly bawled 
 out. Others, of a darker hue, well knowing 
 that their colour would betray them if they 
 remained in their nests in the pure white 
 snow, had, the instant that they noticed any 
 movement at the camp, noiselessly skulked 
 away into the darkness of the dense balsam 
 trees, and there were equally deaf to the 
 calling of their names, no matter how well 
 garnished with affixes or prefixes. These
 
 Jack, the Giant St. Bernard 75 
 
 skulking tricks were most annoying, in ad- 
 dition to the long delays they sometimes 
 occasioned. It was a very great satisfaction 
 to my Indian drivers when Jack at length 
 grasped the situation and proved himself 
 equal to any two of the men in hunting 
 down and promptly bringing in the miser- 
 able offenders. 
 
 Quite fairly Jack was a privileged char- 
 acter among the dogs, for he and Cuffy 
 always slept close to me in the camp, on the 
 outside of my robes. When the men began 
 harnessing up their trains, it was soon seen 
 which dogs were missing. An honest effort 
 was generally made by the men to capture 
 them, before they would appeal to me for 
 Jack to come to their help. When, however, 
 it was seen that some were still undiscov- 
 ered, Jack was speedily set to work. All I 
 had to do was to show him one of the empty 
 collars, and to tell him to go and find the 
 dog that had the head that ought to be in it 
 One good smell at it was all that he re- 
 quired, and then he was off with a rush. 
 Bound and round the camp he would go, 
 until he struck the trail of the dog for which 
 he was searching. When this was found a 
 joyous bark gave us the news that he was on
 
 76 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 the right scent, and it would not be long 
 before the truant dog would be driven into 
 the camp. Jack was given a few minutes to 
 rest, during which he was well praised for 
 his success. Then another empty collar was 
 shown him and again he was off. Some- 
 times an ugly dog would show fight, but he 
 never did it the second time, so severe would 
 be the shaking that Jack would give him. 
 Thus, one by one, the skulkers would be run 
 in until the trains were full and the day's 
 journey could be begun. 
 
 As Jack and Cuffy were the two dogs that 
 were allowed to share our home life with us, 
 and as our guardians slept inside of the 
 house every night, when not away on long 
 winter trips, it was but right that they 
 should be better cared for than those dogs 
 that were not accustomed to the warmth of 
 the house. So every night, after my camp 
 bed was made and I was snugly tucked in 
 by my loyal and most attentive Indians, 
 Jack quickly stretched out his great body at 
 my back, while Cuffy preferred to cuddle 
 down on the robes at my feet. Doubtless she 
 selected this place as generally a great blaz- 
 ing fire was burning not far distant from 
 my feet, and she was anxious to enjoy its
 
 Jack, the Giant St. Bernard 77 
 
 warmth as long as it continued. Next to me 
 on the other side from Jack, my guide and 
 the Indian dog drivers would cuddle down 
 under their warm rabbit-skin robes, and 
 sleep very soundly, although at times the 
 nights were so bitterly cold that I used to 
 think that I was really freezing to death. 
 
 We occasionally allowed some of the 
 younger well-behaved dogs to sleep at the 
 feet of or around the Indians, but as a rule 
 they had to dig holes in the snow and sleep 
 there as best they could. It was a queer 
 fact that they would not sleep together and 
 thus aid in keeping each other warm. Even 
 Jack and Cuffy, although very fond of each 
 other, never cared to sleep near to each 
 other. 
 
 Jack thoroughly enjoyed the holidays, 
 which were absolutely necessary between 
 the long winter journeys which were being 
 made to various places, so distant and re- 
 mote, in the different parts of that vast re- 
 gion of country. While at his work, he 
 never would show any signs of weariness or 
 discouragement. To the very last hour, no 
 matter how fierce the blizzards or how 
 wretched the trails, his head was up and 
 his traces were taut. Other dogs might and
 
 78 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 often did become discouraged, and by both 
 voice and whip had to be urged on in the 
 laborious toil, but Jack was game to the 
 end of the journey. However, when the 
 work was done and he was once more 
 stretched out on the wolf-skin rug in the 
 study in the Mission home, he seemed to 
 know that he had well earned his rest and 
 most thoroughly did he enjoy it For three 
 or four days he just wanted to be severely 
 let alone; after that he was himself again, 
 ready to romp with the little ones, to whom 
 he was most loyally attached, or to tease the 
 Indian servant girl in the kitchen, in ways 
 that at times nearly drove her distracted, 
 but which provoked everybody else to laugh- 
 ter. In various ways he was useful about 
 the house. When coming in after a heavy 
 day's work, footsore and tired, all I had to 
 do was to shout out : " Slippers ! " At 
 once Jack understood and immediately the 
 search for the slippers began. As some- 
 times, to try his skill, they had purposely 
 been hid, it was amusing to see how dili- 
 gently he searched every room in the house 
 until he found them. The longer the search, 
 the greater seemed the pride with which he 
 proudly brought them to me. One day when
 
 Jack, the Giant St. Bernard 79 
 
 he was out in another room, while I was in 
 my study, I called out : 
 
 " Slippers, slippers ! " Jack at once be- 
 gan his usual search. He hunted every 
 room. He bothered the women folks until 
 they had to open closets and drawers for 
 him. Failing completely, at length he came 
 into the study, as it were to report his want 
 of success. At once his quick eyes detected 
 the long looked for slippers on my feet. He 
 gave me a look which, if it had been on a 
 human face, would have been called one of 
 disgust. Then turning round he haughtily 
 left the room and did not return to it again 
 that day. After that, when I called 
 " Slippers," while he was too loyal to dis- 
 obey, he always came at once to the study 
 and examined my feet for the called-for 
 articles. If they were there he would give 
 me a look that seemed to say : 
 
 " It is a pity that my master is becoming 
 so absent-minded." 
 
 No shouting of slippers would cause him 
 to pay the slightest attention during the 
 rest of that day.
 
 JACK. AND MANY THINGS CONCERNING HIM 
 
 JACK'S household duties were by no 
 means confined to hunting slippers. 
 While he and Cuffy were always al- 
 lowed to come into the house, it was well 
 understood by him that he was ever to be 
 on the watch that no other dogs, except by 
 special permission, were to be allowed to 
 cross the threshold. He was also allowed 
 to go to church, but woe to the Indian dog 
 that dared to enter the door. He very sel- 
 dom tried it a second time. 
 
 In that northern country, in the midst of 
 its great forests, wood was used alone as 
 fuel. And as the winters were seven or 
 eight months long, we used a great deal of 
 it. Then, as it was generally of a light 
 flashy kind, it was quickly consumed in our 
 great iron box stoves. The result was that 
 the large wood-boxes in the houses had to 
 be frequently filled from the great piles that 
 were cut outside. This work of carrying in
 
 Jack, and Many Things Concerning Him 8 1 
 
 wood was quite laborious when it fell to the 
 lot of the servant girl, who had to do it if 
 no men were around. One day, when the 
 work had been felt to be specially burden- 
 some, it was suggested that perhaps Jack 
 could be induced to add this accomplish- 
 ment to his many other clever attainments. 
 At once the effort was made. A kind of bee 
 was organised, and amidst laughter and 
 fun, a number of the family were all busily 
 engaged in carrying in wood. Jack always 
 loved to be in every frolic, and so, of course, 
 he was invited to take part in this one. 
 Proudly did he take in his mouth the billet 
 of wood assigned to him and at once carry 
 it into the kitchen and place it in the wood- 
 box as deftly as did the others. It was not 
 long before he understood the work per- 
 fectly and became such an adept at it that 
 it was not necessary for any one to be with 
 him when thus employed. When the supply 
 of wood ran low, all that was required was 
 for some member of the family to say : " I 
 wonder if that big lazy dog knows that the 
 wood-box is empty? " 
 
 This was all that would be said. At once 
 Jack was at work. He would first open the 
 kitchen door and fasten it open. Then he
 
 82 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 industriously worked away, carrying in 
 stick after stick, until told that there was 
 enough. He was very proud and happy 
 when told that he had done well. It was no 
 easy task, as the sticks of wood were at 
 least three feet long and each weighed sev- 
 eral pounds. 
 
 Jack soon learned that we considered this 
 one of his clever accomplishments, and so 
 when he wished to especially show off or 
 win some extra compliments or favours he 
 industriously went to work carrying in 
 wood. 
 
 There was hardly a long winter journey 
 taken but Jack gave us something to laugh 
 at, or caused us to be intensely interested 
 in some new exhibition of his sagacity or 
 skill. My Indian drivers all learned to love 
 him for his marvellous strength and staying 
 powers. Still it was evident that they were 
 a little afraid of him, on account of his 
 enormous size. Only once did I ever see an 
 Indian driver lift a whip, as though to strike 
 him. The blow never fell. Jack saw the 
 movement, and although he was the second 
 dog in the train, he whirled round so sud- 
 denly on the man, dragging Koona the 
 leader with him, that that Indian had no
 
 Jack, and Many Things Concerning Him 83 
 
 more relish for driving the missionary's 
 train that day. 
 
 He gave us a great fright, and then a good 
 laugh, one bitterly cold day by his falling 
 through the thin ice in a great crack on Lake 
 Winnipeg. During the previous night, as 
 we lay in our camp in the snow, in the 
 woods on the shore, we were frequently dis- 
 turbed by the loud booming reports, like 
 distant thunder or heavy artillery. In re- 
 sponse to my inquiries from my Indian com- 
 rades, all the answer I received was the 
 laconic : " Ice cracking, big cold, open 
 places, much danger, take care." 
 
 This, when amplified, means that al- 
 though the ice is several feet thick, yet when 
 the cold reaches a certain intensity, so great 
 is the contraction that the ice bursts with 
 tremendous suddenness and power, so that 
 great openings or cracks, as they are called, 
 are formed which are often many miles in 
 length, but generally only a few feet in 
 width. To the travellers hurrying on, es- 
 pecially in the gloom of night, these cracks 
 are very dangerous, as the water at once 
 rushes up even with the ice, and some time 
 must elapse ere it freezes sufficiently hard 
 to support any hunter or traveller who may
 
 84 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 happen to come along. What makes it the 
 more dangerous is the fact that there is not 
 the slightest evidence of its existence, until 
 the unfortunate traveller is about falling 
 into it. The result is there are some narrow 
 escapes and, at times, some very serious 
 accidents. One night I had taken the place 
 of my guide, who had so badly injured his 
 knee that he was unable to do his work. 
 
 While I was running on ahead of my 
 trains, facing towards the North Star, I 
 happened to glance down at the glassy sur- 
 face of the frozen lake, over which we were 
 now rapidly travelling. At once, I was al- 
 most startled by the vividness of the reflec- 
 tion of the stars, in what at first seemed to 
 be the ice, but a few yards in front of me. 
 On I hurried, and just as I was about to 
 plunge into it, to my horror I saw that it 
 was open water! Suddenly stopping my- 
 self, I whirled round and shouted, " Chas- 
 quaw ! " to my dogs and Indians, who were 
 close at my heels. It was a wonder, even to 
 the old experienced Indians, how I had es- 
 caped. There was not the least coating of 
 ice on the placid water, that here stretched 
 out for unknown miles each side of us and 
 was some yards in width before us. It was
 
 Jack, and Many Things Concerning Him 85 
 
 very evident that it had burst open within 
 an hour or two at the most. We had to 
 make a long detour ere we found a place 
 where the crack was narrow enough to let 
 us cross and the journey could be resumed. 
 On another occasion, we had a queer ad- 
 venture where the ice was thin and Jack, 
 breaking through, had a narrow escape. 
 We were travelling on Lake Winnipeg and 
 it was a bitterly cold day. During the pre- 
 vious night, we had heard enough booming 
 on the great icy expanse to put us on our 
 guard against these great cracks and open- 
 ings, but all precautions avail but little 
 when these openings freeze over and the 
 drifting snow, swirling along, makes the ice 
 of half an inch or so look exactly like that 
 which is six feet thick. On this occasion, 
 the roguish Koona was the leader of my 
 train. Jack was in the second place, while 
 Cuffy and Caesar were behind. The guide, 
 that morning was a light-footed fellow who, 
 Indian-like, could run easily over ice so thin 
 that no ordinary white man would dare to 
 think of following. While speeding on, we 
 came to one of these cracks, that must have 
 opened up not many hours before- The ice 
 had formed upon it with sufficient strength
 
 86 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 to allow the guide, who was several hundred 
 yards ahead of me, to cross over it in safety. 
 When my train reached it, the new ice held 
 until Koona had just barely reached the 
 firm old ice on the other side. At that in- 
 stant it broke under Jack, and down he went 
 in the cold water. Poor fellow! he was 
 completely submerged, and although but for 
 an instant, it was quite bath enough under 
 such a temperature. It was astonishing to 
 see how well the dogs knew how to act in 
 such an emergency. Koona held on to his 
 grip on the ice, with all the strength he had, 
 while the dogs behind Jack at once pulled 
 back, as well as their collars and traces 
 would allow. The result was, these taut 
 traces before and behind Jack kept him well 
 up in the water. 
 
 Speedily we moved to get him out with- 
 out permitting any other dogs to fall in. A 
 sled was at once unloaded and unfastened. 
 This the cautious Indians shoved out on the 
 unbroken ice at one side of Jack, taking 
 care that one end of it reached to the firm 
 ice in front, while the rear end was on old 
 ice sufficiently firm to keep it from break- 
 ing through. Then two of the Indians cau- 
 tiously went out on this improvised bridge,
 
 Jack, and Many Things Concerning Him 87 
 
 and seizing hold of the traces in front and 
 rear, they soon had the shivering dog up 
 on the sled between them. Carefully were 
 Cuffy and Caesar, the tw y o dogs behind Jack, 
 guided over on the same bridge without any 
 mishap. Hanging on to the cariole to which 
 they were attached, I safely followed, and in 
 like manner all of our party crossed. Jack 
 was in a deplorable condition. His glossy 
 coat, usually of inky blackness, was now 
 turning to snowy whiteness, as Jack Frost 
 speedily began to exert his terrible power. 
 We were at least twelve miles from shore, 
 and of course nothing could be done out 
 there on the ice for the noble fellow, that so 
 pitifully yet mutely looked to me for help. 
 
 " For the shore," was the cry, " and a 
 new flannel shirt to the Indian who can get 
 there before the Ookemou (master) and 
 have a fire burning at which the ice can be 
 quickly melted from poor shivering Jack." 
 
 At once we were off. A new flannel shirt 
 is a great thing to an Indian, and so whips 
 were out, and their pistol-like reports rang 
 out in unison with the drivers' cheery calls 
 to their different trains. At first Jack, so 
 hampered by the weight of his icy load, 
 seemed dazed and discouraged; then he
 
 88 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 roused himself up and appeared to realise 
 that his life depended upon his quickly get- 
 ting to that distant shore, and so he sprang 
 to his work with an energy that won the 
 admiration of us all. He seemed to take the 
 rest of his train, as well as the cariole, and 
 his master, in that race for his life. No 
 other train was within a half of a mile, 
 when we dashed up from the lake into the 
 welcome forest, and so no shirt was won 
 that day. 
 
 As rapidly as possible our axes were at 
 work, and as one Indian after another ar- 
 rived, dry dead trees were quickly cut down 
 and a good fire was soon burning on the 
 spot, from which the snow had been cleared 
 away. Before this bright fire a buffalo robe 
 was thrown down, and Jack, still encased 
 in ice, and about as white as the spotless 
 Koona, was placed upon it. I had feared 
 that it would require not less than two of 
 us to hold him near enough to the fire, in 
 order that the ice might be speedily thawed 
 off. 
 
 When the temperature is forty or fifty 
 below zero out in the open air, there is not 
 much thawing power, except very near to 
 the blaze, and most dogs have a very
 
 Jack, and Many Things Concerning Him 89 
 
 decided objection to being found so close, 
 where there is any danger of their whiskers 
 being singed. So I naturally feared trouble, 
 and perhaps failure in my efforts to save 
 my noble dog. Very quickly however were 
 our fears turned into laughter, for Jack at 
 once displayed an intelligence and clever- 
 ness that simply amazed us all, wise as we 
 all knew him to be, for no sooner did he 
 understand that that buffalo robe and fire 
 had been designed for him, than he at once 
 proceeded to make the very best possible 
 use of both. At first he moved around on 
 all of his feet, keeping different parts of his 
 body as near to the fire as he could without 
 burning himself. After a while he seemed 
 to think that this was not satisfactory, and 
 so he steadied himself up on his hind legs, 
 and there, like a great dancing bear, he kept 
 jumping around before the fierce fire, turn- 
 ing every part of himself to the bright, 
 warm flames. 
 
 Under the power of the fierce heat, the 
 great chunks of ice speedily melted and ran 
 down his hind legs on to the robe. This 
 water bothered him at first, but he alertly 
 moved to dryer places, keeping, however, 
 as close to the fire as possible. From the
 
 90 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 other side of the fire, the Indians and my- 
 self watched his marvellous movements. 
 To say that we laughed until we cried, is 
 putting it very mildly. But little cared 
 Jack for our laughter. It was serious busi- 
 ness with him, and seriously and thor- 
 oughly did he attend to it, until every bit 
 of the ice was melted, and all that cold 
 water was dried off from his now glossy 
 coat. During all the time he had been at- 
 tending to this work, not once had he con- 
 descended to notice any one of us, or even 
 apparently to look at us. And of course we 
 were so pleased to see him so able to do the 
 work without us that we took very good 
 care not to bother him in any way. When 
 he was satisfied himself, that he was all 
 right, we speedily harnessed him again in 
 his place, and the journey was resumed. 
 Jack was none the worse for this ducking, 
 but he was ever afterward a little cautious 
 where the ice seemed insecure. This adven- 
 ture, with Jack's marvellous cleverness in 
 hopping around that fire in the woods to 
 melt off that icy coat of mail and so thor- 
 oughly dry himself, was one of the principal 
 camp fire stories among the Indians for 
 many a year.
 
 JUMPING AROUND THE FIRE LIKE 
 A DANCING BEAR.
 
 Jack, and Many Things Concerning Him 91 
 
 The frequent changing of the maids in 
 the kitchen, was always a matter of per- 
 plexity to Jack. The dog was suspicious of 
 these unknown Indian girls coming in, 
 and so familiarly handling the various 
 utensils of their work. Six months was 
 about all they generally remained with us, 
 as in that time they were, if not before, 
 married off to ambitious young bachelor 
 Indians, who were always most anxious to 
 secure, as their wives, the girls who had 
 been trained by the missionary's wife. So 
 Jack had to be warned to be on his good 
 behaviour and permit these new comers to 
 have the freedom of the house. It was in- 
 teresting to see how he at first watched 
 them and speedily found out where it was 
 possible for him to have some quiet fun at 
 their expense. If a girl were specially 
 anxious to keep the doors shut, Jack took 
 great delight in frequently opening them. 
 This he would persist in doing until com- 
 plaints were lodged against him and he had 
 to be well scolded for his conduct. 
 
 One summer we had a fat, good-natured 
 Indian servant girl, whom we called Mary. 
 Jack, at first could not find any way by 
 which he could annoy her. She treated him
 
 92 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 with absolute indifference and was not in 
 the least afraid of him. This seemed to hu- 
 miliate him, as most of the other girls had 
 stood in such awe of the gigantic fellow 
 that they had given way to him in every- 
 thing. Mary however did nothing of the 
 kind. She would shout, " Get out of my 
 way ! " as quickly to his mightiness as she 
 would to the smallest dog on the place. 
 This very much offended Jack, but he dared 
 not retaliate, even with a growl. Mary had 
 one weakness, and after a while Jack found 
 it out. It was the spotless whiteness of her 
 kitchen floor. Mrs. Young had promised 
 some extra reward to Mary, if she kept her 
 kitchen neat and clean. So anxious was 
 the girl to win this gift, as well as the ap- 
 proval of her mistress, that it seemed as 
 though she spent all the time she could 
 spare from other duties in scrubbing that 
 kitchen floor. In some way, utterly beyond 
 our ken, Jack discovered this, and perhaps 
 humiliated by the fact that Mary had come 
 out best in some schemes he had already 
 tried, he seemed to take the greatest delight 
 in either marching in with his feet as dirty 
 as he could make them, or with his great 
 body dripping wet from a plunge in the lake.
 
 Jack, and Many Things Concerning Him 93 
 
 Of course the clean floor was quickly ruined, 
 much to Mary's disgust and Jack's delight. 
 
 At other times, when Jack noticed that 
 Mary was about to commence scrubbing the 
 floor, he would deliberately stretch himself 
 out on it, and quietly resist any attempt, 
 on her part, to get him to move. In vain 
 would she feed the other dogs, or by loud 
 calls get them excited and barking furiously 
 outside. Jack had been fooled once or twice 
 in this way, and so now he resisted all her 
 schemes to make him move. Once, when 
 she did, by some clever trick, get him out, 
 she fastened the door so securely that all 
 his rattling of the latch availed him nothing. 
 Getting discouraged in his efforts to open 
 the door in the usual way, he went to the 
 wood-pile, and seizing a big billet in his 
 mouth he came, and so pounded the door 
 with it, that Mary, seeing that there was 
 imminent danger of the panel being broken 
 in, was obliged to open the door and let him 
 in. 
 
 Jack marched proudly in with the stick 
 of wood in his mouth. When he had de- 
 posited it in the wood-box, he coolly 
 stretched himself out on the spot where he 
 would be the biggest nuisance. Poor Mary
 
 94 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 could stand it no longer. Generally she had 
 rather enjoyed pitting her wits against him 
 and had made but few complaints. How- 
 ever, this trick of Jack's in pounding 
 against the door was too much for her pa- 
 tience, and so Mary, leaving the big fellow 
 stretched out on her kitchen floor, marched 
 into my study, and in vigourous, pictur- 
 esque language, in her native Cree, told us 
 of the tricks and schemes of that Jack to 
 annoy her and hinder her in her work. Of 
 course, when he had gone thus far, he must 
 be reproved and stopped. In doing it we 
 used Jack's love for our little ones to ac- 
 complish the object. Jack's love and loyalty 
 and obedience to Sagastaookemou, as the 
 Indians loved to call the bright little four- 
 year-old boy in our home, was thorough and 
 complete. The slightest wish of the little 
 lad was law to Jack. Here, on this occasion, 
 it was tested. As soon as Mary had finished 
 her complaints, I turned to the little fellow, 
 who was busy playing with some toys, and 
 said to him, "Eddy, go and tell that 
 naughty Jack that he must stop teasing 
 Mary. Tell him his place is not in the 
 kitchen and that he must keep out of it." 
 Eddy had listened to Mary's story and
 
 Jack, and Many Things Concerning Him 95 
 
 had apparently understood it well enough 
 to feel that Jack was in the wrong, and so 
 he gallantly came to the rescue. Away he 
 marched with Mary, while the rest of us, 
 now interested in the matter, followed in 
 the rear to see how the thing would turn 
 out. While we remained in the room ad- 
 joining the kitchen, and out of sight of Jack, 
 Eddy and Mary went on into the kitchen, 
 leaving the door open behind them. Thus 
 we distinctly heard what the boy said. 
 Marching up to Jack, where he was still 
 sprawled out on the floor, and speaking with 
 the authority of a king, he said as he seized 
 him by one of his ears ; " I am ashamed of 
 you, Jack. You naughty dog, teasing Mary 
 like this. So you won't let her wash her 
 kitchen, you naughty dog ! Get up ! " Jack 
 at once obeyed the child and was thus led 
 by his ear into the study. Here the child 
 gave him another lecture on the naughtiness 
 of his conduct, ending up by saying, " Now, 
 Jack, you keep out of the kitchen." And 
 to a remarkable degree this order was 
 obeyed.
 
 VI 
 
 JACK TRIUMPHANT IN THE BLIZZAED 
 
 I 
 
 4C""'LL never see my mother again and 
 you will never see your wife and little 
 "ones!" 
 
 Such was the pathetic cry of a fine young 
 Indian lad when he and I found ourselves 
 lost in a blizzard storm out on Lake Winni- 
 peg, one wild fierce wintry day. We had 
 started away from our home several days 
 before this, on a winter trip of several hun- 
 dreds of miles. We were each driving a 
 splendid train of dogs. We had no guide 
 or experienced Indian attendant. It was a 
 risky experiment we were making but I did 
 not see my way clear to do otherwise. 
 
 The fact was, word had come from head- 
 quarters that there would be no appropria- 
 tions for trips to outside pagan Indians that 
 year. That meant that I was to remain at 
 ease in my quiet little cosy home and con- 
 fine my work and toil to one or two bands 
 of Indians, all of whom were about Chris- 
 96
 
 Jack Triumphant in the Blizzard 97 
 
 tianized, while the poor uncivilized pagan 
 wanderers in their lonely hunting grounds, 
 far away in the wilderness, were to be again 
 left neglected and forsaken. This I could 
 not stand. I had become deeply attached to 
 these far-off Indians, whom I had generally 
 managed to visit twice a year, once in sum- 
 mer in my canoe, and once in winter with 
 my dog trains. So grateful had they been 
 and so cordially had they received the Gos- 
 pel, that I resolved that as far as it was in 
 my power I would take the risks, and at any 
 sacrifice keep up the work. So this was the 
 situation. Without any experienced guide 
 for no money had come for the pay of one, 
 here I was with no companion but a young 
 Indian, and we two caught out in a bliz- 
 zard far away from land on great Lake 
 Winnipeg. 
 
 As long as the weather had kept favour- 
 able we had succeeded in making good prog- 
 ress, and began to think that we were pretty 
 good travellers. We struck the different 
 headlands, and succeeded in reaching well- 
 known camping spots. There being only 
 the two of us, the work of preparing the 
 winter camp and cutting sufficient wood for 
 the necessary fuel, together with all the
 
 98 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 other camp labours, made it very hard on 
 us. However we were both enthusiastic 
 over our work, and so we persevered and 
 did not fare so badly. We each had a train 
 of splendid dogs. With the exception of the 
 leader of my train, all of our dogs were St. 
 Bernards or Newfoundlands. This leader 
 of my train was called Koona, which is the 
 Indian name for flour. He was well named, 
 for he was white as the driven snow. He 
 was well trained and did not require a run- 
 ner ahead of him, as many dogs do. He 
 thoroughly understood the meanings of the 
 different words used in dog driving and 
 would as promptly respond to them as a 
 well trained horse answers to the rein. He 
 had been so severely punished during his 
 breaking in that he was timid about acting 
 on his own responsibility. 
 
 As our supply of wood had been rather 
 limited we started one morning very early, 
 on what we had hoped would have been a 
 successful day's run of about sixty miles. 
 Our camp, which had been only a hole dug 
 in the snow, had been far from comfortable, 
 and so we were not very sorry to be once 
 more on the way. For a time, first by star- 
 light and then by the light of a brilliant
 
 Jack Triumphant in the Blizzard 99 
 
 morning, we sped on towards the north. To 
 shorten the journey we had struck far out in 
 the great lake, but not so far but that we 
 could still keep the headlands of the great 
 points in sight for our guidance. 
 
 During the last night there had been quite 
 a heavy fall of snow. It somewhat impeded 
 our rapid progress but our dogs were good 
 and as long as there was no wind to lift up 
 this light snow we did not much mind it. 
 It was a bitterly cold day, but we had so 
 arranged our loads on our sleds that we 
 could easily jump off and run until the vig- 
 ourous exercise so warmed us that we much 
 enjoyed the subsequent ride. Thus on we 
 sped until many miles were between us and 
 our camp of the previous night. As we 
 journeyed on, the wind in fitful gusts began 
 to blow around us. At first it was not 
 alarming and we did not mind it. Even 
 when we lost sight of the distant headlands, 
 as they were swallowed up in the haze, we 
 foolishly pushed on, instead of at once dash- 
 ing at full speed, as we ought to have done, 
 for the shore. The fitful gusts of an hour 
 before were now increased to a wild gale 
 which lifted up the light snow, and soon 
 the air was full of it. Still, as the wind con-
 
 ioo My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 tinued up to this time to blow steadily in 
 one direction, which was from the north, 
 we bravely pushed on in the very teeth of it. 
 
