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    The Beginnings of Dog-Driving, and its Former and Present Extent 502  
Harness 504  
Methods of attaching Dogs to the Sledge 509  
The Sledge 510
Treatment of the Dog 513  
Various Uses of the Dog 519  
Character and Number of Dogs 520
Efficiency of the Dog  523  

VI. — DOG-BREEDING.

The Beginnings of Dog-Driving, and its Former and Present Extent.-

         No doubt the dog was domesticated long before it was used for driving. According to a tradition recorded by me in the village Itkana, the use of dogs for driving, among the Koryak, began as follows. Once upon a time some children who were playing with a dog tied it to a wooden chamber- vessel (oca'Iyo). The dog dragged the vessel along. "Ah," said the people, "it can draw!" and they hitched the dog to a sled.1 This tradition points to the fact that in the memory of Koryak now living a reminiscence has been preserved of the time when the dog, though already a domesticated animal, was not employed for driving-purposes.2

           According to the statements of early travellers and writers, like Marco Polo and Witsen, dog-driving in western Siberia was formerly employed much farther to the south than it is now. As stated by Witsen, at the time when he wrote (1785) there were no horses in the northern parts of the Yenisei district, but only dogs; and even near Tomsk horses were used in summer for driving, and dogs in winter.3  Later on, the horse supplanted the Siberian driving-dog, and in the extreme north it found its competitor in the Arctic reindeer. In more southerly latitudes the dog has held its place as a driving and draught animal only in the southeastern part of Siberia, in Kamchatka, on Saghalin Island, and in the Amur region. In the well- known expedition to the Yugra country in 1499 the Russian Army was accompanied, according to Lehrberg, by hundreds of dog-sledges.4  The same writer states that in former times dog-driving was in use west of the Ural Mountains in the government of Perm. Middendorf supposes that in Europe the driving-dog was superseded by the horse in antiquity,  probably in prehistoric times. He


1  Steller (p. 133)  quotes  the  tradition   of the   Kamchadal    according   to  which   their  creator Kutka did not hitch up dogs, but dragged the sled himself.

2  It  is interesting  to  note  that in Koryak mythology reindeer-driving as a sign of wealth is contrasted with going afoot as an indication of poverty (see Part 1, pp. 253, 281, 283), but not with dog-driving.    In my judgment, it  cannot  be inferred  from   this  that the  Koryak  dog  was   not   used   for driving until after the reindeer had been tamed. In the first place, the dog is the most ancient  domesticated animal, and, besides, it was very easy to teach to  draw a   sled;   in   the   second   place,   primitive   imagination, as   well  as   the  most   modern,  employs   extreme situations  to enhance trast, unwittingly  or  purposely disregarding intermediate conditions that do not bring out the contrast so well.  In one myth (see  Part 1, p. 210) Big-Grandfather asks his daughters to give him some soup for feeding the dogs.  He goes out and calls the dogs, and the reindeer which have carried off the Fog-Man turn into dogs  and   run back  to  the   trough   with   their   sled.    From  this myth it may be concluded that the creator of the Koryak world is conceived of as having driving-dogs. 

3  See Middendorf, II, p. 520.
4  See Lehrberg,   Untersuchungen zur δlteren Geschichte Russlands: I.Ueber das Yugrische Land (St. Feters-
burg, 1816), p. 17.                                  

  [502]



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JOCHELSON, THE  KORYAK.

the   Eskimo   dog   as   related   to   that   of  Asia.      He   thinks   that   the   dog of northern  North-America has reached there from the Old World.1

         Except   for   its   smaller   stature   (the   average   height   at   the   fore-legs   is between   50   cm.   and   75   cm.)   and   more   varied   color,   the   dog   is,  on the whole    hard   to distinguish from the polar wolf.     Though a considerable per- centage   of  dogs   are  of a uniform  light or dark gray color,  like that of the wolf, many of white color and black color occur;  but particularly numerous are the   piebald   dogs,   with   white  or black spots on their legs, chest, and sides. West of the Stanovoi Ridge more piebald dogs are found than near the coasts of the Sea of Okhotsk.    For instance, along the Indighirka the majority of dogs that I saw were piebald, with white and black spots.    This, in all probability, must be the result of intercrossing of the native dogs with the Tungus hunting- dog,   which   resembles   the   shepherd-dog,   or  with   the dogs imported by the Russians.    This may also explain the fact that on the Lena, among the Yakut dogs,   I   sometimes   saw   specimens   with  drooping ears.     On the other hand, from crossing the driving-dog with the Tungus dog, which is smaller in size, there   results   a  small fox-like type,  with pointed snout, small erect ears, and bushy   tail.     Such   dogs I  met frequently on the Kolyma River.    They very much resemble foxes, especially those with reddish fur.     When in good humor, they   turn their bushy tail upward; but when tired  or disgruntled,  they drop it  and   drag   it,   as   foxes   do.     Then   the   round   pupils   of  the   eyes   alone distinguish this dog from a fox.

