Lake-Travel by Dog-Sledge [pp. 31-37]

4APPLETONS' JOURNAL.
crapaud that ye aire, Chocolat! " " Whiskey! ah,
sal-au-prix!" " Whiskey!" " Ah, Coffee! you
will catch it presently!" "Capitaine! Mistatim!"
"Brandy!'cre demon!" Then followed an outburst of profanity, and a hasty, furious shout to the
whole circle, resembling a call for mixed drinks
which has had no equal since the "opening" of the
first bar on the Pacific slope. All this, however,
proved of no avail, and the distracted drivers were
finally forced to leave their warm beds and grasp
their whips, upon which the wretched animals darted
off in agonies of fear.
VII.
THREE hours before dawn we arose and prepared
for departure by eating a fat breakfast and swallowing a great many cups of tea. Then my uncivilized
driver of dogs, who joined the second-sight of a weather-seer to his other accomplishments, took an inventory of the weather, and predicted a storm before
nightfall. However, the morning was as favorable
as one could wish, and, incased in robes and blankets, I slid into the shoe-like sledge and was off, the
central figure of the six sledges and a herd of howling dogs and drivers. The point at which we had
encamped became speedily undistinguishable among
the low line of apparently exactly similar localities
ranging along the low shore. On in the gray snowlight, with a fierce wind sweeping down the long
reaches of the lake; nothing spoken, for such cold
weather makes men silent, morose, and savage.
Lake-travel, though rapid, is exceedingly harassing on account of the high winds which perpetually
sweep over the immense plain of their frozen surface, intensifying even moderate cold to a painful
degree. The ice is always rough, coated with snow
of varying thickness, or drifted into hillocks and
ridges, alternating with spots of glass-like smoothness, which are constantly upsetting the sledges.
And this same upsetting, a trifling matter enough on
shore, is likely to prove a serious annoyance where
the hardness of the ice nearly breaks one's bones.
The same hardness, too, increases the fatigue of
sledge-travel, which at its best may be likened to
sitting on a thin board dragged quickly over a newly-macadamized road. Then, too, the pedestrian on
a frozen lake labors under peculiar disadvantages.
Where the snow lies deeply, the crust gives way at
each step, precipitating the driver to the bottom with
a sudden jar; where it lies thinly on the surface, or
is drifted away, the hardness of the ice injures even
the practised voyageurs, causing swellings of the ankles and soles of the feet, and enlargement of the
lower back'sinews of the legs. Again, the winter
traveler speedily discovers that very slight exercise
induces copious perspiration, which, in the most
momentary halt, gets cold upon the skin; in fact, in
a high wind, the exposed side will appear frozen
over, while the rest of the body is comparatively
warm'and comfortable. Once cold in this way, it is
almost impossible to get warm again without the
heat of fire, or the severest exercise; and, should
the latter be adopted, it must perforce be continued
until a camping-place is reached. Moreover, to a
strong man, there is something humiliating in being
hauled about in a portable bed, like some feeble invalid, while the hardy voyageurs are maintaining
their steady pace from hour to hour, day to day, or
week to week; for fatigue seems with them an unknown word.
VIII.
TOWARD noon there were indications that the
prophetic skill of my heathen driver was about to be
verified. The wind still kept dead against us, and
at times it was impossible to face its terrible keenness. So great was the drift that it obscured the little light afforded by the sun-which was very low in
the heavens-through a cloudy atmosphere. The
dogs began to tire out; the ice cut their feet, and
the white surface was often dotted with the crimson
icicles that fell from their bleeding toes. The four
canines hauling the provision-sled turned back whenever opportunity presented, or faced about and sat
shivering upon their haunches. Under these circumstances the anathemas of the Cree grew fearful
to the ear; for, of all the qualifications requisite to
the successful driving of dogs, none is more necessary than an ability to imprecate freely and with
considerable variety in at least three different languages. But, whatever number of tongues be employed, one is absolutely indispensable to perfection
in the art, and that is French. Whether the construction of that dulcet tongue enables the speaker
to deliver profanity with more bullet-like force and
precision, or to attain a greater degree of intensity
than by other means, I know not; but I do know
that, while curses seem useful adjuncts in any language, curses delivered in French will get a train of
dogs through or over anything. For all dogs in the
North it is the simplest mode of persuasion. If the
dog lies down, curse him until he gets up; if he
turns about in the harness, curse him until he reverts
to his original position; if he looks tired, curse him
until he becomes animated; and, when you grow
weary of cursing him, get another man to continue
the process.
As the education of the Cree, so far as regarded
the French language, had seemingly been conducted
with an eye single to the acquirement of anathemas,
which long practice enabled him to use with such
effect that the dogs instinctively dodged them as if
they had been the sweep of a descending lash, our
speed at first was not materially affected by the attempted haltings of the weary animals. But, as the
storm increased in violence, and the swirl of powdery snow swept in their faces, the dogs turned about
more frequently, and seized every opportunity of
shirking. Then ensued that inhuman thrashing and
varied cursing, that howling of dogs and systematic
brutality of drivers, which make up the romance of
winter-travel, and degrade the driver lower than
the brutes. The perversion of the dog from his true
use to that of a beast of burden is productive of
countless forms of deception and cunning; but a life
of bondage everywhere produces in the slave vices
with which it is unfair to blame him. Dogs are often
stubborn and provoking, and require flogging until
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