 " Fools rush in where angels fear to 
 tread." If we had had an experienced guide 
 along with us he would have had us safely 
 ensconced in the shelter of the woods on the 
 shore. Instead of that, here we two green- 
 horns, as the Indians afterwards called us, 
 were out many miles from the shore fool- 
 ishly battling against what had now become 
 a howling, furious blizzard. We stopped 
 long enough for me to tie the tail-rope of 
 my sled to the collar of the leader dog of 
 Alec's train. This was done as a precau- 
 tionary measure, so that we might not get 
 separated from each other in the now blind- 
 ing gale. Then, shouting to our dogs, we 
 resumed our journey as best we could. 
 Bravely did the noble fellows continue to 
 push on in the teeth of the storm, that no 
 living horse would have faced. 
 
 As long as the wind had, as we thought, 
 remained steadily blowing from the one 
 quarter, we had kept up our courage. We 
 knew that we were going in the right direc- 
 tion when we had our last glimpses of the
 
 Jack Triumphant in the Blizzard 101 
 
 distant point, and since that time we had 
 been trusting the wind. Now, as in the 
 eddying gusts the wind began whirling 
 around us, coming apparently from every 
 quarter, we were most emphatically brought 
 to realize that in all probability we had been 
 running in a very erratic course, for the last 
 two or three hours at least. 
 
 Utterly bewildered, I stopped my dogs, 
 and as Alec's train came up near I shouted 
 to the lad : 
 
 " Alec, I am afraid we are lost." 
 
 " Yes, we are surely lost," was his not 
 very comforting reply. 
 
 " It is a blizzard, and that is where we 
 have blundered," I said, " in allowing our- 
 selves to be caught in it and we so far from 
 shore." 
 
 At the mention of blizzard, so dreaded by 
 those who know them best, Alec at once lost 
 heart, and by the utterance of the words I 
 have already quoted, and others in a similar 
 strain, showed that he was well aware of 
 our great danger. 
 
 We were, however, resolved not to give up 
 without a struggle. So the question was; 
 What had best be done? That is always an-
 
 102 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 swered in that land where the bitter cold 
 demands so much internal fuel, by, " Let us 
 have something to eat." 
 
 So we opened a pemmican bag, and in the 
 mouth of it we chopped into eatable pieces, 
 some of the hard and tasteless, but exceed- 
 ingly nutritious, food. We would have 
 much enjoyed a few good cups of tea, with 
 the hard dry stuff, but that was out of the 
 question in such a place. We ate our meal 
 as well as we could, liberally sharing the 
 tough, hard food with our dogs, that had 
 cuddled as close to us as their harness would 
 allow. Jack, as usual, had the place nearest 
 to me. This was his habit whenever it was 
 possible. Not that he always expected to 
 be fed, for as a general thing the dogs were 
 given only one meal a day, and that one was 
 at the night camp, when the day's work was 
 done. However, to-day was an exception. 
 The fact was it looked as if we had seen our 
 last winter camp, and the blizzard storm 
 would soon claim us as its victims. So we 
 said, " We will share our pemmican with 
 our splendid dogs, for poor indeed is the 
 prospect for either their or our having an- 
 other meal." 
 
 As Jack and I took alternate bites at the
 
 Jack Triumphant in the Blizzard 103 
 
 tough pemmican, his being considerably 
 larger than mine, I put my arm around his 
 big neck, and had a good talk with him. I 
 am a firm believer in the idea that dogs 
 understand a great deal more than most 
 people generally believe. And Jack was one 
 that, having long been with me, knew, as I 
 had often tested, almost everything that was 
 said to him. He also well knew when he 
 was the subject of our conversation at home, 
 and was well pleased or hurt, as we spoke 
 complimentarily or disparagingly about 
 him. 
 
 So now, out there with the howling winds 
 raging around us like savage beasts eager 
 for their prey, we two, with Alec for a lis- 
 tener, had a candid talk about our distress- 
 ing situation. I began by telling him that 
 we were lost, and that the chances were 
 against our getting safely out of this fear- 
 ful storm. This did not seem to disturb 
 him, so I said, " Jack, my noble fellow, do 
 you know that it is doubtful whether we 
 shall ever see our home again? The pros- 
 pect is that the snow will soon be our wind- 
 ing-sheet, and that loving eyes will look out 
 in vain for our return. The chances, Jack, 
 are that you will never again stretch your-
 
 IO4 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 self out on your favourite resting-place on 
 the wolf skin before the study fire. Rouse 
 yourself, old dog and do your best, for in 
 your intelligence we are going to trust to 
 get us out of this wild blizzard, and to lead 
 us to a place of safety." 
 
 Thus, with my face, although it was half 
 covered with ice and snow, close to his, I 
 talked to Jack as a man would to a friend. 
 His answer he gave in a kiss or two on my 
 face, and in deeds that were simply mar- 
 vellous. 
 
 The few arrangements necessary for the 
 race for life, against such fearful odds, 
 were soon made. In a rabbit-skin blanket, 
 which when rightly made is, for its weight, 
 the warmest robe ever worn, I carefully 
 wrapped up Alec, and as comfortably and 
 as securely as possible I fastened him on 
 his dog sled. As before mentioned, our 
 trains were so fastened together that we 
 could not get separated. Straightening out 
 the dogs, that had during the halt huddled 
 at our feet, I wrapped myself as warmly as 
 I could. I then so seated myself on my 
 sled, that I was able to tie myself on so 
 firmly that even if I became unconscious 
 from the cold I could not fall off.
 
 Jack Triumphant in the Blizzard 105 
 
 The leader, as we have said, was Koona, 
 He was a wise and intelligent leader under 
 ordinary conditions of travel, but in the 
 blinding storms, he seemed to lose confi- 
 dence in himself and expected to be guided 
 by the cheery voice of his driver. So it was 
 on this trying occasion. When I shouted, 
 "Marche," the Indian word for "Go," 
 Koona only turned towards me and by his 
 bewildered look seemed to say. " Which 
 way, Master? " I was just as much at sea 
 as he was and, up to that moment had 
 hoped that the superior intelligence of this 
 leader dog, would get us out of our diffi- 
 culty. But it was evident that he was go- 
 ing to throw the responsibility upon me, 
 and this was what I had no more desire to 
 assume than had the dog. So once again I 
 shouted, "Marche!" 
 
 Still there was no sign of his starting, 
 but if possible a more anxious look into my 
 face and an eager waiting for the Indian 
 word, "Chaw," or " Yee," ("Right" or 
 "Left"). I was now so completely bewil- 
 dered by the fierce whirling blizzard that I 
 had not the slightest idea of any of the 
 points of the compass. The cold was ter- 
 rible and of course we could not stay there.
 
 io6 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 On we must go somewhere, and so in sheer 
 desperation I shouted out to Jack, as he 
 was the second dog in the train. Eager 
 and alert to start he had been, from the 
 first word shouted to Koona, but like a well 
 trained dog he knew his place, and that he 
 was expected to follow his leader. He had, 
 however, been showing a good deal of im- 
 patience at the hesitancy of Koona, and so 
 now I saw that he was ready for any call 
 that might be made upon him. So I 
 shouted, " Go on, Jack, whichever way you 
 like, and do the best you can, for I do not 
 know anything about it ! " 
 
 Nothing more was necessary. The noble 
 dog at once seemed to realize that on him 
 rested the responsibility of rescuing us 
 from our perilous position. And grandly 
 did he perform the tremendous task, as 
 with one of his cheery barks he sprang 
 forward in the tempest, Koona, with slack- 
 ened traces, gladly dropped back, and was 
 quite content to resign the leadership to the 
 more powerful dog. During the long run 
 that followed, never once did the bewildered 
 dog seem to wish, as many a dog does, 
 to again take his position as leader. Koona 
 seemed to have had enough dog sense to
 
 Jack Triumphant in the Blizzard 107 
 
 know that Jack, in this trying ordeal, could 
 do better work than he, and so he ran be- 
 side the larger dog and at times cleverly 
 availed himself of the protection thus af- 
 forded to shield himself from some of the 
 fiercest blasts of the storm. 
 
 So thoroughly was the blizzard lifting 
 the snow from the ice, that we were able 
 to travel with a good degree of speed. 
 Hours succeeded hours, and still the storm 
 shrieked and howled around us. With un- 
 diminished vigour Jack kept to his work. 
 Occasionally I would shout out to him some 
 cheery word, and back through the gale 
 would come his well-known bark. It had 
 in it the ring of victory, and strangely kept 
 up our spirits and hopefulness, and the as- 
 surance that we were yet going to escape 
 this peril, although we could but be con- 
 scious of the fact that we were indeed in 
 very great danger of perishing. The cold 
 was now so gripping us that it seemed as 
 though we must freeze to death. The very 
 necessary precaution of tying ourselves on 
 our sleds made it impossible for us to spring 
 off and run, as we frequently did under or- 
 dinary circumstances. So all there was for 
 us to do was to just endure it and hope for
 
 io8 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 the best. As I was very anxious about the 
 welfare of my Indian comrade, and resolved 
 to keep him from falling into that strange 
 langour that precedes death by freezing, I 
 frequently shouted out to him to keep 
 awake. Oh how weary and unpleasant 
 seemed the hours as they slowly followed 
 each other, each succeeding one appearing 
 to bring us no nearer to rescue or deliver- 
 ance! 
 
 From about midday this trial of endur- 
 ance had continued. Now to add to our 
 wretchedness, the darkness of night began 
 to surround us. This not only increased 
 our discomfort, but added very much to our 
 danger. It was bad enough when we could 
 see, even if our vision was very much limited 
 by the storm, that swirled and eddied 
 around us, but now to be shrouded in the 
 dense darkness, out on a great lake, nearly 
 three hundred miles long and from forty to 
 seventy wide in this part, where the storm 
 struck us, was indeed no enviable position 
 to occupy. But we did not lose hope. 
 There were several things in our favour. 
 Our dogs under the marvellous leadership 
 of Jack, seemed to have caught his enthu- 
 siastic, indomitable spirit, and so, hour
 
 Jack Triumphant in the Blizzard 109 
 
 after hour, were gallantly pressing on 
 through the storm as though they saw in 
 the distance the welcome camp fire, and 
 scented their supper of white fish thawed 
 out for them before the blazing flame. 
 
 So there was no need of losing heart while 
 the dogs were setting us such an example 
 of confidence and courage. Then we were 
 both young and strong, and had with us 
 our camp outfit of robes and blankets, and 
 if our dogs became rattled or discouraged 
 we might spread out these robes and blank- 
 ets, and getting under them, with our dogs 
 huddled around and partly on us, we could 
 at least try to keep alive during the night. 
 So trusting in a loving Providence, who had 
 more than once before marvellously opened 
 up our way, we resolved in quiet restful- 
 ness of spirit to make no change as long as 
 Jack, the glorious fellow, kept pushing on 
 with such confidence and courage. From 
 my knowledge of dogs, I decided that he was 
 confident of his course, or he never would 
 have continued on at such a rate, and so 
 inspiring all the other dogs with confidence 
 and assurance save Koona. So with the 
 exception of the occasional cheery calls to 
 Jack, to which he always responded, and
 
 no My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 the warning cries to my young Indian com- 
 rade not to go to sleep in spite of the bitter 
 cold, I managed to keep, or was kept, in a 
 comfortable state of mind without anxiety 
 or fear. 
 
 Thus on we were whirled over the great 
 frozen lake, where, we knew not. But it 
 was evident that if the dogs could keep up 
 such a rapid gait they would certainly in 
 time, bring us out somewhere, and so we 
 resolved that we would try and keep from 
 freezing, or even going to sleep, for under 
 such conditions sleep might mean death 
 without waking. 
 
 It was perhaps three hours after dark, 
 when I was agreeably startled by the fact 
 that the dogs had detected something and 
 were much excited by the discovery. It was 
 a long time since I had been able to see 
 them, owing to the darkness of the night 
 and the density of the storm, but it did not 
 require a view of them to tell one accus- 
 tomed to dogs that they had suddenly be- 
 come possessed of some knowledge that 
 their drivers knew not of. At first I was 
 inclined to think that perhaps some roam- 
 ing wild beast had become bewildered in the 
 blizzard, and was near us, far out on the
 
 Jack Triumphant in the Blizzard 1 1 1 
 
 great lake, and that the scent of it had only 
 excited the hunting instincts of my dogs. 
 However, there was but little time or chance 
 for theorizing, or any thing else, except to 
 hang on to the sleds and exercise all the 
 skill possible to keep them from capsizing, 
 as the now thoroughly excited dogs madly 
 dashed along. Such a burst of speed could 
 not last very long, nor was it necessary, for 
 in a short time they gave us a very tangible 
 evidence of the correctness of their keenness 
 of scent, and noble Jack won all honours 
 possible, as the peerless leader. 
 
 The fellow had, after a run of sixty OP 
 seventy miles in the teeth of a first-class 
 blizzard, with the temperature anywhere 
 from thirty to fifty below zero, gallantly led 
 the way to the icy accumulations cut out, 
 and piled up day by day, by a number of 
 Indian families who, living on the shore, 
 come out here for their daily supply of 
 water. As for months these Indians had 
 been here cutting out the ice that froze each 
 night, there was quite a large pile of it. 
 Squarely did Jack strike that pile, and gal- 
 lantly aided by the dogs behind he scaled 
 its jagged sides and, before I fully realized 
 what it was, we were in a pellmell sort of
 
 H2 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 a style tumbling down on the other side. 
 Fortunately we did not fall in the open 
 water-hole, but struck finely the beaten 
 trail that led up in the forest to the wig- 
 wams of the Indians. Over it the dogs 
 fairly flew. Soon we knew we were being 
 pulled up the steep side of a bluff and in a 
 few minutes more as we were being hurled 
 along the smooth but crooked trail, we saw 
 the welcome sparks flying out of the top of 
 the birch-bark wigwams. A blessed sight 
 indeed was this, for we were safe at last; 
 and can any one blame me if, after our 
 notes of thanksgiving to a kind Providence, 
 we shouted out : 
 "Well done, Jack!"
 
 VII 
 
 JACK IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 WITH the most profound regret we 
 left those Northern fields on ac- 
 count of severe and protracted ill- 
 ness in the household, which made it im- 
 perative that we should go to a more 
 temperate climate, if the valuable life that 
 was threatened was to be preserved. 
 
 We transferred the work and all that be- 
 longed to it to our honoured successor, in- 
 cluding all the dogs, with the exception of 
 Jack. Mrs. Young and the children pleaded 
 that Cuffy should also be allowed to come, 
 but the expense would have been so much 
 the greater, and the energetic missionary 
 there continuing the work was very fond of 
 her and much needed her in his rearranged 
 train. 
 
 Without any very startling incidents, we 
 reached Toronto and, shortly after pro- 
 ceeded to a pretty little town called Port 
 113
 
 1 14 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 Perry, where we settled down in our new 
 home. 
 
 Jack accepted the new surroundings as 
 though he had been accustomed to them all 
 his days. He speedily attracted great at- 
 tention and was admired and petted by all 
 classes of people. He was " borrowed " by 
 clergymen, doctors, merchants, farmers and 
 others, to show to their friends. Sometimes 
 he would be away on these visits for days, 
 but he would never remain away beyond a 
 certain length of time. When Jack thought 
 it was time for him to go home nothing 
 would stop him. A big farmer, wishing to 
 keep him longer than he desired to remain, 
 undertook to tie him. He soon gave up that 
 job. 
 
 Speaking about it after, he said : " I 
 might as well have tried to tie up a tiger." 
 
 Jack speedily made himself useful in our 
 pretty parsonage home. One of his duties 
 was to go to the butcher's for meat, as re- 
 quired in the household. A basket with a 
 good cover and strong handle was specially 
 purchased for his use. A clean towel and 
 an envelope, in which was money and direc- 
 tions for the butcher, were placed inside, 
 and then the whole was given to the eager
 
 Jack in Civilization 115 
 
 dog and he was sent on his errand. He 
 wasted no time on the road. When he 
 reached the shop, he would allow no man 
 but the butcher himself, or some assistant 
 he pointed out, to take the basket. When 
 his basket was loaded for him, he carefully 
 and quickly returned home with it. Fre- 
 quently the butcher would be requested to 
 put a piece of meat in for Jack, and to show 
 it to him and to tell him that special piece 
 was for him. 
 
 He came home proudly with his load, and 
 always expected that some member of the 
 family would give him cheery words. He 
 dearly loved a " Thank you, Jack. You 
 noble dog, you have done well ! " 
 
 Indeed, he ever had a weakness for com- 
 pliments. How singular, and so exclusively 
 confined to dogs! 
 
 Any member of the family could unpack 
 the basket, and if it were thought that Jack 
 did not then need the piece of meat put in 
 for him, he made not the slightest objection 
 to seeing his piece put away where his food 
 was generally kept. 
 
 But sometimes, to entertain some inter- 
 ested guests, Mrs. Young would say to him, 
 knowing that there was a piece for him in
 
 i.i 6 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 the basket, " Jack, I don't want to be both- 
 ered with you and your basket! Take it 
 out to Maggie in the kitchen, and let her 
 empty it." 
 
 Jack of course obeyed. But see what a 
 change at once comes over him. He carries 
 his precious load out into the kitchen and 
 sets it down at Maggie's feet, and there he 
 stands like an alert sentinel. Maggie, as 
 might be expected, reaches down to take it 
 up, but a roar from the big dog, causes her 
 to drop it in a hurry. 
 
 " Take the cover off the basket where it 
 is ! " To this request the girl is naturally 
 at first a little loth to comply but, being 
 reassured, she does so, and meets with no 
 opposition from the dog while taking off the 
 cover. Then as Jack's piece of meat is there 
 on top, the girl naturally attempts to re- 
 move it, that she may get out the well-wrap- 
 ped-up piece that is beneath. But to this 
 procedure Jack most decidedly objects. All 
 he will allow her to do is to get the wrapped- 
 up piece out, without taking his out of the 
 basket. He never would allow a servant to 
 remove his meat, neither would he take it 
 out himself until the family piece was re- 
 moved, then he would carry the basket with
 
 Jack in Civilization 117 
 
 his piece in it, out among the trees, and 
 there he would take it out himself, and 
 leisurely eat it, or cache it away until 
 needed. 
 
 In the numerous invitations which were 
 continually being received for lectures and 
 addresses, there was the constant request: 
 " Be sure and bring Jack ! " The result 
 was, that as I travelled up and down 
 throughout the Provinces of Ontario and 
 Quebec, Jack was as well known to thou- 
 sands as was his master. In the large halls 
 and lecture rooms, as well as in many of the 
 largest churches, Jack, the famous mission- 
 ary dog, was ever a welcome visitor. At 
 Sunday-school picnics and other gatherings 
 of the children, Jack was the hero of the 
 hour, and many of the little ones hugely 
 enjoyed the ride upon his back. Then, when 
 the speakers assembled on the platform, and 
 the music and speaking began, Jack had an 
 honourable place among the parsons and 
 others of that class, and none who knew of 
 him and his work ever thought of disputing 
 his right to his place among those most 
 highly honoured. 
 
 The following is a good illustration of 
 Jack's popularity with even the highest
 
 1 1 8 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 classes in the land. I was walking one day 
 along a well filled street in a capital city 
 of one of our Canadian Provinces with Jack 
 at my heels. Suddenly I heard my name 
 being shouted out most energetically: 
 
 " Mr. Young ! Mr. Young ! " 
 
 At first I could not make out whence the 
 calling proceeded. Soon however, as it was 
 accompanied by the waving of a red silk 
 parasol, I perceived it was from the daugh- 
 ter of the Governor of the Province, sitting 
 in a splendid carriage. 
 
 Lifting my hat, I responded to her calls, 
 for we had met before, and she said : 
 
 " The Judges are coming to dine at the 
 Government House to-morrow. Please 
 bring Jack up to dinner, and come your- 
 self!" 
 
 Of course we went, Jack and I. And we 
 dined with the Governor and his family and 
 the Judges. And everybody made a great 
 fuss over Jack. 
 
 On the railroads Jack became a great fa- 
 vourite with the trainmen. His place, on a 
 journey, was always with the baggage men, 
 and he and they had some lively but good- 
 natured romps. When I started off with 
 him on a railway journey, I always took
 
 Jack in Civilization 119 
 
 him to the baggage car and there left him, 
 with orders there to remain until we 
 reached our stopping place, and then I 
 would come for him. So good was he that 
 he was never tied up in the car. He well 
 knew what was expected of him and cheer- 
 fully obeyed. At the different stations 
 where the train stopped to let off or take 
 on passengers and baggage, Jack would fre- 
 quently jump out on the platform while the 
 baggage men were busy with the trunks or 
 other luggage. But he never got left. In 
 some way or other, he seemed to know when 
 it was his duty to spring in the car again. 
 He was very obedient to my orders to wait 
 at the baggage car until I would come for 
 him. This he always did, with one notable 
 exception. Then he disobeyed orders most 
 decidedly. But before you court-martial 
 him, or even censure him, listen to the story, 
 and then see if you would have found Jack 
 guilty. 
 
 Mrs. Young and I, with Jack, were com- 
 ing up from Trenton to Toronto on the 
 Grand Trunk Railway. Jack as usual was 
 put in the large baggage car, with orders to 
 remain there until I came for him. Mrs. 
 Young and I were in the last car of the
 
 I2O My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 train. We had hardly been travelling more 
 than an hour, when some obstruction if 
 we remember correctly, it was a misplaced 
 switch on the track threw our engine and 
 all of the cars following, off the track. The 
 baggage car, which as usual was next to the 
 engine, turned sideways and thus went 
 down a small embankment. This erratic 
 movement caused the sliding door in the 
 lower side of the car to speedily fly open. 
 The instant the door thus opened Jack 
 sprang out (so we were afterwards told). 
 He struck the ground before the car had 
 ceased moving and rolled over in the dirt, 
 but quickly rose up unhurt, and disap- 
 peared from the view of the baggage men. 
 Such was the speed with which we were go- 
 ing when the accident occurred that the car 
 in which Mrs. Young and I were sitting was 
 shot or broken almost completely off its run- 
 ning gear. Fortunately nobody in our car 
 was hurt. 
 
 We, of course, all sprang at once to our 
 feet and rushed for the door. We were 
 thankful to find that it had not jammed, 
 and so we were able to get out very quickly. 
 As our seat had been very near the door,
 
 Jack in Civilization 121 
 
 we were about the first to rush out We 
 were excited by the cries of those injured or 
 confined in the cars in front, and were 
 anxious to help. But before I had run many 
 yards, there was Jack coming with all the 
 speed imaginable. The instant he recog- 
 nized me he gave a howl of delight, and 
 fairly springing upon me, he threw his great 
 fore-paws around my neck and held me with 
 a grip like a bear, while he kissed me re- 
 peatedly in dog fashion and again howled 
 out his joy that I had escaped injury. 
 
 When I could get him down and quiet his 
 delight a little, he happened to see Mrs. 
 Young, and away he rushed for her, and 
 again we had an exhibition of his delight 
 that we had both fortunately escaped with- 
 out injury. His remarkable conduct on this 
 occasion attracted much attention from a 
 number of people, and there was much dis- 
 cussion and speculation afterwards about 
 Jack's actions on that day. These are the 
 facts as they occurred, and they are worthy 
 of study. 
 
 We had Jack with us only a couple of 
 years before he died, and that was from a 
 sad wound inflicted upon him by; some re-
 
 122 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 vengeful gipsies. The cause of this ven- 
 geance and Jack's premature death, was 
 this: 
 
 One day, when Jack was returning home 
 from the butcher's shop with a well-filled 
 basket, he was suddenly attacked by a fierce 
 white bull-dog belonging to these gipsies. 
 'Jack, faithful to his trust, while still hold- 
 ing on to his basket, managed to shake off 
 the treacherous brute that had so assailed 
 him when thus encumbered with his load. 
 He succeeded in getting home with his 
 basket, but the minute it was safely deliv- 
 ered, Jack was off like a shot. I was aston- 
 ished to see the ease with which he sprang 
 over the front gate, and his sudden disap- 
 pearance down the street. He was not long 
 in reaching the encampment of these gipsies. 
 The bulldog, the object of his ire, was now 
 ensconced in the yard, but Jack speedily 
 sprang over the gate and quickly seized him, 
 and although his owners had boasted of his 
 terrible fighting powers, he was no match 
 for the insulted and indignant Jack. 
 
 Those who saw the fight or punishment, 
 said that after the first minute or so Jack 
 was so completely the master that he 
 literally shook that big bulldog as a trained
 
 Jack in Civilization 123 
 
 terrier does a rat. Then when he threw him 
 down, the thrashed dog was so cowed that 
 he lay flat on the ground. Jack walked 
 around him several times, uttering a few 
 ominous growls, which doubtless were 
 words of advice to the miserable fellow to 
 behave himself in future. Then turning to- 
 wards the gate, Jack sprang over it with the 
 agility of a greyhound and leisurely 
 marched home. But he was ruffled in spirits 
 and out of sorts all day. 
 
 Of course the revengeful gipsies could not 
 forgive this thrashing, and the humiliation 
 to which their great fighter had been obliged 
 to submit. For months they tried in various 
 ways to injure or kill Jack, and at length 
 they succeeded in inflicting a grievous 
 wound in one of his shoulders. We had 
 done for him all that skilled veterinary sur- 
 geons could do, but their efforts were in 
 vain. One trouble was, the wound could 
 not be reached by Jack's tongue, which is 
 Nature's great plan for the cure of these 
 things. As I saw my glorious, patient dog, 
 my faithful companion in many a long, lone 
 journey, my deliverer, humanly speaking, 
 from many a dangerous blizzard storm, thus 
 dying slowly before me, I did long for wise
 
 124 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 old Kover, the famous dog doctor of my 
 wounded dogs in other days. I have always 
 felt confident that Rover could have cured 
 that wounded shoulder of Jack. Other dogs 
 with great wounds were cured by him, but 
 alas ! poor Jack was too far away from him, 
 and so we thus lost him. And when he died 
 there was sadness and gloom in that house 
 for many a day, for even the children were 
 comfortless and lonesome, for they could 
 not easily forget their great playmate and 
 protector. 
 
 We buried Jack at the foot of a beautiful 
 Canadian maple tree. If, as John Wesley 
 and many other thoughtful learned men be- 
 lieved, there is to be a resurrection for the 
 brute creation, surely Jack deserved it. 
 And why should he not have it?
 
 VIII 
 
 CUFFY, THE BEAUTIFUL NEWFOUNDLAND DOG 
 
 CUFFY was the most beautiful dog I 
 ever owned. She was a thoroughbred 
 Newfoundland of the short curly- 
 haired variety. Every curl upon her seemed 
 absolutely perfect, and they were appar- 
 ently all of the same size. She was always 
 an object of admiration to every lover of 
 these noble animals. Even persons who had 
 but little love for dogs would stop and ad- 
 mire beautiful Cuffy. 
 
 Like Jack, her inseparable companion, 
 she was a gift from the late Senator San- 
 ford, of Hamilton. In company with Jack, 
 she reached our far-off northern home on 
 the land of the Cree Indians, after a long 
 journey of about three thousand miles. 
 During this tedious trip, which occupied 
 several weeks, these two dogs were on sev- 
 eral lines of railroads and steamboats. 
 When they reached the northern limits of 
 these civilized methods of transportation, 
 125
 
 ia6 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 they were then transferred to an Indian 
 skiff, and in this primitive boat, packed in 
 with fur traders 5 outfits, they finished their 
 long journey and reached our Mission none 
 the worse for their many adventures. One 
 thing that perhaps more than anything else 
 deterred unprincipled dog fanciers from 
 stealing either of them, was the pathetic 
 engraving on the brass plates on the collar 
 of each dog. It read as follows : 
 
 " A poor Missionary's dog, 
 Please don't steal him." 
 
 This proved a sufficient deterrent, and so 
 my two valuable dogs reached me in safety. 
 Years after, I travelled over that same wild 
 route by which these dogs had come, and 
 was not a little amused by hearing the com- 
 ments of several persons, who admitted that 
 they had cast covetous eyes upon those mag- 
 nificent dogs, but had been restrained from 
 stealing them by the warning legend on 
 their collars. 
 