         The present method of driving dogs employed by the Koryak is identical with that used by the Russians and natives of eastern Siberia, and particularly also with that used by the Chukchee, which has been described in detail by Bogoras.2  Therefore I shall point out here only a few peculiar traits of dog- breeding among the Koryak, and its relation to their domestic economy. I shall also give some additional information relating to the distribution and types of dog-breeding in Siberia.

         Harness. — To the three types of dog-harness mentioned by Bogoras, two others may be added, — the modern Gilyak and the ancient Kamchadal type.     Thus we find  the  following  five  types:  —

1. The West Siberian Harness. — It consists of a round strap encir- cling the dog's body like a belt across abdomen and back (Fig. 65). From the lower part of the belt, where the ends of the belt-strap are joined by means of a toggle, a trace runs between the hind-legs of the dog. Around this trace is wound some soft material, usually a piece of fur, to protect the legs of the animal. Thus the dogs are made to pull with their haunches. In describing the West Siberian dog-harness, Middendorf says that a small strap runs from the upper part of the harness, over the loins, to the main line, to 


1   See Schrenck, II, p. 167.

2   See Bogoras, The Chukchee, Vol. VII of this series pp. 98—114.



506 

JOCHELSON, THE  KORYAK.

but often the band across the back is too short, or in driving the breast-piece of the harness slides upward, despite the belly-band, and the breast-piece comes to rest above the chest, so that the dog pulls with its neck, thus making  breathing   difficult.      This   is the  principal inconvenience  of this type of harness.

3. The   Eskimo   Harness.  —  Murdoch1  describes this harness  (Fig.   67)

as follows: "The dog-harness consists of a broad strip with three parallel loops at one end. The head is passed through the middle loop, and a fore-leg through each of the side-loops, bringing the main part of the thong over the back." In a similar way Parry 2  and Nelson 3  describe the Eskimo dog-harness. The dog-harness of the Central Eskimo is constructed on the same principle. "It consists of two bights passing under the fore-legs. They are joined by two straps, one passing over the breast, the other over the neck. The ends are tied together on the back, whence the trace runs to the sledge."4 From these descriptions it is clear that   the   Eskimo   dog   pulls   partly   with its

shoulders, but mainly with its chest. Furthermore, the breast-bight or breast- piece cannot slip up, as is the case with the East Siberian dog-harness, and therein lies the advantage of the Eskimo dog-harness over all the others. The Asiatic Eskimo seem to use a dog-harness similar to that of the Central Eskimo; but in the illustration of the dog-harness of the Asiatic Eskimo, given by Mr. Bogoras,5  the breast-strap joining the two bights for the fore- legs is not seen, so that it appears that the dog pulls with the shoulders only. 

         4. The Amur Harness. — This type of harness (Fig. 68) is very simple and primitive, consisting as it does of only one loop,  which is put over the dog's head, in the form of a loose collar, so that the dog pulls with its neck exclusively.6 In this respect the Amur harness differs, disadvantageously, from all others. Under great exertion or excitement, says Schrenck, 7   the dog is easily   subject   to   suffocation.      This   dog-harness   is   used   by   the   Ainu   on


1   The Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 538.                                 2   See Parry, II, p. 517.

3      Nelson, The Eskimo about Bering Strait, p. 209.

4  See Boas, The Central Eskimo, p. 531, and Fig. 4S7 on p. 532.

5  See Bogoras, The Ghukchee, Vol. VII of this series, Fig. 20, b, p. 98.

6  See   Schrenck,  II, pp. 172, 173, Plate XXXVI, Figs. 2, 3.   Stemberg (American Anthropologist, S., 1905,  ol. VII,  p. 324)  has pointed out the error into which Bogoras has fallen (owing to the indistinctness of  several of Schrenck's  illustrations) by   classing  the Gilyak harness with the modern type of Kamchadal harness (Bogoras, The  Chukchee, Vol. VII of this series p. 109).
7 
 Schrenck, II, p. 173.



508

 JOCHELSON, THE  KORYAK.

invention of the harness described here as the East Siberian type, which is used at present by the Koryak, belong? We do not know the type of harness used in olden times by the Koryak and Chukchee. It is likewise unknown what type was used by the Yukaghir who lived between the Lena and the Kolyma Rivers. I am inclined to think that the primary East Siberian dog-harness i. e., that of the native dog-breeders of East Siberia — consisted of one single bight like that of the Gilyak or Kamchadal, but that the  Russian immigrants changed it by adding to the single bight back-bands

and a belly-band, and that the natives afterwards adopted from the Russians the harness modified in that way. The following considerations support this hypothesis.