 Cuffy was not only very beautiful in ap- 
 pearance, but she was also so affectionate 
 and docile in every way, that Mrs. Young 
 speedily claimed her as her special posses- 
 sion, and the claim was never after dis:
 
 EGERTON R. YOUNG AND "JACK" OF TO-DAY.
 
 Cufty, the Beautiful Newfoundland Dog 1 27 
 
 puted. She soon learned that she was con- 
 sidered the sole property of her mistress, 
 and as a very natural result, she most de- 
 cidedly Constituted herself her alert pro- 
 tector. Woe to the strange dog that in 
 Cuffy's jealous watchfulness came too near 
 her beloved mistress. Size or sex made no 
 difference. The intruder would be attacked 
 with such fury that he was glad to beat an 
 ignominious retreat, often without the 
 slightest idea why he had received such a 
 shaking. Very soon after this loving rela- 
 tionship had been established between Cuffy 
 and her mistress the affectionate creature 
 was ever striving to manifest her love. We 
 were all amused by the persistent way in 
 which she was ever constituting herself her 
 mistress's footstool. No matter whether it 
 was out for a walk in the wild woods dur- 
 ing our brief pleasant summer time, or at 
 home amidst household cares, the instant 
 Mrs. Young sat down to rest, Cuffy would 
 throw herself at her feet and in her mute 
 but eloquent way, plead that her warm, 
 curly body might have the honour of being 
 her mistress's footstool. Then when the 
 meals were announced and we gathered 
 round the table, Cuffy would crawl under
 
 128 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 the table near to her mistress's feet and in- 
 sist upon their being placed upon her side. 
 If there was any delay in this being done, 
 Cuffy would twist her head around and tak- 
 ing the feet carefully in her mouth, would 
 place them where she desired them to rest. 
 This being accomplished to her satisfaction, 
 she would then remain perfectly still until 
 the sitting or meal was ended. 
 
 She was very easily taught to fetch and 
 carry, and nothing gave her greater pleasure 
 than to be sent into other rooms for well- 
 known articles. She became quite an adept 
 at this work, but never equalled Jack, as 
 some of his triumphs were simply marvel- 
 lous. Cuffy acquired the art of opening 
 every door in the house, when she was on 
 the side where it opened from her, but she 
 was completely foiled when the door opened 
 towards her. With but a few lessons I 
 taught Jack how to accomplish the feat, and 
 he never had any difficulty afterwards, but 
 poor Cuffy never could get possession of the 
 knack of pulling the door towards her and 
 thus opening it. However, this did not 
 much bother her, if Jack happened to be 
 about, and they were generally together ; for 
 after making an attempt on the door and
 
 Cuffy, the Beautiful Newfoundland Dog 129 
 
 as usual failing, she would march over to 
 the spot where Jack was comfortably sleep- 
 ing upon his fur rug, and unceremoniously 
 seizing him by the ear, would lead him to 
 the closed door and in expressive dog lan- 
 guage would order him to immediately open 
 it. 
 
 With this demand he always quickly 
 complied, for Cuffy was a bit of a tyrant 
 and, presuming on her sex, lorded it over 
 him most thoroughly. In fact she had him 
 in the most thorough subjection, and it often 
 gave us lots of amusement to watch her 
 coquettish and tantalizing ways, and Jack's 
 patience and quiet dignity. Yet, like many 
 a hen-pecked spouse, it seemed that the more 
 she imposed upon him, the greater his love 
 and jealous care. 
 
 The only battles that I recall having 
 had with Jack, were on Cuffy's account, and 
 battles royal they were. They came about 
 in this way. The principal food for all my 
 dogs was fish. During the winter months 
 the fish are frozen so hard that they have to 
 be thawed out ere they are fed to the dogs. 
 When the dogs were at home the fish were 
 thawed out at the hot kitchen fire and dis- 
 tributed among the hungry animals in the
 
 130 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 yard outside. Cuffy could not, or would not 
 understand that she was not to take her 
 large, oily fish into the house and there lei- 
 surely devour it on the study or dining-room 
 floor. A big grease-spot on the floor or car- 
 pet seemed a trifling affair in comparison 
 with her having to eat her supper in the 
 bitter cold. Several times had I sternly re- 
 proved her, and put her outside, to finish 
 her fish with the other dogs. Finding at 
 length that scoldings were of no avail, and 
 some protests coming in from other quar- 
 ters about carpets being ruined, I was at 
 length obliged to resort to stern measures, 
 and so one evening, when her actions had 
 been unusually provoking, I took her out 
 and gave her a real good whipping. As she 
 had never before been whipped, she did not 
 at first realize what it meant. However, I 
 was resolved that she should know, and 
 know so thoroughly, that the whipping 
 would not have to be repeated, and so I 
 continued the use of the lash until she be- 
 gan to vigourously cry out under its inflic- 
 tion. 
 
 Anticipating trouble from yet another 
 quarter, I had prepared for the emergency. 
 I had placed near at hand a large heavy
 
 Cuffy, the Beautiful Newfoundland Dog 131 
 
 oak axe handle, and it turned out fortunate 
 enough for me that I had such a formidable 
 weapon. Just as I had expected, Jack's 
 blood was up as soon as he heard Cuffy's 
 cries. He was on the opposite side of the 
 large yard and busily engaged in eating his 
 second fish. Suddenly springing up, he was 
 a splendid sight as there he stood for an in- 
 stant, head up, ears alert, and with his foot 
 on his coveted, half-devoured fish. As 
 Cuffy's cries continued, with a rush and a 
 roar the enormous fellow came for me. 
 
 I knew, from some exciting experiences 
 I had had with angry dogs in the past, that 
 my dog-whip was of but little avail in the 
 battle before me, and so I quickly exchanged 
 it for the heavy axe-handle. And I had to 
 be quick about it, for it did not take the now 
 thoroughly angry dog long to dash across 
 the yard and plunge recklessly at me for the 
 rescue of his beloved mate. However, I was 
 ready for him; and so, as he sprang vi- 
 ciously at me I was able to strike him such 
 a blow that I knocked him completely over. 
 In an instant he was up again, and once 
 more he sprang at me just as viciously as 
 before. However, I was on my guard, and 
 again, with all my might, I struck him on
 
 132 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 the side of his head. He went down all in 
 a heap, and at first I thought I had killed 
 him. 
 
 But this was only for a few seconds. 
 Then he was up, and again he charged me. 
 My third blow completely dazed him, so 
 much so that when he rallied from it he 
 skulked off to the kennels. Next day he was 
 distant and sulky, and it was evident that 
 we were to have another battle ere the ques- 
 tion as to which was master would be 
 settled. The decisive battle came off a few 
 days after. As I had been obliged so 
 abruptly to leave off punishing Cuffy and 
 fight for my life against Jack, her ladyship 
 had become possessed with the idea that the 
 victory had been on their side, and that she 
 could do as she liked. The result was that 
 one evening shortly after, she marched into 
 the dining-room with a large fish, and there 
 on the carpet began leisurely to devour it. 
 And, furthermore, when requested to take 
 up her fish and go outside she most decid- 
 edly, with ruffled curls and angry growls, 
 refused to do anything of the kind. 
 
 It was quite evident that things were com- 
 ing to a crisis in the dog kingdom. Had 
 Jack encouraged her to thus act, and were
 
 Cuffy, the Beautiful Newfoundland Dog 133 
 
 other dogs in sympathy with her and also 
 getting ready to go on strike against 
 authority? 
 
 No matter, whatever it is it must be met 
 and settled, and settled in such a manner 
 that it will not be repeated. The first thing 
 I did was to shut Jack up in the fish house. 
 Then I went for Cuffy. I gave her a most 
 thorough trouncing. Before I was through 
 with her, she found out who was master, 
 and never did she growl at me again. 
 
 During her castigation she had cried 
 bitterly. These cries had terribly excited 
 Jack. Like a caged lion, he had growled 
 and raged in his prison abode, out of which 
 he had made the most desperate attempts to 
 escape. He smashed the few panes of glass 
 in the window of the fish house, but the 
 window was too small and high for him to 
 struggle through. 
 
 When I had thoroughly conquered Cuffy, 
 and we were good friends again, I armed 
 myself with the same axe handle I had used 
 before, and then went to have it out with 
 Jack. The instant I unlocked the door, I 
 sprang back on my guard. Without any 
 hesitancy and just as viciously as before he 
 sprang at my throat. I am confident that
 
 134 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 if I had slipped or missed him, he would 
 have killed me. But I did not miss him. 
 My muscles were strong and hardened by 
 the vigourous exercise of that wild North- 
 land, and so it was possible for me to strike 
 a blow like a blacksmith. Big as he was and 
 weighing nearly two hundred pounds, he 
 went down under that blow as though shot. 
 His recuperative power seemed marvellous. 
 Again and again he came for me, but in 
 every instance I was thus able to throw him 
 over. At length he began to lose heart in 
 his rushes, and then, after receiving a spe- 
 cially ugly clip on the jaw, his opposition 
 ceased and all the fight seemed suddenly to 
 go out of him, and there the great big fellow 
 lay sprawled out on the ground and coolly 
 looking at ma 
 
 Now, for the first time since the com- 
 mencement of the conflict, I spoke to him : 
 
 "Jack! What do you mean by this? I 
 am ashamed of you ! Come here ! Come at 
 once ! How dare you act like this ! " 
 
 Thus talking to him, I stretched out one 
 of my hands to him, and at once he began 
 crawling towards me. As he slowly came 
 crouching to my feet and the big tail began 
 wagging, I saw that the dog was conquered.
 
 Cuffy, the Beautiful Newfoundland Dog 135 
 
 Throwing away the big club, I fearlessly 
 met him half-way and at once began strok- 
 ing the great head, on which I had, such a 
 short time before, rained such heavy blows. 
 Jack was conquered, and so was Cuffy, and 
 from that day forward, my word was law, 
 and never again did either of them receive 
 a blow. 
 
 The writing of these battles with my 
 noble dog has been the most unpleasant part 
 of my work. Some readers may perhaps 
 chide me as having been too severe in my 
 methods. But it must be remembered that 
 in such conflicts the man or the dog must 
 be the master. The punishment at the time 
 seemed severe but it never had to be re- 
 peated. For eleven years Jack was obedient 
 and true, and never after that last battle 
 was he struck again. 
 
 As might have been expected from her 
 Newfoundland origin, Cuffy was very fond 
 of the water. She was a splendid swimmer, 
 and with Jack as her companion spent sev- 
 eral hours each day in the lake, on the 
 shores of which we dwelt, during the few 
 warm months of our brilliant summer. She 
 would generally remain in the water long 
 after Jack had felt that he had had quite
 
 136 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 enough swimming for that day. He, how- 
 ever, would never lose sight of her until she 
 had become thoroughly satisfied with her 
 joyous sportings in the waves. When at 
 length she returned to the shore, great in- 
 deed was his delight, and noisily demonstra- 
 tive his welcome. Then most thoroughly 
 would she impose upon him. Instead of 
 swimming east where there was a pleasant 
 sandy beach, and there easily walking 
 ashore, her ladyship would swim directly 
 towards the spot on the steep rocky shore 
 where Jack was visible, and there insist 
 upon him helping her up at that precipitous 
 place. This was not always an easy job. If 
 Jack had happened to be where the rock 
 rose only a short distance above the water, 
 he could reach down and, seizing her by the 
 back of her neck, help her to scramble to 
 shore. Sometimes, however, it happened 
 that when Cuffy started for the land, Jack 
 would be perched on one of the highest 
 points of the rocky shore. Then the fun 
 would begin. Jack, apparently conscious of 
 the trouble ahead, would carry on in the 
 most frantic manner, and seemed to be try- 
 ing to tell the obstinate dog that she was 
 coming to the wrong place. But not a whit
 
 Cuffy, the Beautiful Newfoundland Dog 137 
 
 cared Cuffy. To that spot would she swim, 
 and when she reached it she would raise 
 herself up as high as she could and then 
 howl and cry for assistance. 
 
 Poor Jack! He was simply wild with 
 excitement. In vain would he reach down 
 as far as he could, and bark back to her, in 
 response to her bowlings. Various were the 
 expedients which he used to try to help her 
 out. One of the most ingenious plans, and 
 which displayed a good deal of reasoning 
 power, was to rush off to a pile of old rub- 
 bish or lumber and there select a long, thin 
 stick. Carrying this back to the steep, he 
 would drop one end of it over to Cuffy. He 
 would then vigourously haul on at the other 
 end, and soon land her on the shore, greatly 
 to his delight. Never, however, did any of 
 us observe her appear to express the slight- 
 est gratitude for all his solicitude or clever 
 expedients for her rescue. She just ac- 
 cepted it all as a matter of course, and, as 
 usual, snubbed him on the first occasion 
 afterward. 
 
 One of her great delights when in the 
 water was to frolic with some large stur- 
 geon which I had secured in the lake near 
 the shore. These sturgeon are only to be
 
 138 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 caught during a few weeks, and then they 
 swarmed in great numbers on our shores. 
 They were caught in large gill-nets by the 
 Indians, and brought alive to the Mission. 
 Their meat when fresh is much superior to 
 what it is when salted. The result was we 
 resorted to various expedients to keep these 
 great sturgeon alive, until we wished to use 
 them. Some of them were ten feet long. 
 One plan was to make a sturgeon pond in 
 some sheltered bay. This answered very 
 well when we had a large number of them, 
 but if there were only a few in that pond, 
 they became so wary and cunning, that it 
 was very difficult to capture one when de- 
 sired. 
 
 A very common plan was to have a few 
 swimming in the lake each fastened to the 
 end of a long rope. These ropes were of soft 
 cotton and from sixty to one hundred feet 
 long. One end was so fastened to the stur- 
 geon's head that it caused no pain or incon- 
 venience. The other end of the rope was 
 secured at the shore. Sturgeon are very 
 powerful fish and are able to give a strong 
 pull. Being thus tied did not seem to 
 trouble them much, and so they gambolled 
 and played as much as usual before us.
 
 Cuffy, the Beautiful Newfoundland Dog 139 
 
 Nothing pleased Cuffy more than to plunge 
 into the water among them and to take a 
 part in the fun. At first when she used to 
 thus spring in among them, they would all 
 dive down and lie quietly at the bottom. 
 After a while some of them at least did not 
 seem to mind her and played about as usual. 
 There was an especially large one, that 
 became quite friendly with Cuffy, although 
 the dog never seemed to understand how it 
 was that the fish could so quickly get out 
 of sight. One great trick of Cuffy's was to 
 firmly seize hold of the tail of the great fish. 
 The instant the sturgeon would feel this, 
 down it would quickly dive, dragging Cuffy 
 completely out of sight. It would not how- 
 ever be very long before the dog, sputter- 
 ing and blowing, would come to the surface 
 and quickly strike out for the shore. Here 
 she would cough and sneeze at a great rate 
 until she had forced all the water out of 
 her lungs. This sudden and doubtless un- 
 expected plunge into the depths, did not in 
 any way discourage the plucky dog and so, 
 as soon as the sturgeon was up and appar- 
 ently looking for its old playmate, Cuffy 
 would plunge in to renew this most unique 
 sport.
 
 140 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 We used up all the other sturgeon ere we 
 cast our hungry eyes on Cuffy's queer play- 
 mate. We let it live, and they enjoyed their 
 strange gambols together, until the winter 
 was close at hand and the water had become 
 so icy cold that it seemed cruel to allow 
 Cuffy to plunge into it. Then we feasted 
 upon it. But what an attraction it would 
 have made for an enterprising showman ! 
 
 Living on fish, as we were obliged to do 
 in those days, for nearly all the winter 
 months, it was a great pleasure to go off to 
 the goose hunt in the spring with the pros- 
 pect of returning with a number of those 
 splendid game birds. I will tell of Cuffy's 
 first encounter with an old goose, which, 
 although wounded, had still enough fight in 
 him to keep at bay for a time even the re- 
 doubtable Cuffy. 
 
 As was but natural, I felt quite proud 
 when I saw my first wild goose drop, slowly 
 it is true, from the passing flock at which I 
 had fired, and light with a broken wing far 
 out on the distant ice-field. I had with me 
 one train of dogs. These I had ordered to 
 crouch low at my feet while I fired. Cuffy's 
 quick eye was the first to catch sight of the 
 wounded goose, even while it was high up
 
 Cuffy, the Beautiful Newfoundland Dog 141 
 
 in the air, and observe its desperate efforts 
 to stay with its fellows. When this was 
 impossible and it began to descend, I 
 quickly unharnessed the eager dog. The in- 
 stant the goose alighted, at a distance of at 
 least three-quarters of a mile away, I gave 
 Cuffy a cheery word, and let her go. 
 
 Quickly reloading my gun I sprang on my 
 dog-sled and as rapidly as we could travel, 
 we followed after. Hampered as we were 
 by Cuffy's dangling harness, we could not 
 make very rapid progress, but we did get 
 near enough to see the battle between Cuffy 
 and that wild goose. At first the goose, by 
 rapid running, aided by its one wing, tried 
 to get away from the dog. When, however, 
 it found out that this was impossible, it sud- 
 denly stopped and stood on the defensive. 
 With a bark of anticipated easy triumph, 
 Cuffy recklessly rushed in to seize the goose. 
 But alas, what a humiliation ! Before that 
 dog knew what had happened, she was lying 
 on her back on the ice and fairly howling 
 with rage and pain. W T ith one quick blow, 
 with his uninjured wing, that old goose had 
 struck that dog such a blow that under its 
 terrific force she was knocked over and 
 dazed by it.
 
 142 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 But Cuffy was a very gamey dog and so 
 ghe was soon up and at it again. Another 
 humiliating fall or two awaited her and 
 taught her to be wary. So as she sprang at 
 the goose again, she feinted in her rushes. 
 Then when she had thrown the goose off his 
 guard she made a quick rush, and just as we 
 reached her it was all over with that goose. 
 
 Cuffy's head was sore for days after. The 
 goose was a tough old gander and so we 
 hung him up for some weeks, ere we con- 
 sidered him tender enough to be tackled as 
 a specially dainty article of food. 
 
 Cuffy served me well for a number of 
 years as one of my finest sleigh dogs. She 
 took to the work very easily and never had 
 she to be whipped or even scolded when in 
 harness. A cheery word was all that was 
 necessary to induce Cuffy to do all that she 
 could do. With Jack she was privileged 
 above all the other dogs at the wintry 
 camps. When blizzards howled over us, 
 and the cold was so terrible that the spirit 
 thermometer indicated anywhere in the 
 neighbourhood of fifty or sixty degrees be- 
 low zero, these two dogs were permitted to 
 sleep on, and sometimes under, my fur 
 robes to help keep me from freezing to death.
 
 IX 
 
 VOYAGEUR, THE MATCHLESS LEADER 
 
 OYAGEUR was the finest leader dog 
 \ / I ever owned. No horse responded 
 V more quickly to the pull upon the 
 rein than did Voyageur to the voice of his 
 driver. Certain words used by the dog- 
 drivers soon become well understood by the 
 leaders, and are obeyed by them with more 
 or less promptness according to the intelli- 
 gence or training of the dogs. Some dogs 
 that at times display great intelligence and 
 quickness in responding to the calls of the 
 driver, at other times seem provokingly 
 stupid. But Voyageur could always be de- 
 pended upon. " Marche ! " to him always 
 meant " Go on," while " Chaw " or " Yee," 
 meant to turn to the right or left as might 
 be required, and never did he mistake the 
 one for the other. Then when " Isse ! " was 
 added to either word, he knew it meant to 
 turn back sharp and quick on the trail on 
 the side indicated by the added word. 
 143
 
 144 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 Voyageur was a large, long-legged nearly 
 white dog of mixed breed, and not what 
 might be called handsome. When being 
 trained in early life, he displayed snch an 
 amount of fierceness and stubbornness that 
 he was severely whipped. On one of these 
 occasions the end of the heavy lash accident- 
 ally struck him in one of his eyes and de- 
 stroyed it This was a great sorrow to his 
 master, but it did not in the end seem to be 
 much of an injury to Voyageur. However, 
 it made him ever after extremely nervous, 
 and he ever resented being silently ap- 
 proached on his blind side. 
 
 He was never an affectionate or playful 
 dog. A petting he considered an insult. 
 Kind words offered in return for some 
 splendid work done by him he treated with 
 scorn, unless they were accompanied by an 
 extra gift of pemmican or an additional fish 
 to his usual allowance. He never was seen 
 to play with other dogs, and so vigourously 
 did he resent the efforts of some younger 
 dogs to get up a romp with him that they 
 seldom made a second attempt. When I 
 opened the kennels and let all the dogs out 
 for exercise, Voyageur seemed to consider 
 the whole thing a nuisance, and never en-
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 145 
 
 tered into the wild, joyous frolics with the 
 rest. If when driven out by an Indian he 
 did condescend to follow, it was at least a 
 hundred yards or so in the rear, and he 
 seemed to rejoice when, unnoticed, he could 
 turn back and curl up again in his favourite 
 corner. 
 
 If allowed to run loose about the place 
 during the months when the dogs were at 
 work, one end of a rope about a hundred 
 feet long, had to be tied around his neck. 
 This was necessary as he was very difficult 
 to catch. A clever Indian, however, taking 
 advantage of his blind side, could generally 
 without much trouble get near enough to 
 him to take hold of this long trailing rope. 
 When this was once accomplished, although 
 I have seen two hours spent ere he was cap- 
 tured, Voyageur would at once surrender 
 and never offer the slightest objection to 
 being pulled in and harnessed up with the 
 other dogs. 
 
 Once harnessed, there was a great trans- 
 formation in him. This sullen, sulky, timid 
 dog became the most alert and active of 
 them all. As a leader he had no equal. One 
 word from the driver, be he white man or 
 Indian, was quite sufficient. If the route
 
 146 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 was on the great lakes, skirting along from 
 headland to headland, all that was neces- 
 sary was to point to some bold bluff or cliff 
 that showed up, say twenty miles away, and 
 say : " Voyageur, that is our next point, 
 now for it ! " Straight as a surveyor's line 
 would be the trail he would make, as with 
 his traces taut, and without a guide in front 
 or another word from his driver, he gal- 
 lantly dashed along. 
 
 His worth and sagacity were specially 
 displayed where the route lay over danger- 
 ous, treacherous places on the ice. This was 
 not unfrequent during our late journeyings 
 in the spring months, when the brilliant 
 rays of the sun were disintegrating the ice 
 and so candelling or separating it into long 
 crystals that, although still several feet 
 thick, it was dangerous to travel on. A 
 person was liable to find himself suddenly 
 dropping down through this strangely disin- 
 tegrated ice that yielded to his weight and 
 let him down through it, while in innumer- 
 able long splinters it rasped or grated with 
 loud unpleasant sounds around him. To 
 be able to detect these weak places and wind 
 in and out and around them and thus keep 
 all the dogs and sleds following, on safe,
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 147 
 
 strong ice, was the dnty of the leader dog, 
 if no well-trained Indian guide was at the 
 front. It was in just such dangerous places 
 that Voyageur seemed to excel. He was 
 sensitive to a degree and wished to be let 
 alone. All he wanted to know was the direc- 
 tion ahead in which he was to go, and no 
 matter how much he had to twist and turn 
 around these bad, treacherous spots in the 
 ice, he kept the goal ever in view and would 
 reach it with unfailing accuracy. 
 
 This even Jack and Cuffy would never do. 
 They were too sympathetic to be reliable as 
 guides. Sometimes when I have put one or 
 the other of them at the head to try them 
 they would do fairly well for a time but 
 when a specially dangerous place had been 
 safely passed they would be so delighted 
 over the feat that they would sometimes, 
 without a word having been said, abruptly 
 turn round and come to me, apparently 
 either to be commended for their good work 
 or to see how I had survived the ordeal. 
 This was very pleasant and kindly on their 
 part, but it was not first-class dog travelling 
 or indicative of the highest qualifications on 
 the part of a leader. Several times it put 
 us in very awkward predicaments, in places
 
 148 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 still perilous, so we got into the habit of 
 always putting Voyageur at the head, where 
 dangers seen, and more frequently unseen 
 by the human eye, beset our trail. 
 
 Thus for years he was the undisputed 
 leader of the first train. Generally on my 
 long trips, the Indian guide was at the front 
 running on ahead. His snowshoes left suffi- 
 cient track for the dogs, even if he himself 
 were miles on ahead. No matter how 
 crooked the path he thus marked out, the 
 trained dogs followed on it exactly as thus 
 indicated. But when a great lake was 
 reached and the guide was weary of the 
 monotony of having been, it may be for days, 
 running on ahead alone, he would gladly re- 
 sign the leadership to Voyageur. Gallantly 
 would the noble dog take up the work thus 
 assigned to him, and with the route once in- 
 dicated, would push on, hour after hour, 
 with unflagging energy, while the guide thus 
 released, would travel on in the rear with 
 the other Indians with whom he could chat 
 and smoke as thus they followed in the trail 
 or on the frozen lake. 
 
 Among the many remarkable instances of 
 his intelligence and sagacity where in all 
 probability Voyageur saved a number of
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 149 
 
 persons from a terrible death, the following 
 is one of the most interesting. 
 
 For many years Norway House was one 
 of the most important of the interior trad- 
 ing posts of the Honourable Hudson's Bay 
 Company. Here in its many buildings 
 would be gathered from many of the remote 
 trading posts, the valuable furs, until the 
 greater part of the ship's cargo was accumu- 
 lated for transportation down the mighty 
 Nelson Eiver to York Factory, and from 
 that port shipped to England. 
 
 The importance of Norway House in those 
 days thus made it one of the great centres 
 of the fur trade. Here great councils of the 
 Governor, Chief Factors, and other officials, 
 were frequently held. 
 
 One winter a number of gentlemen in con- 
 nection with the service, with their Indian 
 dog drivers and servants, started from Old 
 Fort Garry, now known as the city of Win- 
 nipeg, to travel by dog trains nearly four 
 hundred miles north to Norway House. It 
 was an unusually large party to thus travel 
 in the depth of winter over the ice, with the 
 temperature ranging anywhere from twenty 
 to fifty below zero. Generally the business 
 of this great and wealthy fur trading com-
 
 150 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 pany was so arranged that the long trip of 
 the gentlemen of the service could be made 
 during the few months of the brilliant 
 summer of that great Northland. However, 
 there had arisen some emergency in the 
 business of the Company, and this long cold 
 journey had to be made by these officials and 
 their retainers in spite of the bitter cold, 
 and the fact that for a number of nights 
 they would have to sleep in holes dug in the 
 snow, in the dreary forests on the shores of 
 the great Lake Winnipeg on the frozen 
 surface of which they travelled day after day. 
 
 There was a large number of dog trains 
 with their Indian drivers, as in travelling 
 of this description not only is it imperative 
 to carry along large supplies of fur robes 
 and blankets for the wintry beds, but abun- 
 dant supplies of food, with kettles, guns, am- 
 munition, axes and various other things, in 
 addition to a large supply of pemmican and 
 fish for the dogs. 
 
 Voyageur led the way. Not even the most 
 clever of the Indian guides thought of indi- 
 cating the route by keeping in the front 
 while this noble dog was in his place. All 
 that was necessary, when the wintry cainp
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 151 
 
 in the forest was vacated and the whole 
 party once more emerged from its depths on 
 to the surface of the great lake, was to point 
 out to faithful Voyageur the next headland 
 or distant promontory and with a dash he 
 was off straight as an arrow to the required 
 destination. The loud calls, the pistol-like 
 reports of the dog-whips and their stinging 
 blows, so frequent on such hard journeys, 
 were not needed when Voyageur led and he 
 had companion dogs of equal courage and 
 endurance, to respond to his splendid 
 leadership. 
 
 Thus on they travelled towards the north, 
 day after day. The sun shone with such un- 
 dimmed brilliancy upon them that the great- 
 est trouble arose from the attacks of snow- 
 blindness caused by the reflection of the 
 sun's rays upon the dazzling pure white 
 snow. This disease is painful in the ex- 
 treme. The first sensation of its coming is 
 a copious flowing of water from the eyes. 
 The next stage of the attack is extreme 
 agony in the eyeballs, a sensation of pain, 
 as though red hot sand was being thrown 
 into the eyes. The final stage, if precau- 
 tionary measures are not promptly taken,
 
 1 52 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 is total blindness. On this special journey 
 a number of the best Indian guides suffered 
 very severely, and so with bandaged eyes 
 they were only able to keep up by each hold- 
 ing on to a rope fastened to the hind end of 
 the dog sleds. 
 
 One night while they were in their camp, 
 there was a heavy fall of snow. In that cold 
 land the snow docs not pack hard upon the 
 land or ice, but is light and is very easily 
 lifted up by the first high wind that comes 
 along. These winds, when they are fierce 
 and strong and follow soon after a downfall 
 of snow, constitute a blizzard. 
 
 A real blizzard should not be confounded 
 with an ordinary snow storm. The blizzard 
 is the after storm, and generally takes place 
 when there is not a cloud in the sky. It is 
 really only a high, fierce wind that lifts up 
 the light, dry snow, that may have fallen 
 days before, and drives and whirls it along 
 with such fury that the air is at times thick 
 with it, while every road or trail is simply 
 obliterated. The falling of this additional 
 quantity of snow, to which we have referred, 
 did not much disturb either the whites or 
 Indians of our travelling party. In fact, as 
 it came down upon them after they were
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 153 
 
 snugly ensconced in their robes and blank- 
 ets and completely covered up, it was con- 
 sidered as an additional covering, that only 
 added to their warmth and comfort. How- 
 ever, it was not quite so pleasant on getting 
 up the next morning as on former days, as 
 the snow was everywhere, and some of it 
 seemed to persist in getting down the backs 
 of necks, and in other places where it was 
 not welcome. 
 
 Then there was the additional work of 
 hunting the dogs, some of whom were buried 
 under several feet of snow, and persisted in 
 there remaining in their comfortable re- 
 treats in spite of importunate calls, until 
 they had to be literally dug out with snow- 
 shoes as substitute for shovels in the hands 
 of the Indians. 
 
 When everything had been dug out of the 
 snow, the sleds packed and the journey re- 
 sumed, it was found out very quickly that 
 as there was now nearly two feet of dry 
 snow on the ice, it would be impossible to 
 make as rapid progress as heretofore. How- 
 ever, as the storm was over and the sky 
 cloudless they pushed on as rapidly as pos- 
 sible with Voyageur still bravely leading. 
 Sometimes, however, a number of the In-
 
 154 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 'dian drivers with their snowshoes would, in 
 Indian file, push on ahead and thus make a 
 beaten trail which made it easier work for 
 the dogs to drag the heavy sleds. 
 
 One afternoon there was a glorious 
 phenomenon in the western sky. A hazy 
 sort of a cloud seemed to come up from be- 
 low the western horizon and to rapidly ex- 
 tend to the zenith. Then circle after circle 
 appeared around the sun, while in each one 
 of them mock suns shining in all colours of 
 the rainbow were for a time most vivid and 
 beautiful. Then as the haze increased, the 
 circles dimmed away and the sun itself be- 
 came the central point of a blazing cross of 
 most startling and wondrous beauty. There 
 for a time, in radiant glory, it shone in 
 splendour, while above it still lingered a 
 half-circle of one of the solar rings that an 
 hour before had been so vivid and distinct. 
 
 But while these signs in the heavens 
 charmed and delighted the gentlemen of this 
 travelling party, they filled with anxiety 
 the minds of the experienced Indians. 
 These red men, well posted in such things, 
 knew that a fierce storm was coming, and 
 that these bright circles and that flaming 
 cross were the signs that even now there was
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 155 
 
 rushing down from the regions of Atha- 
 baska or the Rocky Mountains a wind so 
 fierce that when it struck that great Lake 
 Winnipeg, on which now rested so peace- 
 fully that great covering of new-fallen snow, 
 it would lift it up and transform it into 
 cruel blizzards which, like great monsters, 
 would shriek and howl for their victims. 
 Only by the greatest endurance and skill 
 could they escape if suddenly caught, far 
 out from their camp or forest retreat 
 
 When the Indians communicated their 
 surmisings to the gentlemen in charge, it 
 was decided to make every effort to push on 
 as rapidly as possible. Every available man 
 who could help pack the trail was sent on 
 ahead to make the travelling easier for the 
 dogs. Thus for hours they made good prog- 
 ress, as the storm was still distant and the 
 snow undisturbed. 
 
 When night overtook them they turned 
 into the forest and made their wintry camp. 
 As the younger gentlemen sat around the 
 fire well wrapped up in their fur garments 
 and eating their suppers, they w r ere inclined 
 to laugh at the fears of the Indians who had 
 predicted a coming blizzard. And it then 
 did seem as though the forebodings of the
 
 156 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 Indians were groundless, for no sign seemed 
 to indicate a storm. Above them the stars 
 were shining with the usual brilliancy of an 
 arctic sky, for all the hazy appearances that 
 had helped to make the wondrous visions of 
 the previous day had entirely disappeared. 
 Even the smoke as it rose up so perpendicu- 
 larly from the blazing log fire in front of 
 them gave no indication of the slightest 
 breeze. All nature was so calm and still 
 that it could hardly be a matter of surprise 
 that these inexperienced young men should 
 make merry and have a little fun at the ex- 
 pense of the old Indians. In the meantime 
 these same old Indians paid but little heed 
 to their remarks. They knew from the ex- 
 periences of the past what was before them, 
 and even while they were being ridiculed 
 they were making all preparations to meet 
 the coming storm. 
 
 Voyageur was given an extra fish by the 
 Indians at feeding time, and provided with 
 a deer skin on which to sleep, while at the 
 same time his travelling rope was fastened 
 to a tree, so that he should not skulk away. 
 
 As decided on by the gentlemen in charge, 
 the start was made very early the next morn- 
 ing. The result was that they were many,
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 157 
 
 miles on their journey ere the flashing, dan- 
 cing, brilliant auroras, which had been of 
 unusual splendour and activity, were lost in 
 the superior brightness of the rising sun. 
 
 With the light thus afforded the whole 
 party turned in towards the eastern shore 
 to a well-wooded rocky point and there the 
 Indians quickly cut down some dry trees 
 and cooked the much needed breakfast, 
 which was heartily enjoyed by all. The in- 
 tense cold uses up so much of the vitality 
 of the body that large quantities of the fat- 
 test of food are absolutely essential if travel- 
 lers would keep in vigourous health. Then 
 the journey was resumed, but it was not 
 long before the changes rapidly taking place 
 around and above them began to show that 
 the old Indians were right in spite of the 
 criticisms of the inexperienced white men. 
 
 Sometimes a blizzard comes down sud- 
 denly on travellers, fairly rolling over them 
 like great fog banks sweeping in from the 
 ocean. At other times it begins with fitful 
 gusts of wind that seem to come from any- 
 where and disappear just as suddenly and 
 mysteriously. Thus it was on this occasion, 
 and so our party of whites and Indians be- 
 gan to hope that it would amount to but
 
 158 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 little, or be so delayed that they could reach 
 their camping place ere any serious danger 
 menaced them. 
 
 So they gallantly pushed on across the 
 great bay in the lake, which was many miles 
 in width, and where for hours, even in fine 
 weather, they would be out of sight of land. 
 
 Slowly but surely the storm increased. 
 Voyageur gallantly kept up his speed and 
 seemed to know as well as the drivers that 
 no time was to be lost. 
 
 The trains were now all fastened together 
 by tying the tail ropes of the sleds ahead to 
 the collars of the dogs coming immediately 
 in the rear. Additional ropes were made 
 secure to the sleds, and as the blizzard in all 
 its fury was now upon them, every person 
 except the experienced Indians was given 
 the end of one of these to hold on to or, if 
 he preferred, to fasten to his sash belt and 
 thus keep him from straying away and being 
 lost 
 
 These precautions were absolutely neces- 
 sary, as often so dense is the driving snow 
 that a person cannot see many feet in any 
 direction, while c.t the same time, the roar 
 of the blizzard is so terrible that no human
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 159 
 
 voice can be heard beyond a very short 
 distance. 
 
 Thus tied together as it were, and with 
 old Voyageur courageously leading on, they 
 made as much progress as possible under 
 such discouraging circumstances. When 
 the blizzard had settled down into its 
 genuine form, it was evident that it came 
 principally from the northwest. The result 
 w r as our party had to travel almost in its 
 very face. At times, however, it so swirled 
 and eddied around them that it seemed to 
 come from every quarter of the heavens at 
 the same moment. This revolving, eddying 
 nature of a blizzard is what constitutes its 
 greatest danger, as it makes the task of 
 keeping in the right direction so much the 
 more difficult as there is not the least ves- 
 tige of a road, and the view is so limited 
 that it is utterly impossible to see either the 
 sun or any distant landmark to indicate the 
 route in which parties may wish to travel. 
 
 However, Voyageur was at the head, and 
 there are times when even a dog's intelli- 
 gence is more than a match for man's ex- 
 perience. 
 
 Fortunately Voyageur, in other years,
 
 160 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 had successfully led the way with similar 
 parties, and so now in him all were trust- 
 ing, even if not one man, white or Indian, 
 could see many yards ahead. 
 
 After some hours thus travelling, a halt 
 was called, pemmican bags were opened and 
 other supplies beforehand provided were 
 made available, and each man, as well as he 
 could, in spite of the storm, ate of the nour- 
 ishing food, so essential to enable him to 
 contend against the fierce storm and the 
 bitter cold. 
 
 The journey was then resumed, and for 
 some hours more Voyageur unhesitatingly 
 led them all on, amidst the still raging bliz- 
 zard. After awhile the increasing darkness 
 told them that the short wintry day was 
 drawing to its close, and that the long night 
 was at hand. This fact naturally created 
 some alarm and caused some of the gentle- 
 men in charge to insist upon something 
 more being done in reference to the route 
 being travelled than by merely trusting to 
 the leadership of a single dog. Quietly the 
 Indians urged that nothing better could be 
 done and that the dog had best be let alone 
 to his own experience and intelligence. But 
 suddenly this also seemed to fail, for un-
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 161 
 
 expectedly Voyageur, the peerless, stopped 
 in his tracks and deliberately lay down on 
 the ice and snow ! 
 
 This was indeed a serious matter and one 
 that could not be allowed. Sharp and stern 
 were the orders of the white men in com- 
 mand and so when all words of entreaty and 
 urging could not induce the now apparently 
 sulking balking dog to move on, the heavy 
 whip was brought into requisition and the 
 noble dog was most cruelly beaten. It was 
 noticed and wondered at that even under 
 the heaviest strokes he gave out no cry of 
 pain but in silence took the painful beating. 
 White men, who stood around now full of 
 anger and vexation, cruelly kicked the poor 
 dog but still he would neither move nor give 
 out a sound of pain. 
 
 "Paulette!" shouted the white man in 
 charge, " you must go on and lead us. We 
 cannot remain here and freeze to death in 
 this horrible blizzard ! " 
 
 Paulette, the most experienced guide of 
 his day, quickly responded, and with his 
 quick eye and long experience was able to 
 note the direction in which Voyageur had 
 been leading them, and so, even before the 
 party was ready to follow, he began to push
 
 1 62 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 on ahead in the gloom of that stormy night. 
 He did not, however, go very far before he 
 quickly returned, with a cry of terror and 
 alarm, to his comrades. 
 
 " We are on the thin ice over the rapid 
 current of the river," he shouted. " The dog 
 has saved our lives." 
 
 It may be necessary here to explain that 
 while many large as well as small rivers 
 run into Lake Winnipeg, it has only one 
 outlet, the great Nelson River. So wide is 
 it at its mouth that in the gloom of night, 
 or when storms like this one are raging, it 
 is quite easy for parties to run out on its 
 frozen surface without observing that they 
 have already left the lake. To do this is, 
 however, safe only when the cold is intense, 
 say from twenty to sixty degrees below 
 zero. But when anything warmer than this, 
 the ice wears thin from below and there is 
 the danger to all who venture on it as the 
 keen-scented, clever Voyageur discovered 
 and refused to pass over. 
 
 A very brief investigation showed this to 
 be true, and there was a speedy retreat from 
 such a precarious position to stronger ice. 
 
 Fortunately the discovery of the running 
 water under the thin ice indicated the local-
 
 Voyageur, the Matchless Leader 163 
 
 ity, so that a detour to the east soon brought 
 them to the friendly shelter of the forest. 
 Here an abundance of dead trees being 
 found, a roaring camp fire and a good sup- 
 per soon made them forget their hardships 
 in their gratitude for their deliverance. 
 
 Old Voyageur was indeed the hero of the 
 hour, but he sullenly resented any petting 
 for his wonderful display of sagacity, al- 
 though he did condescend to accept a fine 
 piece of pemmican in addition to his ration 
 of white fish.
 
 VOYAGEUR, THE BROKEN-HEARTED 
 
 VOYAGEUR had been thoroughly 
 trained by his former master, a Mr. 
 Sinclair of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, before I bought him. Such was his 
 singular undoglike nature, that while he 
 left his first master without regret he ever 
 treated me with indifference. As a dog out- 
 side of his harness he was a nonentity, or 
 rather a puzzle, but when at the head of his 
 train, with every muscle quivering with ex- 
 citement and ears erect as he eagerly waited 
 for his " Marching orders," he was every 
 inch a dog. 
 
 Not until we had lost him did we begin 
 to understand him and realize how that 
 proud position of leadership was all the 
 world to him. 
 
 It was with him: " Aut Caesar ant 
 nullus," so emphatically, that when his su- 
 premacy was questioned his proud spirit 
 164
 
 Voyageur, the Broken-Hearted 165 
 
 scorned any second place, and so he lay 
 down and died. 
 
 There was something so pathetic and al- 
 most humanly tragic about Voyageur's end 
 that it is sad to write about it especially as 
 I was the innocent cause of it 
 
 Well aware of the short lives of dogs, and 
 thus sadly conscious that Voyageur could 
 not last many years longer, with all his old- 
 time vigour, I was naturally anxious to 
 have some trained successors to take his 
 place. Becoming the fortunate owner of 
 some very fine young St. Bernard dogs, sev- 
 eral of which were nearly a year old, I was 
 naturally desirous of breaking them in, and 
 especially of finding out if at least one of 
 them, would develop into a good leader. In 
 the usual way of training they had already 
 had some lessons, and I was much pleased 
 with the docility and intelligence with 
 which they had acted when harnessed up 
 with older dogs. However, up to the time 
 of the strange event I am going to relate, I 
 had never tried any one of them as a leader 
 dog. 
 
 The principal supply of white fish on 
 which our own table as well as our dogs de- 
 pended, was obtained from a fishery fifteen
 
 1 66 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 or twenty miles distant. There the fish were 
 caught in the month of October, just before 
 the ice formed on the waters. Sometimes, 
 indeed, the winter set in early and then, at 
 the cost of a good deal of hardship, the nets 
 had to be set under the ice and kept em- 
 ployed by the Indians until the desired num- 
 ber of these delicious fish was secured. 
 
 When caught these fish were either hung 
 upon stagings above the reach of prowling 
 wolves or thievish Eskimo dogs, or else 
 packed away securely in ice. 
 
 I had, every October, several thousand 
 of these fish thus caught and secured for 
 me. The severe and steady frost did the 
 work of curing them, as they were frozen as 
 hard as stones and thus kept perfectly fresh 
 and good for several months. 
 
 The work of drawing these fish home to 
 our Mission was interesting and pleasant 
 although the return journey with the loaded 
 sleds made it necessary that we should all 
 walk, or rather run, in the usual Indian jog- 
 trot fashion. 
 
 As I was arranging for a long journey of 
 several weeks' duration to some remote In- 
 dians, which would necessitate my taking 
 with me my best trains, I decided before be-
 
 Voyageur, the Broken-H carted 167 
 
 ginning the trip to drag home all of my fish 
 from the distant fisheries. 
 
 We worked with four or five trains for 
 several days and as the weather was bril- 
 liantly fine all the time, without any snow- 
 fall or blizzard, we soon had a splendid 
 beaten trail. 
 
 It was quite customary for a number of 
 my younger dogs to accompany the party 
 on these trips and by their antics and amus- 
 ing ways to very much break the tediousness 
 of the work, which, after the first journeys, 
 became quite monotonous. Extra harness 
 would sometimes be carried along and occa- 
 sionally we would harness up some of these 
 younger dogs and thus carry on the work 
 of breaking them in. 
 
 One day as we were on the home stretch 
 with our heavy loads I harnessed up a very 
 fine young St. Bernard that had already 
 been partly trained and fastened him in 
 front of Voyageur, thus constituting him 
 leader of the train. Ere I wa& able to start, 
 I was delayed by having to refasten my load 
 of fish, which had become somewhat 
 loosened. 
 
 When readv to start, I shouted : 
 
 "Marche!"
 
 1 68 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 To my surprise Voyageur sprang to his 
 work and aided by the strong dogs behind 
 him, was speedily en route, while the young 
 dog, with much shortened traces, ran gam- 
 bolling by the side of the harnessed train. 
 Quickly stopping the sleds I proceeded to 
 investigate, and discovered that while I had 
 been rearranging my load, Voyageur had 
 been busily using his teeth, and had suc- 
 ceeded in cutting off the traces of the dog 
 that I had had the audacity to put in front 
 of him! 
 
 I was amused and annoyed annoyed at 
 having a new harness nearly ruined, and 
 amused at the spirit of the matchless leader 
 of many years thus emphatically resenting 
 the harnessing of a young dog ahead of him. 
 
 " Well, old dog," I said, " I'll forgive you 
 this time, but mind, there will be trouble if 
 you do it again." 
 
 Then without any difficulty I caught the 
 young dog, and finding that the traces which 
 Voyageur had cut off were still long enough 
 to be available, I once more fastened him 
 at the head of the train. Then as his head 
 was towards home, I shouted, " Marche ! " 
 and the excitement began.
 
 Voyageur, the Broken-Hearted 169 
 
 The young dog did splendidly, but poor 
 Voyageur was wild and furious. He was 
 most indignant at this insult heaped upon 
 him and was not at all backward in show- 
 ing his temper. He first tried to get hold 
 of the young dog to thrash him for his im- 
 pertinence. This the thoroughly frightened 
 young dog did not permit as he took good 
 care to keep his traces so stretched that he 
 was a couple of feet ahead of the teeth of 
 the furious old dog. Failing in this, Voy- 
 ageur then tried to cut the traces with his 
 teeth as he had done before. This of course 
 I resented, and a couple of cracks from the 
 whip showed the old dog that although I 
 had forgiven him for his first offence in this 
 line, I was in no mood to see my valuable 
 dog harness cut again. Foiled here, the 
 excited dog now made the most desperate 
 efforts to get ahead of the young dog who 
 had tlius suddenly supplanted him as leader. 
 But the old dogs behind Voyageur did not 
 enter into his spirit, and as the load of fish 
 was heavy, they saw no reason for any 
 special exertion. They were willing to do 
 their share of the pulling at the ordinary 
 speed, but were not anxious to so exert
 
 170 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 themselves with a thousand weight of fish 
 on the sled as to try and run down a young 
 dog, even if old Voyageur did desire it. 
 
 Thus completely foiled in this as in every 
 other scheme his dog intellect could devise, 
 Voyageur suddenly collapsed. His proud, 
 eager, ambitious spirit was completely 
 broken. His high head with that ever alert 
 eye went down and the long tail tried to 
 disappear between his hind legs. A look of 
 utter despair, or rather discouragement, 
 took possession of him, and he just mechani- 
 cally slouched along like a frightened wolf. 
 
 Quickly detecting this I at once unhar- 
 nessed the young dog from before him and 
 thus left him in his coveted place as the 
 leader. 
 
 As he stil^seemed disconsolate I spoke a 
 few cheery words to him : 
 
 " Poor old dog, so you don't want a young 
 supplanter to take your place. I am sorry 
 you feel so badly about it and so I will not 
 vex you in this way again." 
 
 But it was too late. The mischief was 
 done, Voyageur's heart was broken. He 
 never forgave me, and he never held up his 
 head again with the old-time dash and
 
 Voyageur, the Broken- Hearted 171 
 
 vigour. All my sympathetic words were 
 now as mockery. He had never cared much 
 for them; now he seemed to consider them 
 as insults. He never again gave me a kind 
 look or a wag of the tail. He just skulked 
 along home hardly dragging a pound of the 
 load. I had hoped that a night's rest after 
 and a good supper would cause him to for- 
 get his annoyance but it was not so. In 
 vain I put on him my best harness decorated 
 with ribbons and silver bells, of which the 
 dogs are so fond. It was of no use. My 
 good wife, who was fond of the noble fel- 
 low, and who alone could win from him a 
 half -gracious wag of his tail, tried in vain 
 to rouse him out of his depression. But 
 she too failed like the rest of us. Voyageur 
 was broken-hearted and would cry and moan 
 like a disconsolate child. Shortly after he 
 went out on the frozen lake in the front of 
 our home, and there he set up a most mourn- 
 ful howling. Then he laid down on the ice 
 as though asleep. 
 
 Mrs. Young, who had seen him from a 
 window, sent out an old Indian to bring 
 him in. When the man reached him he 
 found the dog dead.
 
 172 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 Faithful old dog ! He had not enough of 
 the spirit of self humiliation so essential in 
 this modern age, when the inexperienced 
 and immature are preferred before the well 
 tried.
 
 XI 
 
 ROVER I, THE SUCCESSFUL DOG DOCTOR 
 
 ROVER was a large, beautiful, black 
 and white dog, but he was the most 
 chicken-hearted coward I ever saw. 
 The smallest dog in my pack could make 
 him run and he was never known to show 
 any fight or pugnacity. The very sight of 
 the whip set him off in a paroxysm of howl- 
 ings, and a stern, sharp reproof was met 
 with any amount of comical dog sobs. 
 
 He had a short but very white bushy tail. 
 When in good spirits he carried it very 
 erect, and as it spread out like a fan, it gave 
 him a very laughable appearance. 
 
 When quite a young dog, just emerging 
 from puppyhood, he was unfortunately al- 
 lowed to accompany me one wintry morning 
 when I went out to visit some rabbit snares 
 that had been set a mile or two in the forest 
 behind my Mission home. The young rascal 
 became so interested in the work, that on 
 subsequent occasions he slipped off alone 
 173
 
 174 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 and helped himself to some of the snared 
 animals. So fond did he become of rabbits 
 for breakfast that I had a good deal of 
 trouble in breaking him of the habit. 
 
 Whipping him caused him to howl most 
 dolefully, but his memory proved very short 
 along that line and soon he was as bad as 
 ever. After trying various plans I at length 
 succeeded in curing him in an odd way. 
 Finding him one day in the very act of tak- 
 ing a rabbit out of the snare, I caught him, 
 and in spite of his doleful howlings I tied 
 the dead rabbit securely around his neck 
 and made him wear it for the rest of the day. 
 Most piteously did he plead to have it taken 
 off, but I was obdurate. Vainly he would 
 appeal to my little boy and others to relieve 
 him of his humiliating load. None would 
 listen to his appeals, but, as was arranged, 
 all chided him as a very naughty, thievish 
 dog. When he tried to tear it off with his 
 paws he was whipped, and thus he was 
 obliged to wear it all day. At night I took 
 the rabbit off and gave him a good pelting 
 with it. This punishment completely cured 
 him, and from that day he carefully shunned 
 all rabbit snares. 
 
 But in spite of his extreme cowardice and
 
 Rover I, the Successful Dog Doctor 175 
 
 nervous sensitiveness he was a valuable 
 sleigh dog and had any amount of endur- 
 ance. Harnessed in a train of four dogs he 
 faithfully did his work and never shirked, 
 as many of the other dogs at times did. 
 
 When on my long trips, often of hundreds 
 of miles with four dog trains and three or 
 four Indian companions, the first thing we 
 did when the camping place for the night 
 was selected, was to unharness the dogs. 
 As the camping place in the snow must be 
 dug out and prepared to be our resting place 
 for the night, it was an hour or more before 
 it was possible to thaw out the frozen fish 
 for the hungry dogs' supper. To this delay 
 the dogs became accustomed, and in various 
 ways employed themselves until the scent of 
 the thawing fish brought them in hungry 
 groups as near to the blazing camp fire aa 
 possible. 
 
 Some of the younger animals with hunt- 
 ing instincts, got up a rabbit hunt, as at 
 certain parts of the country, during some 
 winters, the rabbits swarmed in vast multi- 
 tudes. Rover had had enough of rabbit ex- 
 periences and so never bothered himself 
 with any hunting excursions. He did, how- 
 ever, amuse and interest us with his elabo-
 
 ij6 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 rate preparations for his night's lodgings. 
 Shortly after he was unharnessed and the 
 location of the camp decided upon, Rover 
 would deliberately make a tour round the 
 whole place. He would carefully inspect the 
 different hollows and dense balsam trees 
 that were near at hand. Then he would, if 
 there was to us seemingly little or no wind, 
 get up on some snow-covered rock or fallen 
 tree and there sniff until he had exactly 
 found the direction from which the air was 
 coming. In this I never knew him to be at 
 fault. So calm at times was the air that the 
 smoke and sparks from our camp fire as- 
 cended so perpendicularly that apparently 
 there was not the slightest movement in the 
 atmosphere. Yet Rover selected his camp- 
 ing place on the lee side so accurately that 
 when, as it often happened some hours after, 
 the wind rose, it never caught him sleeping 
 in an exposed place. How he was able to 
 thus be prepared against being caught ex- 
 posed to a biting wind, was among the mys- 
 teries of animal instinct 
 
 When the cosy sheltered spot was after 
 much deliberation thus decided upon, Rover 
 set to work to make it habitable according 
 to his ability. First he carefully pawed
 
 Rover I, the Successful Dog Doctor 177 
 
 down through the deep snow until he 
 reached the ground. If bulging roots or 
 hard uneven ground or sharp pointed stones 
 were met with, he would at first with his 
 teeth try to remove them. If in this he 
 failed, he shifted his ground until he was 
 satisfied, then with a grunt of great satis- 
 faction, he curled round and round in his 
 thus carefully prepared nest and rested 
 until the welcome call to supper brought 
 him, with the others, to their different In- 
 dian drivers to receive each the allowance 
 of two well thawed white fish. This was 
 the only meal of the twenty-four hours, and 
 so was much prized. 
 
 Big and apparently powerful as Rover 
 was, his driver had to keep a vigilant watch, 
 or the good-natured fellow would in all 
 probability be robbed of one of his fish by 
 some cunning rascal of a dog from another 
 train. He was always a dainty, slow eater. 
 He ate his supper with great delight and 
 accompanied each morsel torn off and de- 
 voured, with most amusing grunts or snorts 
 of satisfaction. So leisurely did he thus 
 take his supper, that he was invariably the 
 last dog to finish. This was often an an- 
 noyance to his driver, especially as he was
 
 1 78 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 never supposed to take his own supper until 
 all of his dogs were fed. When at length 
 Rover had eaten his full allowance he would 
 leisurely return to his carefully prepared 
 nest-like resting place in the snow, and al- 
 most invariably he found it occupied. 
 
 Then the fun began. The intruder was 
 generally one of the lively dogs that had 
 been off rabbit hunting, until the loud call 
 for supper had speedily brought him back. 
 Quickly had he devoured his meal and then 
 finding this cosy resting-place, so carefully 
 prepared by Kover, he had taken possession 
 and here he was comfortably stowed away, 
 as he imagined, for the night. 
 