         The East Siberian dog-harness, with its cross back-straps and belly-band, recalls as I stated before, the back-straps and belly-band employed in the Russian horse-harness;1  the Kamchadal have adopted the East Siberian harness from the Russians; and the Russians, not only all over eastern Siberia, but even on the Amur River,2 employ this harness, evidently imported by them, and not that of Gilyak type. That the Yakut, according to Middendorf's statement, called the East Siberian type the Yakut harness, does not at all argue that it was actually invented by the Yakut, the northern branch of whom became dog-breeders very late. Their word for "dog-harness" (a'lyk) 3 is not a Yakut word, but the Russians of various Siberian localities designate the dog-harness by this term.

         I think that the Eskimo harness too, with three bights, is an improved type developed from the single-bight harness. The latter can be easily cast off by the dog, or it slipps off 4 — a great inconvenience — in driving over wodurch sie  die  grφsste  Zugkraft  entwickeln   kφnnen"  (see   Dittmar   Reisen in Kamtschatka in den Jahren 1851— 1855, p. 161).


1   It is interesting to add here that the West European dog-harness for pulling carts is of the East Siberian type; i.e., the type is, as I suppose, of Russian origin. The only difference between the West European and the East Siberian dog-harness lies in their back parts. While the East Siberian dog-harness ends with one trace, which is fastened to the main line, the West European dog-harness ends in two traces, — one on each side, — which are fastened to the ends of a whiffletree, as in a double horse-harness. The shape of the back part, and the manner of attachment to the main line, are another inconvenience of the East Siberian dog-harness; for the dog must run somewhat  obliquely in order to draw with the chest, and this fatigues the dog extremely.

2  See Schrenck, II, p. 173,

3  See Footnote 2, p. 505, alygga' = alyk + ga; -ga is the possessive suffix.

4   It may be  noted   here,  that, according  to Dittmar's description, the former Kamchadal single looped dog- harness was also prevented from slipping off by fastening the breast-piece to the dog-collar (see p. 507, Footnote 3).


Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. VI.                                                                         Plate  XXVI

Dog-Sledges.

The Koryak.



510 

JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

run   directly   to   the fore-part of the sled.     The line of one dog (the leader), being  somewhat longer, enables it to keep ahead; while the others, in running. are   arranged   like   a   fan.     According to  Bogoras,1  this method of harnessing was still  in use on the Chukchee  Peninsula in  the middle of the last century. On   the   other   hand,   the   Eskimo   about   Bering Strait now  employ both the Asiatic   and  the American  methods of harnessing;  i.e.,  tandem  and  fan-like,2 having   evidently   adopted   the   former   method   from the Chukchee,  or rather from the  Russians in  Alaska.     At Point Barrow the Eskimo, too, now employ the Asiatic method of harnessing.     As Murdoch 3   states, "the dogs are attached in   a   long   line,   alternately   on   opposite sides of this trace, just so  far apart that   one   dog   cannot   reach   his   leader   when both are pulling;" i.e.,  as the dogs  are   attached   by   the  Yukaghir of the Upper Kolyma, the Gilyak, and in many cases by the Koryak.    The Eskimo about Bering Strait, in employing the   tandem   method,   attach   single   dogs   alternately,   or in pairs if there are more than three dogs.1

         The Sledge. — The sledge now employed by the Koryak for dog-driving is of the same type as that in use in the whole of northeastern Siberia, but chiefly among the Russians. This sledge, with its three or four pairs of vertical stanchions, with a horizontal front bow tied to the upturned runners, and with a vertical bow at the first pair of stanchions and a netting of thongs on the sides and in the back, is also in use among the modern Chukchee, and has been described in detail by Bogoras.4  We do not know now what was the original type of the Koryak dog-sledge, but doubtless it was not the sledge above described. The ancient Chukchee dog-sledge had "curved ribs, similar to the reindeer-sledge."5   The ancient dog-sledge of the Kamchadal 6 also had curved ribs. Accordingly there is no ground for assuming that the Russians adopted from the Koryak the above-described type of sledge with vertical bow. In Steller's time there were already in use in Kamchatka two types of sledges; 7 namely, the ancient Kamchadal sledge with curved ribs, and the present narta imported by the Russians. As with the dog-harness, so also with the East Siberian dog-sledge, I think that in its fundamental form it is a type of dog-sledge of some native tribe, most likely the dog- breeding Yukaghir, with whom the Russians fell in on the rivers Yana, Indighirka, and Kolyma,  far back in the first half of the seventeenth century.8


1  See Bogoras, The Chukchee, Vol VII of this series, p. 98.

2  See Nelson, The Eskimo about Bering Strait, p. 209.

3  See Murdoch, The Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 358.

4  See  Bogoras, The  Chukchee,  Vol.  VII of this series, Fig. 21, pp. 104—106.    It should be added, however, that  our information  concerning  the method of harnessing and dog-driving of the Maritime Chukchee of the Arctic Ocean between Cape Erri and East Cape is as yet incomplete.