 Not so, however, thought Rover. He was 
 in no humour to be thus deprived of his 
 choicely selected and laboriously prepared 
 nest. It was most amusing to watch his 
 efforts to get the intruder out. But as the 
 nest was perhaps two or three feet deep, and 
 the other dog was inside and was showing 
 a set of glittering teeth, and uttering some 
 ominous growls poor Rover at the top could 
 only muster up courage enough to look 
 down at him and say : " Bow- wow- wow ! " 
 
 Little cared the interloper for these 
 " Bow-wow-wows," which he knew Rover
 
 Rover I, the Successful Dog Doctor 179 
 
 had not courage enough to follow up witK 
 any vigourous attacks, and so he merely 
 showed his teeth and uttered a growl or two 
 of defiance. He seemed to say : " I've got 
 possession get me out if you can ! " For 
 some minutes Rover would thus protest in 
 all the dog-entreating words which he had 
 in his limited vocabulary, and who knows 
 but he added a few stronger ones? When 
 he saw that all these efforts failed, he in- 
 variably came for me. 
 
 When we saw him coming, which always 
 afforded great fun to the Indians, I would 
 purposely move round the fire in and out of 
 the camp, on different sides, or go in and 
 out among the dog sleds. Still doggedly 
 would Rover follow me up until I felt I had 
 tried his persistence quite long enough, 
 when I would stop. Then with a "yow! 
 yow ! yow ! " he would seize the fringe of my 
 moose skin leather coat, and with a gentle 
 yet firm tug, lead me to the spot where he 
 had prepared his nest at such trouble for his 
 night's rest, but which was now in the pos- 
 session of an intruder. Rover would not 
 let go of me until he had brought me to the 
 very edge of the nest. Then in his comical, 
 plaintive language, he would direct my at-
 
 180 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 tention to this lamentable state of affairs 
 and beg for my helpful intervention. 
 
 A good stick or whip, well applied, soon 
 made the saucy interloper leap out and 
 skulk away in the gloom, while grateful 
 Rover with some sincere " Bow-wows " of 
 gratitude would spring into his nest and 
 quickly curl himself down with his short 
 bushy tail over Iiis nose, and was soon en- 
 joying his much needed rest. 
 
 When Rover was five or six years old he 
 constituted himself the surgeon doctor of 
 all my other dogs. It was most interesting 
 and sometimes comical to see him in actual 
 practice. Four years of good faithful serv- 
 ice had somewhat stiffened him up, and so 
 he was now only used for short journeys, 
 and in the trains required to draw wood for 
 the fires in our church, school house, and 
 Mission home, from the distant forest. So 
 he now had a much easier time and lots of 
 leisure. 
 
 When the dogs arrived at home after 
 hard, long trips, it was most interesting to 
 see how Rover took into his special care 
 those that had wounds of any kind upon 
 them, and often some of them returned 
 sadly used up. Sometimes there were neck
 
 Rover I, the Successful Dog Doctor 181 
 
 sores and sometimes others, of which we 
 knew not the cause. Then there would be 
 others that were caused by frost-bites as 
 well as poor bleeding feet in spite of all the 
 protection afforded by the warm dog shoes. 
 
 To these suffering, gallant dogs, Rover's 
 services were simply invaluable. Nature 
 has so arranged that a dog's tongue is his 
 great instrument for cleansing and healing 
 his wounds. When a dog is wounded where 
 he cannot reach with his tongue, it generally 
 gangrenes and death ensues sooner or later. 
 It was in such cases that Rover's kindly and 
 persistent attentions were of great value. 
 He saved for me many a dog. 
 
 The instant a dog was unharnessed, Rover, 
 who was always friendly with all my dogs, 
 would at once overhaul him and would 
 thus quickly find the galled or wounded 
 spots. Very gently then he licked them even 
 if at first the dog-patient should resent his 
 interference, and that sometimes with much 
 fierceness. This did not at all disturb 
 Rover. I have seen him just simply lie down 
 at the feet of the dog and wait for his anger 
 to pass and then get up and again begin 
 his cleansing the wound. No rebuff or even 
 a shaking, would discourage him. He
 
 1 82 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 seemed to say : " That wound must be at- 
 tended to and I am going to do the work ; " 
 and do it he did, and it was well and thor- 
 oughly done. 
 
 After a while the dogs seemed to know 
 that this was Rover's work, and then they 
 expected him to take care of them. The 
 only growls he now heard were from dogs 
 with their first wounds. After that they 
 would patiently stand or comically lie down 
 or roll over as Rover desired. 
 
 Some of them became so accustomed to 
 his attentions, that they simply imposed on 
 him. For example, I have seen dogs with 
 sore feet, instead of using their own tongues 
 in cleansing and curing them, come and 
 drop down before faithful old Rover and 
 stick out their wounded foot for his inspec- 
 tion and treatment. 
 
 Faithful old Rover ! He seemed to realize 
 that great indeed was his responsibility 
 when I would return from a month's trip 
 into the interior with twelve or sixteen dogs. 
 Four at least he would find required his at- 
 tentions and care for the next ten days or so. 
 
 Thus Rover, the greatest coward I ever 
 knew in dog flesh, and the steady, faithful
 
 Rover I, the Successful Dog Doctor 183 
 
 sleigh-dog, became what the Indians called, 
 " Muskeke Atim," the dog-doctor. 
 
 That terrible curse of northern dogs, the 
 distemper, seized him for a victim, and with 
 sorrow we had to bury Rover and many of 
 his comrades.
 
 XII 
 
 ROVER H, ALSO CALLED KIMO 
 
 ROVER number two, or Kimo, as he 
 was called by the Indians, was a beau- 
 tiful Newfoundland dog given to me 
 by the Kev. Dr. Mark, of Ottawa, 
 
 My first introduction to him was a unique 
 and exciting one. At Ottawa he was packed 
 in a large box-like case and forwarded by 
 express to me at the city of Hamilton, On- 
 tario, where I was then staying and making 
 my final arrangements for my return to the 
 Red River. In those days there were three 
 changes necessary on the railroad between 
 Ottawa and Hamilton, and as there were 
 long delays on the route it was the third day 
 ere the dog arrived at his destination. No 
 one had looked after him and so he had had 
 neither food nor drink. 
 
 The result was he had become simply 
 furious with his confinement and neglect. 
 At Hamilton, he acted so wildly and vio- 
 lently that four expressmen were needed to 
 184
 
 Rover II, also Called Kimo 185 
 
 get him up to the residence of Mr. Sanford. 
 The plan they adopted showed that they 
 were much afraid of the angry dog. They 
 procured two long pieces of scantling, and 
 placing them parallel on the ground, they 
 succeeded in getting the box on the middle. 
 Then each man taking an end, they placed 
 the case, with its contents, on a large flat 
 express waggon and took it to its destina- 
 tion. Here they drove it into the yard, and 
 in the same cautious way they were lifting 
 the box, dog and all, to the ground, when 
 fortunately I happened to come along, and 
 noticing that there was some excitement, I 
 naturally asked what was the matter. 
 
 The reply was given in rather vigourous 
 language, as they described the difficulties 
 they had had in bringing up that savage 
 dog to the house from the railroad station. 
 
 " Is he not securely boxed up? " was my 
 next question. 
 
 " It is about the ' securely ' of it, that we 
 have been bothered " said one. " The fact 
 is he has been making such desperate efforts 
 to get out of that box, that we were fearful 
 that he might succeed, and if he did well, 
 I did not want to be around there just then." 
 
 I watched them with a certain amount of
 
 1 86 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 amusement as I saw the actual terror of 
 these men, for a glance showed me, that big 
 as the dog was, he was so securely fastened 
 in the great case that he was powerless to 
 injure them. 
 
 After a lot of delays and time-wasting 
 movements, they succeeded in placing the 
 box on the ground and then one of them, 
 producing his express book from his pocket, 
 asked me whether I knew who the owner of 
 the dog was, or whether there was some one 
 there at the house with sufficient authority 
 to sign the receipt form for the brute's 
 delivery. 
 
 " The dog is mine, and I will sign your 
 book," I answered. 
 
 " The dog yours ! " they said in astonish- 
 ment. " Why then, in all creation," said 
 one of the men to me, with more amazement 
 than politeness, " did not you speak to him 
 to quiet him." 
 
 " Because," I replied, " I never saw the 
 dog before. He was given to me by a friend 
 in Ottawa, and your company or the rail- 
 way have kept him for about three days on 
 the route, and he is now about wild, as you 
 see, with hunger, thirst and the irksome 
 confinement."
 
 Rover II, also Called Kimo 187 
 
 "Well, what are you going to do with 
 him?" 
 
 " First of all," I replied, " I am going to 
 get him out of that big box." 
 
 "Going to do it alone?" one of them 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes, I am," I answered. 
 
 " Well, just wait until we get out of this, 
 will you? " 
 
 " Certainly," I replied, " but hurry, for 
 the poor dog has been in there long enough." 
 
 So while I made preparations to relieve 
 the dog, these four men threw the scantlings 
 on the wagon, and turning the horses 
 around, drove out of the yard. Then shut- 
 ting the high, close gate, they took their 
 position on the top of the wall to see me 
 " devoured by that dog," as one of them 
 put it. 
 
 From my knowledge of dog nature, I had 
 all confidence in the quick and prompt plan 
 I was going to adopt, and which I was not 
 long in putting into practice. 
 
 Going into the kitchen I obtained from 
 the cook a generous dish of cold meat. The 
 gardener furnished me with an axe and the 
 stable boy with a large bucket of cold water. 
 
 Placing the meat and water where I could
 
 1 88 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 put my hand on them, the instant I wanted 
 them, I quietly approached the box. Ad- 
 dressing the dog by the name given me in 
 Dr. Mark's letter, I began to talk kindly to 
 him, and also to vigourously cut into the 
 back of that big, firm packing case. 
 
 At first, every blow and word seemed to 
 make the dog, if possible, more wild and 
 furious. At every blow struck on the out- 
 side of the box, he would spring at the place 
 inside, until now my fears were aroused lest 
 I should, as my axe cut through, badly in- 
 jure him. 
 
 So cautiously, as well as rapidly, I rained 
 the blows upon the box until piece after 
 piece began to fly off. 
 
 All this time I was talking to him, and 
 telling him that he had been treated most 
 shamefully but his troubles would soon be 
 over, that I would soon have him out, and 
 that I had plenty of food and water for him. 
 
 When the boards began to split open and 
 pieces to fly off from the back, and Hover 
 saw the daylight, for the first time there, 
 coming in, there was at once a change in 
 him. Here he saw an opening for his escape, 
 and in his anxiety to get out, his growls and 
 angry barkings rapidly moderated.
 
 Rover II, also Called Kimo 189 
 
 Still soothingly talking to him, I kept 
 cutting away until I saw where, with a 
 strong wrench with my hand, I could pull 
 off enough of the board to get him out. So 
 dropping my axe and placing the pail of 
 water close at hand, I suddenly jerked back 
 the board and putting in my hand I caught 
 the dog, now frantic with excitement at the 
 prospect of immediate deliverance, by his 
 collar, and helped him out of the box. 
 
 " Poor dog, it was a shame to so abuse 
 you! Come along here is a good drink for 
 you ! " and almost before he knew where he 
 was, I had his head in that pail of water, 
 and for the first time in my life I saw a dog 
 drink like a horse. 
 
 How he did enjoy it! It seemed as 
 though he could not have enough. When I 
 saw he was about satisfied, I had my meat 
 dish handy, and I fed him out of my hand, 
 piece after piece. It was well there was a 
 large supply, for he was a big dog and of 
 course very hungry. When thoroughly 
 satisfied, he looked around and tried to take 
 in the situation. It seemed to me that about 
 all he just then cared to realize was that he 
 had been in a horrid prison, thirsty and 
 starving, and that I had come as his de-
 
 190 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 liverer. I let him walk around the yard, 
 then he went and had a good smell at that 
 now smashed prison house, and then he 
 came to me. His wagging tail and his great, 
 intelligent eyes, now so full of gratitude, 
 told their own tale. We were friends, the 
 warmest of friends, from that hour to the 
 end. 
 
 "That beats Barnum," said one of the 
 four men, as they all clambered down off 
 the wall and returned to their work. 
 
 That evening Rover and I took a long 
 walk through the streets of the city of Ham- 
 ilton. He kept close to my heels and did 
 not seem to desire to see any other person 
 than his new master who had come to his 
 rescue and deliverance. 
 
 He was a strong, faithful dog to the end, 
 and always happiest when I was in sight. 
 To train him to work as a sleigh dog all I 
 had to do was to harness him up with three 
 trained dogs and then go myself on ahead 
 with another train. That was enough for 
 Rover. He heard his loved master's voice in 
 front, and his joy was ever to respond, and 
 so on he would come, and fleet indeed must 
 be the train I was driving, or very slow the
 
 Rover II, also Called Kimo 191 
 
 dogs with which Rover was harnessed, ere he 
 would be left behind. 
 
 Kover, like all of my civilized dogs, had 
 not the hard, firm, compact feet of the Hus- 
 kies. Hence, for him and others, I had to be 
 prepared to overcome this defect as far as 
 possible. 
 
 Various expedients have been devised, but 
 we found that the best plan was to have a 
 large stock of dog-shoes with us on every 
 trip. These shoes were made of a firmly 
 woven warm woollen cloth called duffle. The 
 shoes were shaped very much like a man's 
 mitten without the thumb. They were of 
 various sizes so as to fit snugly to the in- 
 jured foot, whether large or small. 
 
 Some winters there would be compara- 
 tively few injuries or frozen feet among my 
 dogs. Then perhaps the very next season, 
 hardly a dog escaped. While as a general 
 thing these injuries were confined to my im- 
 ported dogs or their descendants, yet there 
 were winters when almost every dog I owned 
 suffered, and all vied with each other in 
 calls for the comfortable woollen shoes to be 
 put on their feet. 
 
 The injuries to their feet from which they
 
 192 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 suffered were various. Sometimes a dog 
 would freeze one of his feet. When this was 
 found out and as a general thing the dog 
 was not slow to let us know of his trouble 
 we built a fire, and placing him near it on a 
 deer skin, he, with his tongue and the heat, 
 soon got the frost out of it. When this had 
 been accomplished, we carefully tied a com- 
 fortable shoe upon it and generally he would 
 be all right in a few days. This, however, 
 was not always the case. I have had dogs 
 with feet festered and bleeding for weeks 
 from these cruel freezings. We were thank- 
 ful when we were able to reach home and let 
 the faithful animals rest for weeks, attended 
 to most skillfully by Rover, the unique dog 
 doctor, whose death is recorded in the pre- 
 vious chapter. Some dogs have very brittle 
 nails. These are frequently breaking off in 
 the rough trails, or getting torn out at the 
 roots, thus making an ugly, painful wound. 
 The ice on the great lakes and rivers is 
 sometimes rough and very trying to the 
 dogs. Even when it is smooth and glassy 
 it at times affects them so that the pads of 
 their feet become sore and bleed. The soft, 
 warm dog-shoes were our remedies for all 
 of these ills, and the sagacious dogs that had
 
 Rover II, also Called Kimo 193 
 
 once enjoyed their benefits, were not slow in 
 demanding them when they thought they 
 were in need of them. 
 
 We had some difficulty, at first, in making 
 some of the more nervous or suspicious dogs 
 understand that these shoes were for their 
 good. There were those who would endeav- 
 our to tear them from their feet, and had to 
 be watched and even punished for so doing. 
 However, it was not long before even these, 
 having found out the comfort there was in 
 them, were now willing to resort to all sorts 
 of schemes and expedients to induce us to 
 put these comfortable shoes on their suffer- 
 ing feet. 
 
 Rover soon became an adept in asking for 
 his shoes. He was not satisfied with them 
 on the one or two feet that seemed to need 
 them. He decidedly thought that " preven- 
 tion was better than cure," and so he wanted 
 shoes on all his feet, every day we were trav- 
 elling on long journeys. It was interesting 
 to see how he would wait until we were 
 ready to harness up the dogs, then he would 
 deliberately throw himself on his back, and 
 putting up his feet, eloquently even if 
 mutely, thus plead for his warm shoes. 
 
 I did not have him very long. That fatal
 
 194 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 scourge of the dogs of the Northland, the 
 distemper, robbed me of one of the truest, 
 noblest dogs I ever harnessed. I made a 
 large log-heap fire and tried to cremate him, 
 but some starving pagan Indians dragged 
 his big body out of the flames and feasted 
 on it. Poor old Rover!
 
 XIII 
 
 MUFF, THE AFFECTIONATE MOTHER DOG 
 
 MUFF, with two other beautiful St 
 Bernard dogs, was given to me by 
 Mrs. Andrew Allan, of Montreal. 
 I received them at the close of a long series 
 of lecture engagements in Ontario and Que- 
 bec, and ere the winter ended I started on 
 my return trip to my Mission home, which 
 was then at Beren's River on the eastern 
 shore of Lake Winnipeg. 
 
 So anxious was I to utilize the dogs that 
 I took Muff and Rover, through with me. 
 We travelled by rail to Morehead in Minne- 
 sota, and then by stage, on runners, the last 
 two or three hundred miles, to Winnipeg. 
 The other dogs received from Mrs. Allan 
 were brought through later in the year by 
 Mrs. Young. 
 
 On a railroad somewhere in the West, an 
 
 amusing adventure occurred with the dogs. 
 
 I had left them in the baggage car in charge 
 
 of the baggage man, and had also left with 
 
 195
 
 1 96 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 him a well-filled basket of cooked meat for 
 their food. As a precautionary measure the 
 baggage man had fastened the dogs' chains 
 to a couple of large trunks. 
 
 For hours we had sped along, and the 
 train men and dogs had apparently become 
 great friends. All at once I was speedily 
 aroused by the conductor rushing into the 
 long car where I was sitting with many 
 other passengers, and shouting out : 
 
 " Where is the gentleman who owns those 
 big dogs in the baggage car? " 
 
 Of course I was instantly on my feet and 
 full of wonder and concern about my dogs. 
 
 Without a word of explanation, the con- 
 ductor, hearing my response that the dogs 
 were mine, at once said : " Come with me as 
 quickly as you can." The train w r as, as 
 American cars all are, open from end to end, 
 and so I speedily followed on after him. 
 When we reached the baggage car, as we 
 opened the door no explanation was needed 
 to tell what was the matter, for there stood 
 the big dogs, now bravely defending the 
 trunks to which they had been tied, and in 
 a way that made the stalwart baggage man 
 keep at a respectful distance. It seems that 
 as we were now near to the town where those
 
 Muff, the Affectionate Mother Dog 197 
 
 trunks were to be put off, the baggage man 
 had attempted to remove the dogs to another 
 place and then to take possession of those 
 trunks. This the dogs would not permit, 
 and so, in spite of all his coaxings, and then 
 threats, the dogs stood on their guard and 
 succeeeded in keeping him at bay. Of 
 course, I speedily quieted the dogs and the 
 trunks were released. 
 
 At Winnipeg I found awaiting me my dog 
 trains and drivers. As soon as supplies 
 could be obtained and harnesses made for 
 Muff and Eover, we started north. The 
 young dogs speedily became accustomed to 
 the work and did well. 
 
 We reached our destination in March, hav- 
 ing still several weeks in which to utilize the 
 dogs at the work which was then engrossing 
 my attention. This was the hauling of logs 
 and timber from a distant island out in the 
 lake to the mainland where we were estab- 
 lishing the Mission. 
 
 Muff proved to be a most reliable dog. 
 She was not only powerful and enduring to 
 work in harness but the traits she had ex- 
 hibited in the railway car were so strong in 
 her that when I wished to put anything 
 under guard from prowling dogs or other
 
 198 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 intruders, Muff was the guardian generally 
 selected, and faithfully and well would she 
 do her duty. Once put in charge of the tools 
 or supplies of food or left in charge of the 
 campfire, where the men took their meals 
 when out chopping wood in the forest, she 
 would not allow any strange man or dog to 
 come near. 
 
 It was primitive work, thus toiling with 
 my Indians in securing the needed timber 
 for our houses. Every stick cut and hewn 
 had to be dragged by the dogs about a dozen 
 miles ; yet six dogs would take a green stick 
 of spruce or balsam ten inches square and 
 thirty-six feet long and drag it at a jog-trot 
 speed to the place selected for the erection of 
 our church and parsonage. 
 
 Muff was one of my most willing dogs. 
 Indeed, she was too eager and, as we shall 
 see, about ruined herself because of it. She 
 became the mother of some beautiful pup- 
 pies, and so affectionate were her motherly 
 instincts towards them that she seemed to 
 think just as much of them long after they 
 were weaned and had grown up into dogs. 
 She was unhappy if separated from them, 
 and fretted until she was again among them. 
 This made it a matter of regret when she had
 
 Muff, the Affectionate Mother Dog 199 
 
 to be harnessed up and sent off in trains 
 with other dogs. She would tug at her 
 collar most desperately and was ever 
 anxious to be home again. 
 
 The last long trip, on which she almost 
 crippled herself for life, was one which I 
 made into the Red Eiver Settlement in com- 
 pany with my beloved fellow missionary in 
 that Indian work, the Rev. John Senimens. 
 We started with a couple of other mission- 
 aries, but as they preferred to ride a great 
 deal, their progress was much slower than 
 ours. We pushed on as rapidly as we 
 thought was right and reached civilization 
 much sooner than they did and thus escaped 
 a terrible storm that tried them and their 
 dogs and the Indian guides, most severely. 
 
 Near Lower Fort Garry we were most 
 hospitably entertained by the Hon. Mr. 
 Sifton and his delightful family. There we 
 exchanged out leather suits for ministerial 
 black and in civilized costume, went up to 
 Winnipeg, then a rising little village. 
 
 Here we attended to the duties that had 
 brought us into the abodes of civilization, 
 and then on the following Saturday re- 
 turned to Mr. Sifton's home, where we had 
 left our dogtrains and Indian outfits. We
 
 200 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 spent a very restful Sabbath together, and 
 then at midnight Mrs. Sifton had a warm 
 meal prepared for us two missionaries and 
 our two faithful guides who were with us. 
 
 Mr. Semmens and I then retired to our 
 rooms, but soon after returned in our cos- 
 tumes, so different from our clerical black 
 that our own mothers would hardly have 
 recognized us. But these suits in which we 
 were now robed, although of fur and moose 
 or reindeer skin, were exactly suited for the 
 work we were doing and the life we were 
 living. 
 
 We found that our trusty Indians had our 
 sleds carefully packed, our now well-rested, 
 impatient dogs harnessed, and so there was 
 nothing for us to do but to commend this 
 kind, hospitable family to God's blessing, to 
 say our " Good-byes," and to be off. 
 
 It was a bitter cold night. The wintry 
 winds howled and shrieked and the cold 
 stars seemed to pity us. It did seem hard 
 and cruel to leave that warm, cosy home 
 and be compelled to start at one o'clock that 
 cold Monday morning out on our long, long 
 journey of hundreds of miles over the snowy 
 waste. 
 
 My home, fortunately for me, was then
 
 Muff, the Affectionate Mother Dog 201 
 
 only about two hundred miles distant but 
 my beloved friend had to travel seven hun- 
 dred miles by dog train ere he would reach 
 his far away log cabin on the Burnt-wood 
 River. 
 
 Muff was my sleigh dog on this trip, and 
 grandly did she do her work. So wild was 
 she as the days passed and she knew that 
 she was nearing home and her puppies, al- 
 though they had long since been weaned and 
 were now quite fine large dogs, that it 
 seemed impossible to restrain her. Our 
 loads were very heavy, averaging nearly a 
 thousand pounds to each sled, as, of course, 
 we availed ourselves of these visits to civili- 
 zation to replenish our never overabundant 
 supplies. 
 
 The trained Indians run all the time when 
 on these trips, no matter whether the sleds 
 are loaded or not. As a general thing we 
 missionaries could ride on the sleds, if they 
 were not too heavily loaded, when we 
 travelled on the ice. In the woods, however, 
 where the snow was deep, everybody was ex- 
 pected to walk on ahead in Indian file in 
 their snow-shoes and thus make the trail or 
 path on which the faithful dogs dragged the 
 heavy loads.
 
 202 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 This was very hard work, and so a halt 
 was frequently called. As the Indians are 
 all smokers, of course at these delays the 
 pipe was immediately filled and smoked. 
 Some Hudson's Bay traders were in the 
 habit of marking the day by saying it was so 
 many " pipes " long, meaning that they with 
 their Indian dog-drivers had stopped so 
 many times to rest and smoke. 
 
 Muff did not like these delays. She was 
 eager to be on the " go " continually. Some- 
 times she would show her spirit by refusing 
 either to lie down or even to sit down on 
 her haunches which is the general custom of 
 the dogs when a halt is called. 
 
 The instant the rest was ended and the 
 journey was resumed, she was simply wild 
 with delight. In the most frantic way would 
 she spring to her work and anticipate the 
 movements of the more sedate and less ex- 
 citable dogs. 
 
 Poor Muff! alas, she did this once too 
 often ! For as one bitter cold morning we 
 were about starting from the camp where 
 the sled was deeply imbedded in the snow 
 and her companion dogs in the train were 
 slow in coming to her help, she plunged so 
 desperately at her work that she snapped
 
 Muff, the Affectionate Mother Dog 203 
 
 her collar bone. With a pitiful cry, that 
 sounded almost human, as she seemed to 
 realize her helplessness, she sank down in 
 her traces in the snow. 
 
 We quickly examined her, and to our great 
 sorrow found that the clavicle was com- 
 pletely broken and the jagged ends were so 
 bent back and pressed into the flesh as, 
 doubtless, to be causing intense suffering. 
 
 As gently as possible we unharnessed her, 
 and placing her on a robe spread out in the 
 enow, we replaced the two broken pieces of 
 the bone in position. 
 
 It must have hurt her very much, but pa- 
 tient, intelligent Muff seemed to know that 
 we would do the best we could, and so there 
 was not a growl or any resistance. It was 
 but little that we could do for her in such a 
 place, and anyway as a sleigh dog she was 
 completely worthless to us now. 
 
 What is to be done? was the question. 
 The Indians only thought of the one plan 
 that was the universal one among them 
 when such an accident happened under simi- 
 lar circumstances. That was to kill the dog 
 at once and go on with the thus diminished 
 train. We had known Hudson's Bay traders 
 to start off on a long trip with sixteen dogs
 
 204 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 and come back with only twelve. The other 
 four had met with accidents and had to be 
 killed. The general way of disposing of a 
 dog thus injured was to have one of the In- 
 dians kill him with one swift blow of the 
 heavy axe. 
 
 Never imagining that any other fate 
 than this was in store for Muffy, one of the 
 Indians had quietly unfastened the largest 
 axe from one of the sleds and with his com- 
 rade was now only awaiting my orders to 
 kill my unfortunate dog. 
 
 " Put up your axe," I almost shouted. 
 " That may be your way but it is not mine. 
 Muff is not going to be killed if I can help 
 it." 
 
 Wondering what I was going to do, they 
 put up the axe and then, as I ordered, they 
 gently lifted the wounded dog into my car- 
 iole, and there among the robes we laid her 
 down in as comfortable a position as pos- 
 sible. We got her home all right. But it 
 meant that I had to walk or run as did my 
 Indian guide as least one hundred miles. 
 It was very fatiguing and exhausting work. 
 
 The two nights we had to camp, Muff 
 shared with me my camp bed among the fur 
 robes.
 
 Muff, the Affectionate Mother Dog 205 
 
 During our last night's peculiar adven- 
 ture on that journey, Muff showed that even 
 if suffering from a broken clavicle, she was 
 still the alert and vigilant watch-dog. 
 
 When we had reached a point about 
 twenty miles from my mission house, night 
 was coming on. The stars were beginning 
 to shine and the spectral auroras were flash- 
 ing their cold and ghostly lights athwart the 
 northern skies. The question of camping or 
 going on had been debated as we had 
 stopped where we had found a little dry 
 wood. Making a fire on a spot from which 
 our snow-shoes had scraped away the snow, 
 we made some refreshing tea for ourselves. 
 
 The Indians and myself were eager to 
 push on and finish the journey, even if we 
 were very tired and footsore. But my be- 
 loved brother missionary was about done 
 out As his sled was heavily loaded with 
 supplies for his distant mission, he had 
 bravely kept steps with the best Indian run- 
 ners and had ridden but very little indeed. 
 As a natural result, his feet were swollen 
 and blistered, and every bone and muscle in 
 his body seemed to cry for rest. So when he 
 saw that we were resolved on continuing 
 the journey until we reached our home
 
 ao6 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 rather than go to the worrj^ and trouble of 
 preparing another winter camp, he cried out 
 in his agony: 
 
 " Throw me out a blanket and some pem- 
 mican and let me stay here. I can go no 
 farther. You have your wives and children 
 to lure you on but I have none. Go on and 
 leave me here." 
 
 " No, indeed, my brother," I said, " we 
 are going on, but we are not going to leave 
 you here. I have a better plan than that." 
 
 "Well, do what you like, but I cannot 
 walk any farther to-night." And saying 
 this, he threw himself down on the ice in his 
 weariness and pain. 
 
 Very quickly did I arrange my plans. 
 Telling two Indians to bring the axes and 
 their snowshoes, we walked towards the 
 woods until we found a drift of snow, packed 
 hard and firm by the successive winds, blow- 
 ing in from the lake. 
 
 On this we set to work, and by chopping 
 the snow and then throwing it out with our 
 snowshoe shovels, we soon had a large hole 
 about four feet across and as many feet deep. 
 Then my dog train of three dogs was driven 
 along side of this and the sled unloaded. 
 
 We first threw into this hole in the snow,
 
 Muff, the Affectionate Mother Dog 207 
 
 some robes. Arranging them in position, 
 we there carefully deposited Muff. We so 
 arranged the top buffalo skin that she was 
 well covered up except her head. Then we 
 carefully piled around her the heavy articles 
 of our load, and left her in charge. 
 
 As great northern wolves were sometimes 
 known to infest that part of the country, 
 my Indians and I tramped around a good 
 deal in the snow. We did this to keep the 
 wolves away, as they are very suspicious 
 about human tracks that are under twenty- 
 four hours old, and I knew that in less than 
 that time I would have Muff relieved. 
 
 Muff having been thus well attended to, I 
 drove my dog-sled alongside of my tired out 
 beloved brother, and with the aid of my In- 
 dians, placed him on my sled and carefully 
 wrapped him up in robes. At once he fell 
 into a dreamless sleep. 
 
 Then we resumed our journey. We did 
 not travel very fast. We were very weary, 
 as before beginning this home stretch of 
 twenty miles, we had already travelled sixty 
 or seventy miles that day. However, the 
 longest journey has an end and so had this 
 one. 
 
 We met with a cordial reception when we
 
 ao8 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 could get the sleeping ones awake, who little 
 expected us at the unseemly hour at which 
 we arrived. 
 
 The tired missionary was aroused from 
 his deep sleep. His wounds were soothed 
 with ointment. Then a hot bath and a 
 warm supper were both enjoyed and then 
 the comfortable bed, in which he had twelve 
 hours of blessed sleep without once waking. 
 But when he did again join us he was re- 
 freshed and renewed in spirits and in bodily 
 vigour, and once again he was the same 
 genial, delightful man. 
 
 Muff, however, was in the meantime not 
 forgotten. No sooner were we safely at 
 home and the wants of the missionaries and 
 the splendid Indian comrades and dogs 
 looked after, than I gave instructions that 
 Kennedy, my faithful man of all work about 
 the mission, should be off with a fresh train 
 of strong dogs to bring home both Muff and 
 the supplies she was guarding. 
 
 He started at four o'clock in the morning 
 and so reached her about daylight. But 
 strange to say Muff at first would not let 
 him touch her or any of the supplies. This 
 very much annoyed Kennedy and he was in- 
 clined to fight her, but he was a kind hearted
 
 Muff, the Affectionate Mother Dog 209 
 
 man and I had told him of her sad accident. 
 So he had to put his Indian wits to' work, 
 and the plan which he adopted and which 
 proved successful was to unharness a couple 
 of his dogs that were trusty and let them 
 run to where Muff was still so watchfully 
 guarding the supplies left in her charge. 
 The affectionate dogs were fond of Muff, 
 and as they, regardless of her growls, which 
 at first she tried to keep up, rushed up to 
 her, she seemed quickly to realize that they 
 and Kennedy were her friends, and her op- 
 position ceased. 
 
 About noon she was safely installed in a 
 cosy spot in the kitchen. The bones over- 
 lapped a little and then knit together. Of 
 course I never took her again on a long trip, 
 but she did some work in light trains about 
 the place, and her many puppies developed 
 into strong, splendid dogs, and so I was glad 
 that I had not killed her at the time of the 
 accident, as my Indians thought that I 
 ought to have done.
 
 XIV 
 
 CAESAR, THE CLEVER RASCAL 
 
 C2ESAK was a mongrel dog with St. 
 Bernard and Eskimo blood in his 
 veins. He was a large, powerful dog 
 and able to do any amount of work, but he 
 was a cunning shirk and required constant 
 watching or, while making a great pretence 
 in his traces, he would not be drawing a 
 pound. 
 
 From his early puppyhood days he was 
 full of tricks. One that I saw him per- 
 form when he was only four months old 
 very much amused me. Unknown to him I 
 watched the whole performance from my 
 study window. It was in the winter and 
 the snow was deep upon the ground. In- 
 dian men were busily engaged with my dog 
 trains in dragging from the distant forest 
 the yearly supply of wood required for our 
 church, parsonage, and school-house. Bear- 
 ing in mind the length and severity of the 
 winters in that cold Northland, and that we
 
 Caesar, the Clever Rascal 21 1 
 
 had no coal, it will be seen at once that we 
 required a very large quantity. So in se- 
 curing the needed supply there was much 
 labour for both men and dogs. 
 
 During this hard work of dragging home 
 these heavy loads of wood, the dogs were fed 
 on what were called full rations, which was, 
 two good white fish each a day. Martin 
 Papanekis, one of the most trustworthy serv- 
 ants a man ever employed, had the oversight 
 of the work and was specially responsible 
 for seeing that the dogs were well looked 
 after and that each one received his full ra- 
 tions. This was a matter that had to be at- 
 tended to at each feeding time. If it was ne- 
 glected and the greatest vigilance not exer- 
 cised, the more powerful and greedy dogs 
 would quickly rob the weaker ones. As the 
 fish were frozen like rocks, Martin's usual 
 plan was to place, in the morning, a dozen of 
 these large fish in a sheet-iron square pan 
 under our kitchen stove. The rest required 
 were thawed elsewhere. The heat of the 
 stove would not only thaw out these fish, but 
 by the time they were required in the eve- 
 ning when the dogs had finished their day's 
 work, they were half cooked and thus ren- 
 dered much more palatable to the dogs.
 
 212 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 One evening, when Martin had brought 
 home his last load of wood and unharnessed 
 the six splendid dogs he had been using, he 
 naturally looked under the big stove for the 
 fish. Not finding them there, he turned to 
 the Indian servant girl and demanded of 
 her what she had done with his dogs' fish. 
 
 Mary was quick tempered and not liking 
 the tone in which Martin had spoken to her 
 about his fish, petulantly replied : 
 
 " I wanted to scrub my kitchen floor and 
 as your dirty smelling fish were in the way, 
 I shoved them, pan and all, out of doors." 
 
 This answer made Martin very angry, but 
 in his anxiety to look after his dogs' supper, 
 he without reply rushed out in search of the 
 missing fish. He had no difficulty in find- 
 ing the big square pan, but there was not a 
 fish in it. Around it were gathered his 
 hungry, disconsolate dogs, but while there 
 was the generally well-filled pan, it was now 
 as destitute of food as the historic cupboard 
 of the famous Old Mother Hubbard. 
 
 The puzzling question then was: What 
 has become of the dozen of large fish? All 
 the other dogs were being fed elsewhere and 
 the only loose dog around was the little in- 
 significant puppy, that they were beginning
 
 Caesar, the Clever Rascal 213 
 
 to call Caesar. And yet that little puppy 
 called Caesar, small as he then was, had 
 carried away and most cunningly buried all 
 those missing fish and I had been the 
 amused spectator of the whole transaction. 
 
 How had he done it? About an hour be- 
 fore I had, from my study window, observed 
 Mary the Indian servant girl, shove the large 
 pan of fish out of the kitchen door. Shortly 
 after I heard the most comical howlings 
 imaginable. These odd sounds, of course, 
 at once excited my curiosity, and on going 
 to the window to investigate, there was be- 
 fore me a most amusinp: sight. The puppy 
 had literally taken possession of that whole 
 pan of fish. He would stand on one side of 
 them and howl for gladness. Then he 
 would march around the whole and have 
 another howl of delight. He was simply 
 wild with joy at being the undisputed pos- 
 sessor of such an unlimited supply of food. 
 He was too much delighted even to begin to 
 eat. The fact of being " monarch of all he 
 surveyed " was quite enough bliss for him. 
 
 But what was that? He heard the dis- 
 tant barkings of dogs and at once his whole 
 demeanour changed. He seemed at once to 
 be conscious that he was in danger of losing
 
 214 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 his great prize, and realized that if he was 
 going to keep possession of it, he must speed- 
 ily hide it away from all intruders. 
 
 And young puppy though he was, he be- 
 gan most vigourously at his work. Seizing 
 the fish nearest to him by the head, he 
 dragged it perhaps fifty feet away to a spot 
 where the snow was deep and light. Here 
 w r ith his little paws he set to work, and soon 
 had a hole large enough, into which he skill- 
 fully pushed the fish. Then with his nose, 
 he carefully covered it up with the light dry 
 snow. Quickly rushing back to the pan, he 
 seized hold of another one, and dragging it 
 in another direction, he buried it in a similar 
 manner. Thus the plucky little fellow 
 worked unceasingly until he had the whole 
 dozen of those large white-fish thus 
 " cached " away in different places. So 
 cunningly had he hidden them that there 
 was not the slightest trace of his work vis- 
 ible. 
 
 When Martin returned with his dogs and 
 as usual unharnessed them in the yard, 
 Caesar had the meekest look imaginable. 
 He was too guileless for anything. Then 
 when the hungry dogs discovered the empty 
 fish pan still rich with the fragrance of the
 
 Cassar, the Clever Rascal 2 1 5 
 
 fish which were not there, the young hypo- 
 crite coolly seemed to sympathize with them 
 in the loss of their supper. It was indeed 
 most consummate acting. It was amusing, 
 however, when I went out and told Martin 
 what I had witnessed from my study win- 
 dow. The worry about his dogs' supper left 
 his face at once, and he shrewdly remarked : 
 
 " Well, that pup will make a clever dog, 
 perhaps too clever sometimes for his driver." 
 
 Prophetic words were these, and remem- 
 bered in after days. 
 
 The question now however was, how are 
 the hungry dogs to get those buried fish? 
 
 " Very easily," said Martin. " See how I 
 will make the little thief tell in his own way, 
 where he has ' cached ' them." Quietly 
 calling one of the hungry dogs to follow him, 
 Martin started off to a spot where the snow 
 looked as though it had recently been dis- 
 turbed. 
 
 Marvellous and sudden was the transfor- 
 mation in Caesar. His assumed meekness 
 suddenly left him, and now, with neck hair 
 ruffled and tail stiffly curled up, the gritty 
 little fellow is going to fight for what cost 
 him such trouble to secure. 
 
 When Martin stopped before the " cache,"
 
 216 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 ere he had stirred a snow flake, the brave 
 little dog sprang before him and planting 
 himself upon the spot, began growling most 
 comically. One word to the big dog at Mar- 
 tin's heels was sufficient and with a rush he 
 fairly tumbled the little fellow over in the 
 snow, and then quickly dug up the fish. 
 
 Speedily were the other dogs sent smell- 
 ing round, and soon fish after fish was re- 
 covered. 
 
 Poor little Caesar was simply frantic. He 
 rushed from cache to cache, but all in vain. 
 The dogs were too much for him, and al- 
 though none of them would bite the little 
 fellow, yet the frequent tumblings he got in 
 the deep snow very much ruffled his dignity. 
 In spite of all his cleverness and trouble, he 
 lost all of his fish, and later on in the eve- 
 ning he was humble enough to come to the 
 kitchen door and beg for some supper. This 
 was freely given to him as a small return for 
 the amusement he had afforded. 
 
 Caesar grew to be a large, strong dog and 
 in due time was broken in to harness. I 
 had some trouble in breaking him in to work. 
 He was stubborn and obstinate. He would 
 throw himself down on the ground and 
 would let the dogs in front of him drag him
 
 Caesar, the Clever Rascal 217 
 
 in that way for hundreds of yards. He 
 cared but little for the whip, and under its 
 infliction would lie down and sulk. 
 
 However, at length I thought of a plan 
 which when tried proved successful, not only 
 in his case but in that of many other dogs 
 that were at first not disposed to take kindly 
 to the harness. 
 
 My dogs were generally harnessed in tan- 
 dem style. When breaking in a young dog, 
 I usually had three powerful old animals 
 harnessed in front of him, and one or even 
 two good dogs behind him. This was the 
 plan I tried with Caesar. The dog I had 
 harnessed immediately behind him was Jack. 
 It is hardly needless to say that of him every 
 dog stood in dread, when once his ominous 
 growls were heard. Harnessing Caesar up 
 in this powerful train, I then shouted, 
 " Marche ! " and the sport began. Caesar 
 was as obstinate as he could be. First he 
 made the most desperate efforts to get out of 
 his harness. But against this I had care- 
 fully guarded. A dog that has once suc- 
 ceeded in squeezing himself out of his har- 
 ness, when being broken in, is likely to try 
 the trick again, where perhaps his escape 
 may be most annoying and inconvenient.
 
 2i8 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 Foiled in his efforts in this direction, he 
 next tried the obstinate dodge of balking. 
 He threw himself on the snow and, refusing 
 to move, was dragged along by the three 
 strong dogs in front of him. It was now 
 high time for Jack to interfere, and so I 
 shouted : " Shake him, Jack ! " Permission 
 was all that Jack had been waiting for. With 
 a roar like a lion he sprang at the obstinate 
 Caesar, harnessed directly in front of him, 
 and, seizing him by the back, gave him a 
 good shaking. Poor Csesar, securely har- 
 nessed up and being dragged along by dogs 
 in front was powerless to resist, yet so ob- 
 stinate was he, that he took that shaking 
 without yielding. The fact is, I don't think 
 Jack hurt him very much. But he must be 
 conquered and so I shouted to Jack : " Go 
 for him again ! " 
 
 This time Jack adopted an entirely differ- 
 ent method, and one that proved completely 
 successful. Instead of seizing hold of 
 Caesar's great body, he began nipping, with 
 his sharp teeth, at his legs and feet, that 
 were stretched out behind, as the dogs in 
 front were dragging him along. 
 
 Jack must now have bitten him pretty
 
 Caesar, the Clever Rascal 219 
 
 vigourously, for before he had received more 
 than half a dozen nips, he sprang up and 
 with howls of rage and fear started off with 
 such speed that if Jack had not held him 
 back, he would have run over the dogs in 
 front of him. A few more lessons were all 
 that were necessary and then Caesar became 
 one of my best dogs. But he had some tricka 
 that he liked to play off when he dared, and 
 so, although he was a very clever dog, he 
 was one that was better for being well 
 watched and rather sternly handled. Still 
 I was fond of him and travelled thousands 
 of miles with him as one of my train. Yet 
 even to the last he was sometimes too clever 
 for me, as the following incident will show. 
 I had extended the borders of my mission 
 field until it was now larger than many a 
 State. Over this large domain I travelled in 
 summer in my birch canoe. But from Octo- 
 ber until May, the only possible way of com- 
 munication except by going on foot, was by 
 dog travelling. With thousands of miles of 
 travel every winter thus before me, through 
 those unbeaten wilds, it can be seen why I 
 was so anxious to secure the best dogs pos- 
 sible. Even with the very best I could ob-
 
 220 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 tain, there were times when some of them 
 would sadly disappoint me, as cunning 
 Caesar did on this occasion. 
 
 I was making a journey to one of my re- 
 mote stations where the route was very 
 heavy. My sleds were fully loaded, as the 
 people to whom I was going were very poor, 
 and as yet not any too friendly towards the 
 missionary. So as a precautionary meas- 
 ure, I was loaded with sufficient supplies for 
 both the outward and homeward trip. Be- 
 fore starting, I had kept my dogs in their 
 kennels and had fed them up until they were 
 all in first-class condition. So in good spirits 
 we began the long journey of several hun- 
 dred miles. Soon, however, we all began to 
 feel the effects of the toilsome way through 
 the deep snow. There was not the faintest 
 trace of a road or path. It was uphill and 
 downhill; over rocks and fallen trees; now 
 struggling through dense underbrush and 
 then across rough frozen muskegs. And the 
 snow was everywhere ; a great mantle of the 
 purest whiteness covering everything to a 
 depth of from three to six feet, and through 
 it we struggled on and on for days and days. 
 With axes on our shoulders and snow-shoes 
 on our feet, the men of our party pushed on
 
 Caesar, the Clever Rascal 221 
 
 ahead to make some sort of a trail along 
 which the dogs could drag the heavy loads. 
 
 Is it any wonder that men and dogs be- 
 gan to feel the strain of such continuous 
 hardships and that all of them were much 
 reduced in weight and flesh? There was, 
 however, one notable exception, and that 
 one was Caesar. He retained his spirits and 
 his flesh in a remarkable degree. Day after 
 day whenever I looked at him he was so 
 alert and active, that no suspicions were 
 aroused of any clever shirking on his part. 
 Still as on we plodded over the dreadful 
 route, Cffisar kept getting fatter than ever, 
 while all the other dogs were sadly showing 
 their ribs and lessening weight. First I 
 thought that perhaps the cunning fellow 
 was stealing from our supplies at night 
 while we slept, but this was found to be an 
 impossibility. So all I could do was to 
 keep my eyes upon him and keep him doing 
 his best. Grandly would he tug at his 
 collar and with his tongue out and panting 
 he would seem to say : " What dog can do 
 more than I am doing? " 
 
 Still, as he showed no sign of weariness 
 when the day's work was done, while the 
 other dogs seemed so tired and exhausted, I
 
 222 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 resolved to try some plan that would malie 
 him betray himself, if he was really fooling 
 us. This I did the next day, by fastening 
 the separate traces which I gave him, with 
 some rotten packthread. I had to be care- 
 ful to hold on to them while he started, for 
 then he always made a big fuss. However, 
 when he had settled down to his usual work, 
 fancy my surprise to see him tearing along, 
 as though he were doing the most of the 
 heavy work, when the fact was, he did not 
 pull enough to break that rotten pack 
 thread! 
 
 I quietly called the attention of my In- 
 dian companions to his clever hypocrisy. 
 They all laughed at it and declared it was 
 one of the cutest bits of shirking they had 
 ever seen. Caesar's castigation, then and 
 there received, deterred him from ever try- 
 ing that trick again. 
 
 Caesar was one of the few dogs that I 
 owned that never was sick or out of con- 
 dition. Accidents and various disasters 
 were constantly arising and many a good 
 dog would be suddenly rendered unfit for 
 service. But nothing ever happened to old 
 Caesar. He would never over-strain or over- 
 heat himself for anybody. So he came at
 
 Caesar, the Clever Rascal 223 
 
 last to be called " Old Reliable," and any 
 good driver, who was clever enough to see 
 through his tricks, could get a lot of work 
 out of him. 
 
 But through all the years I owned him 
 he would always bear watching. Out of 
 harness as well as in it, he was up to tricks 
 and schemes, some of which seem so in- 
 credible, that if they had not been observed 
 by reliable witnesses, we should hesitate to 
 record them here. The following incident 
 of Caesar's cleverness, showing his posses- 
 sion of reasoning powers in a remarkable de- 
 gree for a dog, was well known by a number 
 of persons and was much talked about at 
 the time. 
 
 It occurred in the spring of the year when 
 the snow melting on the land with the first 
 rains had swollen our creeks and rivers into 
 torrents. On the great lake before our 
 northern home the ice was still a great solid 
 mass, several feet in thickness. Near our 
 home was one of these swollen, rapi 
 streams that, rushing down into the lak 
 had cut a delta of open water in the ice a 
 its mouth. In this open place my faithfu 
 servant, Martin Papanekis, had placed a gill 
 net for the purpose of catching fish. Liv-
 
 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 ing as we did all winter principally upon the 
 fish caught the previous October or Novem- 
 ber and kept frozen for several months, 
 hung up in the open air, we were naturally 
 pleased to get fresh ones out of the open 
 water in the spring. Martin had so ar- 
 ranged his net by fastening a couple of ropes 
 about sixty feet long, one at each end, that 
 when it was securely fastened at each side 
 of the stream, it was carried out into this 
 open delta-like space by the force of the cur- 
 rent, and there hung like the capital letter 
 U. The upper side of this net was kept in 
 position by light wood floats, while medium- 
 sized stones as sinkers steadied it below. 
 Every morning Papanekis took a basket, 
 and followed by all the dogs of the kennels, 
 visited his net. Placed in the manner we 
 have described, it required no canoe or 
 boat in order to overhaul and take from 
 it the fish there caught. All he had to 
 do was to seize hold of the rope at the end 
 fastened on the shore and draw it toward 
 him. As he kept pulling in, the deep bend 
 in it gradually straightened out until the 
 net was reached. His work was now to se- 
 cure the fish as he gradually drew in the net 
 and coiled it at his feet. The width of the
 
 Caesar, the Clever Rascal 225 
 
 opening in the water being about sixty feet, 
 the result was that when he had in this way 
 overhauled his net he had reached the end of 
 the rope attached to the other side. When 
 the fish were secured, all Papanekis had to 
 do to reset the net was to throw some of it 
 out in the right position in the stream. 
 Here the force of the running waters soon 
 carried the whole net down into the open 
 place as far as the two ropes fastened on the 
 shores would permit. Papanekis, after 
 placing the best fish in his basket for con- 
 sumption in the mission house, and for his 
 own family, divided what was left among 
 the eager dogs that had accompanied him. 
 This work went on for several days, and the 
 supply of fish continued to increase, much 
 to our satisfaction. 
 
 One day Papanekis came into my study 
 in a state of great perturbation. He was 
 generally such a quiet, stoical sort of an In- 
 dian that I was at once attracted by his 
 mental disquietude. On asking the reason 
 why he was so troubled, he at once blurted 
 out: 
 
 " Master, there is some strange animal 
 visiting our net ! " 
 
 In answer to my request for particulars,
 
 226 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 he replied that for some mornings past when 
 he went to visit it, he found, entangled in 
 the meshes, several heads of white-fish. Yet 
 the net was always in its right position in 
 the water. On my suggestion that perhaps 
 otters, fishers, minks or other fish-eating 
 animals might have done the work, he most 
 emphatically declared that he knew the 
 habits of all these and all other animals liv- 
 ing on fish, and it was utterly impossible for 
 any of them to have thus done this work. 
 The mystery continuing for several morn- 
 ings, Papanekis became frightened and 
 asked me to get some other fisherman in his 
 place, as he was afraid longer to visit the 
 net. He had talked the matter over with 
 other Indians, and they had come to the 
 conclusion that either a " windegoo " was 
 at the bottom of it or the " meechee mun- 
 edoo " (the devil). I laughed at his fears, 
 and told him I would help him to try and 
 find out who or what it was that was giving 
 us this trouble. I went with him to the 
 place, where we carefully examined both 
 sides of the stream for evidences of the 
 clever thief. The only tracks visible were his 
 own and those of the many dogs that followed 
 him to be fed each morning. About two or
 
 Caesar, the Clever Rascal 227 
 
 thr hundred yards north of the spot wher 
 he overhauled the net there rose a small 
 abrupt hill, densely covered with spruce bal- 
 sam trees. On visiting it, we found that a 
 person there securely hid from observation, 
 could with care easily overlook the whole 
 locality. At my suggestion, Papanekis with 
 his axe there arranged a sort of a nest or 
 lookout. Orders were then given that he 
 and another Indian man should, before day- 
 break on the next morning, make a long de- 
 tour and cautiously reach that spot from 
 the rear, and there carefully conceal them- 
 selves. This they succeeded in doing, and 
 there, in perfect stillness, they waited for 
 the morning. As soon as it was possible to 
 see anything they were on the alert. For 
 some time they watched in vain. They 
 eagerly scanned every point of vision, and 
 for a time could observe nothing unusual. 
 " Hush ! " said one; " see that dog! " 
 It was Caesar, cautiously skulking along 
 the trail. He would frequently stop and 
 sniff the air. Fortunately for the Indian 
 watchers, the wind was blowing toward 
 them, and so the dog did not catch their 
 scent. On he came, in a quiet yet swift 
 gait, until he reached the spot where Papan-
 
 2a8 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 ekis stood when he pulled in the net. He 
 gave one searching glance in every direc- 
 tion, and then he set to work. Seizing the 
 rope in his teeth, Csesar strongly pulled 
 upon it, while he rapidly backed up some 
 distance on the trail. Then walking on the 
 rope to the water's edge as it lay on the 
 ground, to keep the pressure of the current 
 from dragging it in, he again took a fresh 
 grip upon it and repeated the process. This 
 he did until the sixty feet of rope were 
 hauled in, and the end of the net was reached 
 to which it was attached. The net he now 
 hauled in little by little, keeping his feet 
 firmly on it to securely hold it down. As he 
 drew it up, several varieties of inferior fish, 
 such as suckers, or mullets, pike or jackfish, 
 were at first observed. To them Csesar paid 
 no attention. He was after the delicious 
 whitefish, which dogs as well as human be- 
 ings prefer to those of other kinds. 
 
 When he had hauled in perhaps twenty 
 feet of the net he was rewarded by the sight 
 of a fine white-fish. Still holding the net 
 with its struggling captives securely down 
 with his feet, he began to devour this white- 
 fish, which was so much more dainty than 
 the coarser fish generally thrown to him.
 
 Caesar, the Clever Rascal 229 
 
 Papanekis and his comrade had seen enough. 
 The mysterious culprit was detected in the 
 act, and so with a " Whoop ! " they rushed 
 down upon him. Caught in the very act, 
 Caesar had to submit to a thrashing that 
 deterred him from ever again trying that 
 cunning trick.
 
 XV 
 
 KOONA, THE ESKIMO LEADER 
 
 KOONA was a pure white Eskimo 
 dog. Hence his name, as " Koona " is 
 the Cree Indian word for snow. He 
 was of medium size, and as an Eskimo dog, 
 was as perfect as a picture. 
 
 While Caesar was tricky and surprisingly 
 cunning, Koona was simply mischievous. I 
 retained him and a few other animals of the 
 Eskimo variety because of some peculiar 
 excellences. Koona, although at first only 
 kept as a dog in the fish or wood trains, soon 
 developed into such a capital leader dog 
 that he was promoted to a place among the 
 most aristocratic trains. Indeed, after I 
 was so unfortunate as to break poor Voy- 
 ageur's heart, my sole reliance was upon 
 Koona as a leader even in front of Jack, 
 Cuffy and Muff. 
 
 Like other leaders he had his peculiarities 
 and antipathies. One peculiarity was he 
 hated to have a guide running on just ahead 
 230
 
 Koona, the Eskimo Leader 231 
 
 of him. If the guide were a mile or so in 
 advance it would be all right with him. 
 Then he seemed to fancy he was independ- 
 ently doing his work. But if the guide just 
 kept in front of him, Koona would often 
 sulk and be of little use. He ever did his 
 best work when leading over the great icy 
 stretches of lakes or along the hard storm- 
 swept frozen rivers. Then : " Marche, 
 Koona ! " was all the instruction he needed, 
 and to the far away point indicated he would 
 gallantly lead his train. 
 
 His courage, however, gave out in a bliz- 
 zard. He would refuse to face it and would 
 cleverly drop back on the lee side of big Jack 
 and allow him to do not only the work of 
 leading but also of drawing that portion of 
 the load which ought to have been shared 
 between them. Jack often thus favoured 
 him and helped him out of some very diffi- 
 cult situations. He seemed to think more 
 of Koona than he did of any other Eskimo 
 dog I ever owned, but that is not saying 
 much. 
 
 Like all the Eskimo dogs, Koona was a 
 first-class thief and very clever at his work. 
 If he w r as off duty and around the kitchen 
 door, it was generally expected that there
 
 23 2 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 would be one fish less in Martin's pan under 
 the stove where the fish were being thawed 
 out in the evening. If the kitchen door was 
 left open for only a few minutes, it was quite 
 sufficient time for Koona. Although a 
 fairly good sized dog he seemed able to make 
 himself very small and silent when he 
 wanted to enter that kitchen unobserved. 
 His favourite plan was to follow in close be- 
 hind the Indian servant girl and, seizing the 
 first fish reached, as stealthily to retire. If 
 detected and followed up so closely that he 
 could not escape with the fish he would, if 
 possible, suddenly dash around some corner, 
 and lo! when reached by his pursuers he 
 would be found demurely sitting up and 
 apparently wondering what all the fuss was 
 about. 
 
 Not a vestige of the fish that we saw 
 him carrying in his mouth is now visible. 
 Where has it gone? Have our eyes deceived 
 us? Surely it must have been some other 
 dog than this solemn looking fellow that 
 sits up so steadily on the ground. But there 
 are some folks who are as clever as dogs, and 
 one says : " Look at the odd way Koona's 
 bushy tail is being held ! " On investiga- 
 tion, it is found that the clever rascal is
 
 Koona, the Eskimo Leader 233 
 
 sitting on the stolen fish and is trying to 
 make his curly tail help to cover the fish out 
 of sight! 
 
 He was not long in making the discovery 
 that the fact of his being white like the snow 
 could be utilized to his advantage. If 
 when gambolling around with the other dogs 
 in the light beautiful snow which was there 
 so abundant for long months, Koona heard 
 the jingling bells which indicated that some- 
 body was bringing out the harness to begin 
 work with the dogs, Koona would at once 
 crouch down as low as possible and strive 
 to make himself invisible. No calling 
 would cause him to stir. He had to be 
 hunted up and unceremoniously driven to 
 his harness. 
 
 This trick which Koona had of hiding in 
 the snow was a great annoyance, especially 
 in the wintry camps in the woods when we 
 were on a long journey. 
 
 As stated elsewhere, we hardly ever 
 waited until daylight ere beginning the 
 day's journey. It was very provoking when 
 we could not easily find our dogs when we 
 wanted them. Koona was one of the mis- 
 chievous animals that often ruffled even the 
 most stoical driver.
 
 234 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 He slept each night when his day's work 
 was done in a hole which he had carefully 
 dug in the snow. As everything around 
 him was of the purest white, he was practi- 
 cally invisible in the starlit night. And as 
 he would not move in the morning until 
 stumbled upon by the searchers or was run 
 in by Jack, it was at times most provoking. 
 One of my drivers to save delay in the morn- 
 ing used to carefully observe where Koona 
 made his nest at night so that he could 
 easily find him in the morning. After a 
 time Koona discovered this, and so the in- 
 stant he heard anyone moving in the camp 
 in the early morning, he used to quietly 
 steal away to some other spot in the deep 
 snow. 
 
 But a happy expedient forever stopped 
 him from again repeating that trick. One 
 night the Indians caught him and dragging 
 him to the camp, they took a quantity of 
 dead coals and pounding them up into pow- 
 der they most completely blackened him 
 from his nose to the tip of his tail. So 
 thoroughly did the Indians rub in the coal 
 powder that the once spotless white dog 
 was for days about as black as Jack or 
 Cuffy. And so all his efforts to escape de-
 
 Koona, the Eskimo Leader 235 
 
 tection by hiding in the snow were vain. 
 At first he could not understand the matter 
 but at last it seemed to dawn upon him and 
 he never tried the trick again. 
 
 It was amusing to witness how very 
 quickly Koona, as well as many other dogs, 
 could pretend to be ill, or lame, or paralyzed, 
 when they heard the driver coming with 
 harness to make up a train. We look out 
 from our study window and there is over a 
 score of dogs out from the kennels for a big 
 romp. Every one seems in the most perfect 
 condition. See with what wild abandon 
 and joyousness they race and play in the 
 light fleecy snow. There is not a sign of a 
 limp or lameness among them. 
 
 Now watch ! An Indian has taken down 
 a set of harness, jingling with the musical 
 little bells, four of which are fastened to 
 each collar. As he opens the kitchen door 
 and walks out among the dogs, behold the 
 transformation! Did you ever see such a 
 lot of wounded, limping, paralyzed dogs in 
 your life together! Caesar sadly crawls 
 along on his two fore feet, dragging his ap- 
 parently paralyzed hind quarters along the 
 ground. Koona, finding it impossible to 
 hide in the snow, is making the most comical
 
 236 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 efforts to get along on one fore and one hind 
 leg. And others are just as amusing in 
 their efforts to try to convince Martin, the 
 driver, that it would be the height of ab- 
 surdity to think of harnessing up such poor, 
 helpless, worn-out dogs as they are. How- 
 ever, Martin has seen such tricks before and 
 so now he heeds them not. All he wants is 
 a train of four good dogs with which to take 
 his master over for an evening's service at 
 the Fort. 
 
 "Astum (come) Pompey! Astum, Black! 
 Astum, Nero ! Astum, Muff ! " 
 
 Only one driver ; only one train ; and the 
 instant that train is called and each dog's 
 head is in a collar, behold again the trans- 
 formation among the other dogs: Caesar's 
 spinal column is instantly all right and his 
 hind legs are as lively as his front ones. 
 Koona, as suddenly, finds it easier to get 
 around on four legs than on two, and so he 
 is dashing around at a great rate. And thus 
 it is with the others. They were clever 
 enough to try the sympathy dodge, but it 
 was one that could be easily seen through 
 and was quietly ignored by the driver in ma- 
 king his selection. 
 
 Koona, like Hover, was a great coward.
 
 Koona, the Eskimo Leader 237 
 
 He would run from a dog much smaller 
 than himself that showed any spirit or pug- 
 nacity. But unlike Rover, who was ever a 
 lover of peace, Koona was never happier 
 than when he was getting other dogs into 
 rows, and the bigger the fight the more he 
 enjoyed it. 
 
 One thing that ever gave him the keenest 
 enjoyment was to get up a battle-royal be- 
 tween the dogs of the mission and those of 
 the Indian village. To do this he had to 
 use a good deal of cleverness and secrecy, 
 for he well knew that if detected while de- 
 veloping his plans, a second thrashing 
 awaited him. And many a one he got, and 
 yet do it over again he would if he saw a 
 chance. 
 
 To understand his favourite method to 
 bring about a big fight between the rival 
 forces, we must explain that all the mission 
 premises, including the dwelling house, 
 church, school house, stable and other out- 
 buildings, were all built by themselves on a 
 few acres of land that, peninsula like, pro- 
 jected out a little into Playgreen Lake, with 
 little bays on each side. The little neck of 
 land joining the mission property to the 
 mainland was only a few hundred feet wide.
 
 238 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 So low was it that an old Indian tradition 
 said that in stormy weather it used to be 
 covered by water. However, in our time it 
 was quite high and dry. The place is very 
 rocky and near the neck of land on the mis- 
 sion side are several high rocky places from 
 which a spectator sees the whole Indian vil- 
 lage, which spreads out east and west on the 
 main shore, and be he man or dog he is dis- 
 tinctly visible from each way. Here, when 
 the dogs were out of their kennels and play- 
 ing about in their usual ways, Koona, if not 
 being watched, would stealthily take his 
 place, hid from observation at the mission 
 by some outbuildings. 
 
 A constant and unceasing antagonism 
 ever existed between the dogs of the mis- 
 sion and those of the village. It was war, 
 sharp and keen, whenever they met, and woe 
 to any single dog that strayed into the do- 
 main of the other side. 
 
 Koona's trick, when he could carry it out, 
 was to mount up on this rocky prominence in 
 full view of many of the village dogs, while 
 his own comrades were all out of sight. 
 Then began the most aggravating and tan- 
 talizing manoeuvres imaginable, accompa-
 
 Koona, the Eskimo Leader 239 
 
 nied by yelps that doubtless were dog taunts 
 and challenges. 
 
 Then the excitement began. In those 
 days when fish were abundant, every Indian 
 house and wigwam swarmed with dogs of 
 all varieties and degrees. They were not 
 slow in hearing these impertinent challenges 
 from the outpost of the foes, and so speedily 
 did they gather that there were dozens of 
 them collected on their own side of the 
 sandy neck of land. Like the wolves in the 
 dark forests which in some respects these Es- 
 kimo dogs so closely resemble, their cour- 
 age increases with their numbers, and so 
 now when they had become such a numerous 
 pack as to feel that they dare make the as- 
 sault, with fierce yelpings for the Eskimo 
 dogs can hardly be said to bark they came 
 dashing across to try by a sudden rush to* 
 capture the saucy Koona, who doubtless has 
 been hurling at them all the hard words he 
 had in his vocabulary. But he is not such 
 a fool as to be thus caught or surrounded. 
 He just waits to see that they have really 
 dared to cross the isthmus of neutral ground 
 when, with a rush, he comes tearing around 
 those outbuildings and instantly he is among
 
 240 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 the mission dogs and his call is " Yep! yep! 
 yep!" which transformed into English is, 
 " Up Guards, and at them." No second call 
 is needed, for this one is thoroughly under- 
 stood, and prompt indeed is the response. 
 
 With Koona at their head, twenty or 
 thirty dogs and pups are off to meet the on- 
 coming foe. 
 
 Generally they met about at the base of 
 the rock, from the top of which Koona had 
 given his saucy challenge. 
 
 And it was a battle-royal. It was mar- 
 vellous how they charged each other and how 
 if one was being worsted, his disengaged 
 comrades came to his rescue. They did not 
 generally fasten on each other, as two 
 fierce dogs in single combat often do, but 
 with wild rushes together would simply try 
 to overpower with weight their opponents 
 and tumble them down in the snow. Still 
 there were some that went in for more 
 serious fighting, and singling out some spe- 
 cial dog with whom, perhaps, they had some 
 old scores to settle, they pitched into him 
 for all they were worth. 
 
 But where was Koona all this time? We 
 had seen him starting the row and bravely 
 heading our dogs to repel the oncoming foe.
 
 Koona, the Eskimo Leader 241 
 
 But you need not look for him in the fight 
 for he will not be there. He never was in 
 one, and if he can help it he never will be. 
 
 Gallantly did he lead the forces to repel 
 the attack, but only part way. Skilfully he 
 manoeuvred himself to one side and then, 
 as the dogs catching sight of the foes dashed 
 on, Koona with cunning strategy clambered 
 up on the rocky eminence from which he 
 had but a short time before issued his 
 saucy, defiant challenge. There, in secur- 
 ity, he danced and howled in an ecstacy of 
 delight, as he surveyed the battle raging 
 below ! 
 
 Of course the battle was not allowed to 
 continue long. The instant the inmates of 
 the mission, and the Indians in their homes, 
 heard the din of battle, they well under- 
 stood what it meant, and so, speedily rush- 
 ing out with their heavy dog-whips, they 
 quickly separated the combatants and 
 drove them back to their respective 
 quarters. 
 
 When peace again prevailed and the 
 question was asked: 
 
 " Who began the row this time? " 
 
 At least a half-dozen sharp-eyed Indians 
 declared that from their abodes they had
 
 242 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 watched Koona at his trick* again. So 
 Koona was speedily captured, ioundly 
 thrashed and sent to bed without any 
 supper.
 
 XVI 
 
 TRAVELLING WITH DOGS IN NORTHERN WILDS 
 
 IN civilized countries the facilities for 
 travel improve as the population in- 
 creases. Railroad and steamboat lines 
 are not built or run where there is no pros- 
 pect of remunerative returns. So we may 
 expect and generally find that the facilities 
 for travel are in accordance with the num- 
 bers and demands of the inhabitants of the 
 different regions of the civilized world. 
 
 In addition to this we have to take into 
 consideration the character of the climate 
 of each country, and what methods of travel 
 are possible, where the usual facilities com- 
 mon to most countries are impracticable. 
 Yet limited as these methods must neces- 
 sarily be in the less highly favoured regions, 
 it is interesting to observe that there are 
 found in all such places some facilities 
 which seem to be in perfect harmony with 
 their environments. Take for example the 
 camel in the tropical deserts, and the 
 243
 
 244 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 Huskie or Eskimo dog, in the arctic regioni. 
 Both are fitted for their special work in 
 a very remarkable degree, and there is noth- 
 ing, considering the condition of these 
 lands, that can at present successfully take 
 their places. If the theory of evolution is 
 true, the camel and the dog are surely the 
 perfected production of long years of de- 
 velopment under circumstances the most 
 trying. 
 
 With the dogs of the Northland, and 
 " journeyings oft" with them we are now 
 concerned. Travellers in the burning 
 deserts can write whereof they know about 
 the patient camel, but this chapter is to be 
 devoted to a description of a trip with dogs 
 and Indians through the wilds of the Great 
 Northland. Why with dogs? Simply be- 
 cause there is positively no other way 
 possible. 
 
 The whistle of no railroad engine or 
 steamer has ever aroused the echoes of these 
 northern interior solitudes, neither is it 
 likely to do so for long years to come. 
 
 There are absolutely no roads, or paths, 
 or trails, for hundreds, nor even thousands, 
 of miles. The result is that there is abso- 
 lutely no other way of winter travelling
 
 THE LORDLY PINES IN WINTER DRESS.
 
 Travelling with Dogs in Northern Wilds 245 
 
 than with dogi, except going on foot, and 
 even that becomes impossible when dis- 
 tances are greater than those where men 
 can carry their own supplies. For their 
 supplies mean much more than merely the 
 food a man would consume. It means his 
 bedding, weapons of defence, axe, snow- 
 shoes and various other things, in addition 
 to kettles in which to cook his food. Hence 
 to those who would there travel, the dog is 
 simply invaluable, in spite of his many 
 defects. 
 
 As so much is said in other parts of this 
 book about dogs in general, as well as about 
 some individual ones, I need not in this 
 chapter give any further description of 
 them. My readers must imagine that we 
 are travelling with the splendid dogs else- 
 where described or with others like them. 
 
 The dog-sleds are not always of the same 
 form or construction. In those regions 
 where there is but little dense forest coun- 
 try, the sleds are made much wider than are 
 those which are used where the trails run 
 through the densely wooded regions. Then 
 in many places experience has shown that 
 the sleds constructed with strong runners, 
 which keep the body of the sled well up
 
 246 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 from the ground, are the best for travelling 
 through certain sections of broken country, 
 and especially over the great rough ice 
 fields of the Northern seas. 
 
 The perfect sled, however, for use in the 
 forest and lake regions, where we spent our 
 years when in that Northland, was made 
 exactly on the same plan as are the tobog- 
 gans of Quebec. From the Eed Kiver 
 Settlement we had sent out to us by boats 
 in the summer time, some good oak boards. 
 They were twelve feet long, eight or nine 
 inches wide, and an inch thick. Two of 
 these were matched and then firmly fas- 
 tened edge to edge to each other with strong 
 cross-bars. Then one end was planed down, 
 until it was not more than half of the thick- 
 ness of the rest of the boards. The thin 
 end was then thoroughly steamed for at 
 least a day, and then, in a place prepared, 
 was bent in the shape required for the head 
 of the sled. Strong deer-skin thongs, well 
 tied, held every part in its right position, 
 and so, as soon as the parts softened by the 
 steam had become hard and rigid, the sled 
 was about finished. Two strong deer-skin 
 loops were fastened at the front, to which 
 the traces of the dogs were attached when
 
 Travelling with Dogs in Northern Wilds 247 
 
 desired. Then much larger loops were 
 firmly secured on each side of the sled for 
 the purpose of fastening on the loads, and 
 now the sled is considered completed, and 
 ready for use. A cariole was one of these 
 sleds fixed up with a comfortable back and 
 parchment sides. Often it was gaily 
 painted and with fur robes and a good trail 
 was a cosy vehicle in which to ride. 
 
 For a long trip of, say, several hundreds 
 of miles, during which I would be absent 
 from home for perhaps six weeks, I would 
 take with me three of these oak sleds and 
 a cariole. 
 
 Four dogs constituted a train sufficiently 
 strong to draw a loaded sled. The dogs 
 with us were harnessed up in tandem style. 
 Any other method would not have been 
 suitable in such a densely wooded country. 
 
 The taking of so many dogs and sleds 
 may appear at first extravagant. But the 
 explanation is simple. It must be borne in 
 mind that these long journeys were made 
 in a country so wild that there were not 
 only no hotels or lodging places of any 
 kind from the beginning to the end of the 
 route, but also there were no shops, or 
 places of any description, where supplies
 
 248 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 could be secured for love or money. The 
 only possible exception to this rule was 
 when we were so fortunate as to cross the 
 trail of a hunter who might have been lucky 
 enough to have just shot a moose or a rein- 
 deer. Then we might be able to purchase 
 some venison. But even that meant giving 
 in exchange supplies from our sleds, as all 
 bargains were by barter; so we really were 
 not much better off. 
 
 Our loads were of a most miscellaneous 
 character. The supplies of food for our- 
 selves and the fish for our dogs generally 
 constituted the heaviest part. For cooking 
 our food and making tea for all, we had a 
 supply of kettles as well as a quantity of 
 unbreakable dishes. Then there were our 
 axes, of which we had to take a liberal sup- 
 ply, as we were continually breaking them 
 on account of the intense frost, making the 
 steel almost as brittle as glass. Some guns 
 and ammunition were also in our loads al- 
 though not nearly as much as on a summer 
 trip. Then we would expect to find suffi- 
 cient game to keep our pot boiling, but now 
 in this bitter winter weather there was but 
 little game. So our guns were more car- 
 ried now, as a precautionary measure
 
 Travelling with Dogs in Northern Wilds 249 
 
 against prowling grey wolves that could 
 make themselves troublesome at times and 
 give us an exciting hour or two, or even a 
 whole sleepless night. Our bedding consti- 
 tuted no inconsiderable part of our loads. 
 To sleep out in the open air in a hole 
 scooped out in a snow drift, and the cold 
 so intense that the mercury is frozen in our 
 thermometers, requires for comfort a con- 
 siderable amount of bedding. These blank- 
 ets and fur robes add considerably to the 
 bulk and weight of our loads. Then add 
 to what has already been enumerated, medi- 
 cines in case of sickness or accidents, 
 articles to mend breakages to dog harness 
 or sleds, a liberal supply of presents for the 
 different bands of Indians we hope to visit, 
 and our necessary changes of clothing, and 
 it will be easily seen that a long trip by 
 dog trains, is not a light or trifling under- 
 taking. 
 
 Of my faithful Indian companions with 
 whom I travelled for long years, on many 
 a rough and dangerous journey, it is a 
 pleasure and a joy to write. Untiring and 
 enduring to a degree, they not only won my 
 admiration, but aroused my astonishment 
 at what the human frame was able to ac-
 
 250 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 complish. They were ever prone to dis- 
 parage any of their wonderful deeds, and 
 were exceedingly modest when urged to 
 recount them. 
 
 My equipment of Indians for my four 
 sleds and sixteen dogs on these long jour- 
 neys would be a guide and three dog- 
 drivers. 
 
 The first-class Indian guides are certainly 
 wonderfully gifted men. Their ability to 
 lead on through those Northern pathless 
 solitudes, where for hundreds of miles, for 
 months together, not the least vestige of a 
 road is seen, and where to an ordinary 
 white man, there is absolutely nothing to 
 give the slightest hint or information of the 
 correct route is simply marvellous. 
 
 Naturally supposing that they guided 
 their course by the sun, I was amazed to 
 find that in the dark and cloudy days, when 
 the skies were leaden, and I could not tell 
 north from south, or east from west, they 
 swung along on their great snow-shoes with 
 as much accuracy and speed as when the 
 sun, in its northern brilliancy, shone from 
 the cloudless heavens. 
 
 Then a greater mystery still about these 
 strangely gifted men came to me as a reve-
 
 Travelling with Dogs in Northern Wilds 251 
 
 lation, and that was that they could travel 
 as well by night as by day; and also that 
 it made but little difference to them 
 whether the stars shone out in all the splen- 
 dour of those high latitudes or clouds arose 
 and mantled the landscape with gloom and 
 darkness. Still on and on strode the mar- 
 vellous guide. 
 
 On the guide rested the chief responsibili- 
 ties of the journey. It was his to say when 
 each day's journey was ended. He selected 
 each camping place and assigned to each 
 Indian his allotted work. Running ahead 
 he set the pace and expected that all would 
 endeavour to keep as close on his trail as 
 possible. This was to be the unbroken rule, 
 especially when the weather was threaten- 
 ing or blizzards might assail us. He was 
 supposed to be ever on the lookout for the 
 coming storm, and even before ordinary 
 mortals could detect any sign of its coming 
 he would have us all fleeing for shelter to 
 the distant forest. He was never to go 
 through or over places where the sleds fol- 
 lowing could not pass. Hence he would 
 never crowd himself between trees growing 
 closely together or spring over fallen ones, 
 unless it was impossible to mark out a trail
 
 252 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 around the obstruction. Hence it will be 
 seen that the guide was not merely a man 
 who could push on rapidly at the front, but 
 was one who, as it were by intuition, as he 
 swiftly glided on, took in at a glance the 
 features of the country, and saw where the 
 trail must be made that would entail the 
 least hardships on the dogs and men 
 following. 
 
 The guide's position was thus one of great 
 responsibility, and his pay was about twice 
 that of the ordinary dog-drivers. 
 
 His sleeping place in the camp was next 
 to " the Master," if he so desired, and it was 
 his morning call of " Koos-Koos-Kwah ! " 
 (Wake up!) that had to be promptly 
 obeyed by all. 
 
 The dog-drivers I employed when possi- 
 ble to be obtained, were picked men who 
 had not only splendid powers of endurance 
 but intelligent sympathy in their manage- 
 ment of the dog-trains committed to their 
 care. Isolated as we were on these trips so 
 completely from the rest of the world, 
 where we had no companionship but our 
 own attendants, in their selection I en- 
 deavoured to secure comrades in my serv- 
 ants, each of whom was well treated andi
 
 Travelling with Dogs in Northern Wilds 253 
 
 from whom the corresponding congenial 
 fellowship was expected, and was generally 
 received. I never twice hired a sulky or 
 disagreeable man if I could help it. The 
 result was that, having the class of men I 
 wanted, we were a happy little company. 
 We had our innocent jokes and pleasantries 
 when everything was bright around us. 
 Then when dangers assailed us, and even 
 death in the form of the terrible blizzard 
 would threaten to- overwhelm us together, 
 as brothers we stood and faced the common 
 peril. This confidential relationship be- 
 tween us as master and men did not spoil 
 them as my servants. 
 
 Never did I receive an impertinent OP 
 saucy word from any of my own men on 
 any of these, at times, most trying journeys. 
 On the contrary I have seen such evidences 
 of their devotion and self-sacrifice that^I 
 am confident that some of them would have 
 died for me. 
 
 When starting off on a long journey, of 
 course the guide was at the front. With 
 Voyageur as leader, and Jack, Cuffy and 
 Caesar constituting my train, I would 
 quickly follow on his trail. Behind me 
 came the other heavily loaded sleds, each
 
 254 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 train driven by an Indian. There was often 
 a certain amount of good-natured rivalry 
 among these drivers as to the place they 
 should have in the procession, as they called 
 it. 
 
 However, in a few days the matter 
 seemed to arrange itself and the weakest 
 dogs with the lightest loads, generally 
 brought up the rear. Keeping, as of course 
 we must, fairly close together, our progress 
 was according to the speed of the slowest 
 train. To expedite matters there was con- 
 siderable re-adjustment of the loads in 
 favour of the lighter and younger dogs. 
 
 Such travelling was conducive to good 
 appetites. The result was there were sev- 
 eral halts during the day for a meal. That 
 there might be as little delay as possible, 
 the guide often carried an axe in his belt. 
 When he decided that it was about time for 
 the next meal he would put on a spurt and 
 run ahead with such rapidity that he would 
 soon be a mile or so in advance. Here he 
 would select a favourable spot near some 
 small, dry trees. Using one of his big snow- 
 shoes as a shovel he soon cleared the snow 
 away from the spot. Then with his keen 
 axe he speedily cut down some of the small
 
 Travelling with Dogs in Northern Wilds 255 
 
 trees. Cutting them into suitable lengths, 
 he thus prepared his wood. His flint and 
 steel, in his skilled hand, soon started the 
 fire. So when the rest of the party came 
 up, a roaring fire was ready for the kettles, 
 which were speedily brought into use. The 
 meal was quickly cooked and eaten and the 
 journey once more resumed. Thus on and 
 on we journeyed until the lengthening 
 shadows told the guide that it was about 
 time he began to look out for the camping- 
 place where the night was to be spent. 
 
 The day's march was supposed to end 
 about an hour before the sun went down. 
 This gave ample time in which to prepare the 
 camp and make all the necessary arrange- 
 ments for there spending the night. The 
 two essentials for a good camp were abun- 
 dance of dry wood and a sheltered grove of 
 live spruce or balsam trees. When the 
 guide reached what thus suited his experi- 
 enced eye, the halt was called, and dogs, as 
 well as men, rejoiced at the welcome rest. 
 Yet there was a good deal to be done ere 
 there was any quiet rest. As each train 
 reached the place selected by the guide the 
 first duty of each driver was to unharness 
 his dogs. If he had the misfortune to have
 
 256 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 in hit train any that were difficult to catch, 
 it was his duty to fasten them in some way 
 so that he could get his hands on them in 
 the morning. Some careless drivers would 
 neglect these precautionary measures and 
 then, as a natural result, there would be 
 trouble, with a certain percentage of fun, 
 before he secured his dogs to resume the 
 journey. 
 
 The spot selected for the camp is now 
 carefully prepared. A level place is 
 selected as much protected from the wind 
 as can be found. The big snow-shoes make 
 capital shovels, and so when wielded by the 
 strong arms of these stalwart men, they 
 soon clean out the greater quantity of that 
 snow which was there resting and pile it 
 up in great banks at the rear and on each 
 side of the camp. The camp when thus pre- 
 pared is really a hollow square with great 
 snow banks on three sides. From the 
 fourth side the snow is all thrown away and 
 here the great fire will soon be blazing. To 
 keep this fire burning great quantities of 
 wood will be required. This is the reason 
 why the guide selected this spot for the 
 camp. And now that the snow has been 
 cleared away, the men exchange their snow-
 
 Trarelling with Dogs in Northern Wilds 257 
 
 shoes for sharp axes and, under their vig- 
 ourous strokes, the tall dry trees are being 
 rapidly felled. 
 
 Then they are cut up in lengths of from 
 ten to fifteen feet and dragged or carried, 
 where they can be used as needed. Once 
 the fire is kindled there begins work of a 
 different kind. The sleds are unpacked and 
 while some of us arrange the robes and 
 blankets in the camp, others begin the prep- 
 arations for the supper. Taking the ket- 
 tles from the sleds they fill them with snow. 
 So light and dry is this snow that a large 
 quantity is needed to make an ordinary- 
 sized kettle of water. When abundance of 
 water is thus obtained; the meat is boiled 
 in the larger kettle, while the smaller one 
 is reserved for the tea. 
 
 And now that our supper is being cooked, 
 the dogs are remembered, and their one 
 daily meal is prepared. Each driver brings 
 from his sled eight large white fish. These 
 are all frozen so solidly that it would be 
 wicked to give them to the faithful dogs 
 while in that condition. To thaw them out 
 with such a glorious fire is an easy task; 
 and placing them where the heat will have 
 full play upon them, the thirty-two fish re-
 
 258 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 quired for the sixteen dogs are soon ready. 
 The instant the fish begin frizzling in the 
 heat, the fragrance of the coming supper 
 fairly sets some of the more excitable dogs 
 wild. They are however obliged to wait 
 even if it be a hardship, until their drivers 
 have gathered their trains together and 
 then carefully fed them. Great care, and, 
 at times, a good deal of firmness has to be 
 exercised often backed up with the whip, to 
 keep some of the more greedy dogs, after 
 voraciously bolting their own fish, from 
 cunningly attempting to rob some of the 
 others. 
 
 The dogs having been fed and thus dis- 
 posed of for the night, the next thing is to 
 arrange for our own supper. On the camp- 
 side of the fire a little cloth is spread out, 
 and on it, first thoroughly heated to take 
 the frost out of them, are arranged our 
 metal plates and knives and forks. If we 
 are fortunate enough to have flour at home, 
 we will have with us a quantity of well- 
 cooked heavy cakes, made as nearly as pos- 
 sible of half fat and flour. A number of 
 these are thawed out, for everything here 
 freezable is most decidedly frozen. One In- 
 dian with a sharp-pointed stick, lifts the
 
 Travelling with Dogs in Northern Wilds 259 
 
 large piece of fat meat out of the boiling 
 pot and places it in the hot pan on the cloth 
 on the ground, while another fills the heated 
 tin cups with steaming tea. This is our 
 supper, consisting as we have here described 
 of hot fat cakes, hot fat meat and hot strong 
 tea. 
 
 Don't turn away in disgust, my good 
 friend. You never enjoyed a meal better in 
 your life. And what is more, you would 
 enjoy this one too, if you just had the same 
 glorious surroundings and the marvellous 
 appetite that the open air life in this bra- 
 cing climate gives. It is true that we do 
 have some storms and blizzards and occa- 
 sionally the mercury slips down out of 
 sight, but it is also true that for weeks to- 
 gether the sun shines with wondrous bril- 
 liancy during each short day, and then the 
 nights are more glorious still. So with 
 plenty of robes, splendid dogs, a safe guide 
 and the truest of Indian servants, we know 
 nothing more exhilarating and provocative 
 of the fine appetite, that is ready for any 
 food that is prepared, no matter if the prep- 
 arations be primitive and the cooks only 
 Red Indians.
 
 XVII 
 
 STILL ON THE TRAIL WITH THE DOGS 
 
 THE preparation of the bed in the 
 winter camp and getting ready to 
 occupy it were interesting operations. 
 In the previous chapter we have described 
 the method of piling up the snow out of the 
 selected camp in drifts or banks on three 
 sides. Sometimes when we were not too 
 weary and there was abundance of live 
 spruce or balsam trees near, we would cut 
 some of them down and luxuriously carpet 
 our camp with their branches finely broken 
 up. Generally we were satisfied to leave a 
 few inches of snow on the ground. On this 
 we spread out our robes and blankets. My 
 Indians were capital bed makers, and I 
 never once had to complain of them. 
 Thoroughly and well would they arrange 
 the under robes and blankets, taking great 
 care to remove every stone or stick which, 
 under one's back or ribs, would not invite 
 sleep. 
 
 260
 
 Still on the Trail with the Dogs 261 
 
 Some travellers prefer to sleep in a great 
 fur bag. I tried one for a season, but so 
 disliked it that I discarded it ever after. 
 There was such a sensation of perfect help- 
 lessness when in it, a feeling of powerless- 
 ness if one should be attacked by fire or man 
 or beast. So as I found out that these 
 things bothered me, I returned to the old- 
 fashioned bed and always had more com- 
 fort in it than in any fur bag I ever tried. 
 
 The preparation a person has to make 
 before he can safely get into such a bed is 
 quite elaborate. Anything like disrobing, 
 as is customary in civilization, is there out 
 of the question. The only undressing there 
 permissible, is the unbuttoning of your 
 shirt collar. This makes it a little easier 
 to breathe, and that is an important matter, 
 as you will soon find out. I found it con- 
 ducive to my comfort to change the mocca- 
 sins and stockings in which I had been 
 travelling during the day, for much larger 
 ones at night. My weary feet seemed rested 
 by the change, and I slept much better. On 
 my head I wore a loose cap with large fur 
 ears. A long fur coat was very comfortable, 
 but as such garments are very expensive, we 
 found out that very comfortable and serv-
 
 262 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 iceable attire could be made for us by the 
 native women, out of the warm Hudson's 
 Bay blankets of the country. To these coats 
 as well as to similar garments, were at- 
 tached large warm hoods. These hoods, 
 which are called capotes in that country, 
 are very comfortable not only by day when 
 travelling but when pulled up over the fur 
 cap at night. 
 
 Thus attired I am now ready for bed, and 
 while I have been thus getting ready for re- 
 tiring, my faithful Indians have been pre- 
 paring my bed for me. Every inequality 
 under the robes constituting the bottom has 
 been removed or pounded down. Then 
 blankets are very evenly spread out, and 
 now I am invited : " Please get into bed, 
 and we will cover you up and tuck you in." 
 
 These seemed at the time like words for 
 a little child. But years of experience since 
 have not only shown me the wisdom but 
 also the love that prompted them. 
 
 I get down as well as I can considering 
 how swathed up I am, and as soon as I am 
 in position the men place the coverings over 
 me and, commencing at my feet, proceed 
 with the process of tucking me in. They do
 
 Still on the Trail with the Dogs 263 
 
 it most thoroughly and yet so kindly. No 
 mother ever more carefully and completely 
 tucked up her child in a crib or cradle than 
 do my faithful Indians thus tuck me up in 
 my robes and blankets in this snow, to pro- 
 tect me as much as possible from the bitter 
 cold. As stated, they begin at my feet and 
 gradually working up, they reach my 
 shoulders and then they fold back both the 
 blanket and fur robe over my head, and 
 begin tucking them under my shoulders. 
 
 I had not at first been educated enough 
 in Indian methods to stand that kind of 
 sleeping, and so it was quite the thing for 
 me, after enduring the choking sensation 
 for a very brief period, suddenly to throw 
 everything off from my head and ask them : 
 " Why do you wish to smother me? " 
 
 Patiently would they put up with my in- 
 experience and say: 
 
 " We love you too well to smother you. 
 We know it must be difficult at first for 
 you to sleep in this way, but you will soon 
 be able to stand it, and indeed there is no 
 other safe way." 
 
 No other safe way? Well, if that is the 
 case, I must try again, and so they patiently
 
 264 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 tucked me up again, and I tried once more 
 to learn how to sleep with my head thus 
 completely covered up. 
 
 It was one of the hardest lessons I ever 
 had to learn, and it really took years in its 
 accomplishment. The smothery sensations 
 are at times almost unbearable, and indeed 
 there were times when I could not endure 
 them, and so would run the risk of freezing 
 my face, in spite of the kindly entreaties of 
 my watchful Indians. 
 
 One night I determined with all the will 
 power at command patiently to submit to 
 the tucking-up process, and did really get 
 soundly to sleep. Some time later on I 
 must have partially awakened, and uncon- 
 sciously uncovered my face, for at a stage 
 later I remember finding myself vigour- 
 ously tugging at what in my semi-conscious 
 condition I imagined was the handle of an 
 axe! 
 
 When I really did pull myself into a state 
 of consciousness I made the rather startling 
 discovery that I was trying to pull off my 
 nose, and that it was solidly frozen. I was 
 very conscious of the possession of a nose 
 for the next two months while I was en-
 
 Still on the Trail with the Dogs 265 
 
 deavouring to get it back into its normal 
 condition. 
 
 The Indians generally provided them- 
 selves with large rabbit-skin blankets, each 
 one requiring about a hundred and twenty 
 skins. They were, without exception, the 
 warmest robes of any description, I ever 
 saw. With one of these apiece, my In- 
 dians would sleep with the greatest com- 
 fort throughout the coldest, wildest night 
 in that wild Northland, and spring up, 
 often literally steaming hot in the morning. 
 I tried these snowy-white rabbit robes one 
 winter, but found them so warm that I had 
 to discard them as I sweat so much under 
 them that I was continually catching cold 
 afterwards. 
 
 We were never sorry if a fall of snow 
 came gently down upon us, of, say, a couple 
 of feet in depth. We did not care for its 
 arrival until we were cosily covered up in 
 our beds. Then, however, it was welcome. 
 Gently and warmly it covered us, as a 
 blanket spread over shivering children by 
 a loving mother's hands. 
 
 The fire at our feet was not kept burning 
 all through the night, unless the cold was
 
 266 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 of unusual severity or we were disturbed 
 by prowling, saucy, grey wolves. These 
 disturbances were, however, rare, and as I 
 insisted on my men being well supplied 
 with sufficient blankets, we generally slept 
 undisturbed until the time arrived when we 
 had arranged to resume our journey. 
 
 The getting up was a trying ordeal. We 
 had to spring up from under our blankets, 
 where we had been resting in warmth and 
 comfort, out into that frigid air, where 
 Jack Frost ruled with merciless power. 
 My ! but he did pinch us, and that without 
 pity. 
 
 When we cuddled down to sleep, a great 
 blazing fire was burning at our feet. That 
 very spot is covered over with a couple of 
 feet of snow. 
 
 The outlook is dreary indeed, but there is 
 no time for murmuring, we have been in 
 worse plights than we are this morning and 
 this scene can soon be transformed. And 
 it is. The snow-shoes, again used as 
 shovels, speedily clear away the light, dry 
 snow. Strong arms so energetically ply 
 the axes that an abundance of dry wood is 
 secured, and flint and steel in expert hands 
 do the rest, and once again to gladden our
 
 Still on the Trail with the Dogs 267 
 
 hearts and warm our bodies the great fire 
 is blazing before us. In its warmth, as well 
 as from the active exercise in which we had 
 all been engaged for no one plays dead- 
 head here, we forget our shiverings and are 
 in splendid trim for our breakfast, which 
 is prepared as speedily as possible. 
 
 " What is your bill of fare? " I fancy I 
 hear some good friend asking. 
 
 Well, interested reader, it is exactly the 
 same as it was last night, and what is more 
 it will be the same until the fat cakes give 
 out, and from that on it will be just meat 
 and tea, meat and tea, until the trip is 
 ended or the supplies give out, often the 
 latter. 
 
 After breakfast and prayers, the dogs are 
 captured, not always an easy task, as has 
 already been shown. The sleds are re- 
 loaded and the journey is resumed. This 
 is travelling with dogs and is a correct de- 
 scription of how it was carried on for many 
 years in what were known as the Hudson's 
 Bay Territories. 
 
 Of course there were the variations inci- 
 dent to fierce blizzard storms assailing, or 
 savage wolves attacking, while en route or 
 when sheltered at the camp fire.
 
 268 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 Then there were sometimes long delays. 
 Some were caused by the great cracks or 
 fissures in the vast icefields where, in spite 
 of the fact that the ice was several feet 
 thick, yet so great was the contractive 
 power of the frost that these fissures sud- 
 denly opened, and some were so wide and 
 long that great were the difficulties and 
 long the delays in getting across them. We 
 could sometimes, over the narrow ones, im- 
 provise a bridge out of a long dog sled, but 
 when the cracks were many yards wide and 
 extended each way as far as the eye could 
 reach we found the crossing over no easy 
 matter. 
 
 A raft of ice was the best or, putting it 
 more accurately, the only way possible for 
 us to safely reach the other shore. This raft 
 we made by use of our axes. We selected 
 a spot where there would be the great- 
 est economy in the ice cutting, for at the 
 best place the job before us was a long 
 and laborious one. Then the axes were 
 kept busy and at length a great raft of ice 
 was cut loose and on it we embarked our 
 dogs and sleds, and by various manoeu- 
 vrings we managed to reach the farther 
 shore.
 
 Still on the Trail with the Dogs 269 
 
 We were sometimes also sadly delayed in 
 the forests by the numerous wind-felled 
 trees, which often seemed to be almost insur- 
 mountable barriers to our progress. The 
 axes again were called into service, and it 
 did at times seem as though we were spend- 
 ing half of our time in clearing out a trail 
 along which it was possible for our patient 
 dogs to pull our heavy sleds. 
 
 Thus, with varying fortunes, on and on 
 we plodded, until at length the smoke from 
 the tops of the distant wigwams and the 
 noisy, hostile reception of innumerable In- 
 dian dogs, told us that our long trip by dog- 
 train, for the present, was about ended.
 
 XVIII 
 
 OUR DOGS IN SUMMER TIME 
 
 AS a general thing the dogs have a long 
 holiday during the summer months. 
 There are no roads and consequently 
 no land vehicles. So truly is this the case 
 that among some of the northern tribes the 
 missionaries, in translating such words in 
 the Bible as "carriage," "chariot," or 
 " waggon," found nothing else available 
 than " dog sled." It seemed rather start- 
 ling to hear a brother missionary tell his 
 people, through the interpreter, that when 
 the venerable patriarch Jacob went down to 
 join his son Joseph in Egypt, he made the 
 journey in a dog sled ! 
 
 As the Indians have no work for their 
 dogs in the summer, they never or very 
 seldom feed them. They leave them to for- 
 age for themselves. They are the scaven- 
 gers of the country, and all the sanitation 
 of the land is left in their charge, and well 
 do they do the work. 
 
 270
 
 Our Dogs in Summer Time 27! 
 
 The dogs, however, depend principally 
 upon their cleverness in capturing fish for 
 their food. Some of them are ever haunt- 
 ing the shallow places and bays, and are 
 quick to notice the fins of the great jackfish 
 when they crowd in so near the shore that 
 the shallow water betrays their presence. 
 This is the clever dog's opportunity, and it 
 is interesting to observe how noiselessly 
 they can wade out and endeavour to cap- 
 ture the great fish. We have said " en- 
 deavour" for there are jackfish so large 
 that no single dog can capture one alone. 
 Still the plucky dog will make the attempt 
 and often he returns with fore-legs limping 
 as a result of the powerful blow which the 
 muscular fish gave him as he attempted to 
 seize it. Yet wounded and defeated, he is 
 ever ready to try again. 
 
 The large Huskie dogs can grip and hold 
 in their teeth, jackfish up to ten or twelve 
 pounds weight, but I have never seen a dog 
 able to capture a twenty pound fish, and in 
 those days there were scores of such, and 
 even heavier ones, in every bay. The har- 
 vest time for jackfish is from the latter part 
 of May into July. After that the dogs have 
 to be on the lookout for other varieties of
 
 272 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 fish. In thus hunting for their living, I 
 have known dogs to wander over a hundred 
 miles away from their homes, and to re- 
 main away for weeks. 
 
 Once, when travelling in summer in my 
 canoe, with two Indians, as we paddled 
 around a big bend in a river we saw in the 
 distance what we first thought was a pack 
 of wolves. We quickly paddled back out 
 of sight and got ready our rifle, and loaded 
 the two shot-guns with ball. 
 
 Then cautiously coming on again, the 
 sharp-eyed Indians soon discovered that our 
 imaginary wolves were a pack of Indian 
 dogs. They were industriously fishing in a 
 broad, shallow bay at the river side, and to 
 judge from their sleek, fat bodies they were 
 having a good time. 
 
 We did not disturb them, and they were 
 so intent on their fishing that they hardly 
 gave us passing notice. And of course they 
 were too wise to bark or rather howl at us, 
 as the noise would have disturbed the fish, 
 which was what they did not desire. 
 
 We watched them for some time with 
 much interest, and saw two dogs working 
 together and successfully landing quite a 
 large fish. Sometimes twenty or thirty
 
 Our Dogs in Summer Time 273 
 
 dogs, from several Indian families, will sud- 
 denly disappear shortly after the ice melta 
 in the early summer and will not return 
 until the ice is again forming in the 
 autumn. 
 
 The fun begins when it is seen that some 
 of the mother dogs are followed by litters of 
 puppies, two or three months old. These 
 alert little dogs are as wild as young wolves. 
 Never having seen a human being, they re- 
 sent all attempts at familiarity on the part 
 of the Indians, especially of the boys, and 
 bite most viciously on every side. They act 
 as though they are astonished at their 
 mothers' familiarity with the Indians and 
 whine and cry to return to their usual 
 haunts. It does not take the Indians long 
 to familiarize them with their surroundings 
 and they say that puppies that come in this 
 way make the best of sleigh dogs. 
 
 I never let my dogs run wild like this. 
 Jack and Cuffy were always house dogs, 
 and occasionally one or two others. When 
 I did not need any of my trains for plough- 
 ing they were all sent out on an island in 
 the lake, with an Indian fisherman, who, 
 plentifully supplied with nets, kept them in 
 good condition throughout the summer.
 
 274 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 I did have some work for my dogs after I 
 had been in the country a short time. 
 
 We found that potatoes and other vege- 
 tables grew to perfection in our garden, and 
 that even wheat and other grains, if sown 
 just as soon as the frost left the ground, 
 also ripened perfectly. 
 
 So to help the Indians I secured, after a 
 good deal of trouble, a good plough in the 
 Red Kiver Settlement. I had to- take it 
 in a row-boat four hundred miles to my 
 home. I made a harrow out of birch wood 
 and some iron teeth which I had dragged 
 out on my dog sled with seed grain. 
 
 In the spring I harnessed up six or eight 
 dogs to my plough and without very much 
 trouble I succeeded in ploughing up several 
 small fields and gardens. The Indians had 
 nothing better than strong hoes, and so they 
 were pleased to have me help them prepare 
 their potato patches with the plough. 
 
 After sowing my grain in my own fields, 
 I harnessed my dogs to my harrow and so 
 had all nicely covered. Some seasons I did 
 very well. 
 
 Eight dogs arranged as four teams, 
 dragged the plough along through the soil 
 very well. The trouble was not that they
 
 Our Dogs in Summer Time 275 
 
 were not strong enough. They seemed to 
 consider the whole thing a big joke. They 
 were full of fun, and when started in the 
 furrow considered that it was their duty to 
 get across that field as quickly as possible. 
 
 Woe to the man between the handles of 
 the plough if, when the dogs were strain- 
 ing at their work, he let the point come out 
 of the ground and thus lost his grip on the 
 land. In an instant the dogs were off, and 
 he was indeed a clever ploughman if he was 
 quick and skillful enough to get that plough 
 point in the ground again before the active 
 dogs had jerked him and the plough to the 
 end of the furrow. 
 
 I had a great deal of amusement in try- 
 ing to make ploughmen out of some of the 
 big Indians. Great stalwart hunters that 
 would face a big bear without flinching, 
 with only their knife as a weapon, simply 
 quailed before, or rather behind, that 
 plough. Active and alert as they generally 
 were, its control with eight lively dogs as 
 the motive power was something more than 
 they had been accustomed to, and at first 
 was a puzzle to them. 
 
 They soon, however, mastered it, but it 
 was noticed that new hands at first insisted
 
 276 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 on having a person walk on ahead between 
 the two leading dogs to stop them if any- 
 thing went wrong behind. 
 
 To persons who have not in this or other 
 ways tested the strength of the dogs it is 
 simply marvellous what they are able to do. 
 They seem to have a latent strength, which, 
 when excited they are able to put forth, that 
 is almost incredible except to those who 
 have witnessed it. 
 
 I have had six dogs harnessed to a sled 
 on which rested the end of a great stick of 
 green spruce timber, thirty-six feet long and 
 ten inches square. The trail on which they 
 were dragging that heavy load was any- 
 thing but good, and so it was apparently as 
 much as they could do to move it slowly 
 along. Tongues were out and the steady 
 fellows were all pulling in perfect unison, 
 and it seemed as though it would be cruel 
 to try and urge them to quicken their pace. 
 But while we were loth to do it, there was 
 something else that did it and the burst of 
 speed and strength which followed on the 
 part of the dogs was a revelation to us. 
 
 A beautiful fox looking for rabbits sud- 
 denly took it into his head to come out 
 from the dense forest, and as he crossed
 
 Our Dogs in Summer Time 277 
 
 the trail not a hundred yards in front, he 
 stopped for a minute on a little knoll and 
 saucily yelped out his little defiant barks at 
 the approaching dogs. This was too much 
 for them to stand, and so with a mad rush 
 they were off. Heavy as that timber was, 
 it did not seem so just now to those excited 
 dogs as away they dashed after that saucy 
 fox. Not far, however, did they go before 
 the head of the sleigh struck against a tree 
 with such violence that it was not only com- 
 pletely smashed, but the dogs were jerked 
 back with such force that I was agreeably 
 surprised when I found that no bones were 
 broken. 
 
 In some places, where there were long 
 stretches of open beaches on the shore, dogs 
 w r ere sometimes used with tracking lines to 
 drag the boats along. This was not always 
 much of a success. It, however, afforded 
 some amusement as well as variety to an 
 afternoon's outing in a skiff or canoe, to be 
 thus pulled along by the motive power of 
 four dogs running on the shore, attached to 
 a rope, say, two hundred feet long.
 
 XIX 
 
 CUI BONO? 
 
 IT may well be asked, What were the 
 results of all this dog-travelling? What 
 were the returns for all these hardships 
 and risks, as well as for the considerable ex- 
 pense that must necessarily have been in- 
 curred. 
 
 These trips were not taken in the pursuit 
 of scientific objects, even if missionaries 
 have made rare discoveries, and have added 
 much to the sum total of the world's knowl- 
 edge. They were not taken by mere seekers 
 after the precious metals that nature had 
 hidden away in the remote regions, still un- 
 explored, and yet the news of the existence 
 of some of the finest mines in the world has 
 come through missionaries. These men 
 were not fortune-seekers, for their lot was 
 to live among a people so poor that the 
 richest of them could carry all of their pos- 
 sessions on their backs, with the exception 
 of their dogs. 
 
 Yet judging by the results accomplished, 
 278
 
 Cui Bono? 279 
 
 the transformation wrought in the lives and 
 conduct of the Indians and the security to 
 life and property, and the general content- 
 ment of the people, we see, even if this were 
 all, abundant reason for thankfulness that 
 the people could be reached even by dog- 
 travelling in winter, as well as by canoeing 
 in summer. That there have not for many 
 years been uprisings among the Indians 
 against the whites, as well as inter-tribal 
 wars among themselves, is not altogether 
 owing to the rule of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company, wise and prudent though it was, 
 but it was more owing to the presence and 
 teachings among them of the missionaries 
 of the various churches. 
 
 In studying this question, it must be 
 borne in mind that, as has been stated else- 
 where (but we desire to here emphasize it, 
 as it is so easily overlooked), there are vast 
 regions and many communities of Indians 
 that could not possibly have been reached 
 in any other way than by dog trains. Ere 
 the missionary did reach them, they were 
 living lives degraded and immoral and were 
 the slaves of most depressing superstitions. 
 The Indian is naturally religious in his 
 primitive condition. To him everything is
 
 28o My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 "good" or "bad medicine." The two an- 
 tagonistic forces of good and bad are ever 
 at work and he is the object of love or hate. 
 
 Hence without Divine Kevelation, he 
 feels that, like a leaf blown hither and 
 thither, he is a victim between the two con- 
 tending forces. Hence, he is often in great 
 terror of coming disasters. Until the mis- 
 sions broke the power of the conjurers or 
 medicine men, the great majority of the 
 people lived in constant dread. 
 
 The power and influence for evil, some of 
 these famous conjurers had over the masses 
 of the natives, was almost incredible. They 
 had made the people believe that by their 
 conjuring they could call down all sorts of 
 evils upon them, that they could take away 
 their loved ones or rob them of their health, 
 with a word. They arrogated to themselves 
 power over the game in the forest and the 
 fish in the lakes, could decide which hunter 
 should succeed and which should fail. So 
 deeply had they bound the people down un- 
 der this malignant power that they ruled 
 as despots over them and demanded and re- 
 ceived the best of everything the people 
 possessed. To enforce and retain this su- 
 perstitious power over the people they
 
 I 
 
 
 A MEDICINE MAN.
 
 Cui Bono? 281 
 
 owned the secret of manufacturing most 
 deadly medicines, and they were not slow in 
 using them to terrorize the community by 
 the mysterious death of some one who had 
 been presumptuous enough to question their 
 pretensions. 
 
 This baneful class is now about extinct, 
 thanks to the courage and self-sacrifice of 
 the missionaries, who by canoe and dog- 
 trains travelled to those distant interior 
 regions and by their tact and teachings 
 have lifted the people up from that dark 
 nightmare of fear and dread under which, 
 for generations, they lived. Even some of 
 these once dangerous characters have been 
 transformed into honoured citizens, while 
 those who still cling to the old life have so 
 lost their power that their malisons are now 
 laughed at by the people. 
 
 If it were thought necessary, we could 
 give many individual cases where the trans- 
 formation wrought by the reception of the 
 Gospel brought in among the Indians in 
 this way, has been as marked and delight- 
 ful as is recorded in any missionary annals. 
 
 Some of these red men, who once were 
 bitter opposers of the Glad Tidings thus 
 brought them, have become ministers and
 
 282 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 missionaries to their own people. Others 
 are duly qualified school teachers and now 
 among their own people are doing a grand 
 work in wisely educating the coming gen- 
 eration. 
 
 Many of them, after they had received 
 Christianity, became so anxious to improve 
 their condition that they have exchanged 
 their old methods of depending entirely on 
 the uncertainties of the chase and have ac- 
 cepted from Canada's Government, reserva- 
 tions where they are cultivating the land 
 and, by honest, patient industry, are ma- 
 king a comfortable living for themselves 
 and their children. 
 
 These transformations have not been 
 easily brought about. Long years of per- 
 sistent toil and patient endurance were 
 necessary. Much is required to induce a 
 people to completely change their mode of 
 living. Yet it has been done by many of 
 these Indians, and marvellous indeed is the 
 completeness of the transformation. 
 
 Comfortable houses have taken the place 
 of the old cold wigwams. The garb of civi- 
 lization has supplemented the skin dress of 
 former times and abundance of daily food 
 is now the normal condition of things
 
 Cui Bono? 283 
 
 where formerly it was frequent starvation 
 or something very near to it, followed by a 
 gorge when a reindeer happened to be shot 
 or a bear's den raided. 
 
 The beneficent changes wrought in the 
 beliefs and conduct of the men towards the 
 women, if nothing else had been accom- 
 plished, have been sufficient to repay a 
 thousandfold for all the hardships endured 
 and even for the lives lost in their accom- 
 plishment. 
 
 As in nearly all pagan lands the condition 
 of women was most deplorable. None of 
 the founders of the world's systems of re- 
 ligion, except the Lord Jesus Christ, had 
 anything good to say of woman. Her in- 
 feriority and even that she was soulless was 
 widely taught. 
 
 The great Founder of Christianity taught 
 the great lessons of the equality of the sexes, 
 and by His own loving deeds and words 
 lifted woman to her true position and left 
 His example, as well as His words, to be 
 carried out in all the ages. This duty is 
 one of the missionary's highest joys. And 
 in the acceptance of Christ's teachings by 
 the people to whom the missionary goes, fol- 
 lowed by the speedy uplifting of women, he
 
 284 My Dogs in the Northland 
 
 meets with a recompense that pays him for 
 all his dangers in blizzard storms and in 
 frigid camps, even if the bitter cold has 
 nearly, if not quite, chilled him into that 
 exquisite but delusive delirium which, un- 
 less he be speedily aroused therefrom, is 
 quickly followed by death. 
 
 When first he wends his way with his 
 dog-trains into the pagan regions he finds 
 that although the Indian men are most ad- 
 mirable hunters, yet the shot deer has to be 
 carried home on the back of the mother or 
 wife, while the man, with his gun on his 
 shoulder, stalks on ahead. When the pa- 
 tient woman has skinned and cooked the 
 venison, she has to go and sit apart with 
 the girls and dogs while the men and boys 
 fill themselves with the savoury meat, Then 
 what is left they are allowed to share with 
 the dogs. Often did the men amuse them- 
 selves by throwing the partially picked 
 bones to see them fought for by the dogs 
 and women. In some places in those days 
 it was a sin for a woman to grow old, for 
 then, when her strength departed and she 
 could neither snare rabbits nor catch 
 fish, she was cruelly put to death. But 
 the dog bells on the collars of the dogs
 
 Cui Bono? 285 
 
 of the missionaries have rung in a brighter 
 and a better day in place of those old 
 dark times, which are now almost gone. 
 In many places so true is this that the very 
 remembrance of them is now as a hideous 
 dream or nightmare which they would, if 
 they could, speedily forget. The things 
 they once loved they now hate, and that 
 with such intensity that they are grieved if 
 anyone casually refers to them. 
 
 But why recount more? Surely these 
 marvellous transformations, and the fact 
 that now there are many happy Christian 
 homes with all that this implies, where once 
 even the name itself was unknown, is a suf- 
 ficient return for all that w r as endured on 
 all the coldest, hardest and most painful 
 trips ever made by the missionaries with 
 the dog-trains.
 
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