5  See Bogoras, The Chukchee, Vol. VII of this series, p. 99.

6  See  Steller, p. 370; Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 78; Bogoras, The Chukchee, Vol. VII of this series, p. 93.

7  See Steller, p. 370.

8  The  Cossacks  founded   the  town  Verkhoyansk   on the  Yana River, and reached  the Indighirka as early as. 1099.    Since then the Russians have been improving the local means of transportation.



512 

JOCHELSON, THE  KORYAK.

back  of  the   sledge,   to  prevent the  dogs,  which are not directed by shouts, from losing the trail, and to stop them whenever they might try to run away.

         The Russian immigrants, although they have improved the local sledge, and have adapted it and the whole method of dog-driving to the new requirements of transportation, have nevertheless kept every feature required by local conditions. Thus the narrowness of the sledge has been preserved, which is necessary on account of the absence of roads, and the lashings by means of which all parts are held together. These give the sledge not only strenoth, but also elasticity, which enable it to resist the jolts that would break a sled joined with wooden pegs or iron  nails.

         In Whymper's book "Travels in Alaska,"1 we find an account of Russian- Indian dog-driving on the Yukon River. It is to be regretted that it contains no detailed description of the sledge and harness; but it states that five dogs were harnessed to each sledge, that the sledges carried freight only, and that the men went on snowshoes. To judge from the illustrations, as far as they can be made out, the sledges were constructed somewhat like the East Siberian type. They had neither vertical nor front bow. The dog-harness, too, is apparently like that of eastern Siberia. The dogs are placed abreast, after the manner of the Eskimo.-

          We have already seen that where there are few dogs in a team, the men usually walk, or even help draw the sledge. The manner in which the driver sits on the sledge varies in different regions. All the tribes using the sledge of the East Siberian Russians sit sideways on the right-hand side near the vertical bow, which is held with the left hand, while the shaft of the brake is held with the right. Thus the driver, without letting go of the bow, often jumps off the sledge and runs along, urging the dogs on with a shout, supporting the sledge on slopes, or pulling it aside from stumps, hillocks, and other obstacles on the trail. This sledge is also convenient for carrying passengers who sit in the back part of the sledge, their feet stret- ched forward, or who lie stretched full length under a blanket. The Gilyak sit astride of their light sledges, which have no bow, and are peculiar in that their runners turn upward both front and rear.3 The dogs' labor is lightened by decreasing the surface of friction; but, on the other hand, the sledge sinks more easily into soft snow. Bogoras says that the driver of the ancient Kamchadal sledge sat astride it; 4  while Krasheninnikoff, in whose day the Kamchadal still employed the ancient type of sledge, says, "They sit on the sledge   with   their   feet   hanging   down   its   right   side;   and  to sit astride the 


1 See Whyraper, Alaska, Reisen und Erlebnisse; illustrations on p.  188 and on titlepage.

2     The photograph of a sledge of the Alaskan Eskimo from St. Michael in Nelson's work (Plate lxxv) strongly
resembles the illustration on the titlepage of Whymper's book.

3 See   Schrenck, II,  Plate XXXVI,  Fig. I ;  Sternberg,  The  Gilyak  (Ethnographical  Survey   [Moscou,  1904], Part I, p. 19).

4  Bogoras, The Chukchee, Vol. VII of this series, p.  100.


Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. VI.                                                  Plate  XXVII.

Fig. i.    Feeding of Dogs

Fig. 2.    Fishing with Hand-Net.

The Koryak.



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JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

the feeding. No sooner, however, does a dog from another household approach the trough, than all will set upon it. A newly acquired dog is brought to the trough and watched, lest the other dogs attack it. After two or three days the pack recognize the new dog's right to come to the trough. A similar protection must be extended by the Maritime Koryak to a newly acquired dog that is for the first time put into a team.

         As far as I know, among all the Asiatic tribes using the dog, only the Gilyak feed the dogs indoors. For this purpose a high platform is erected in the middle of the house, the trough with the feed is placed on it, and the dogs are taken there.1  The Koryak, Chukchee, Kamchadal, Yukaghir, nor- thern Yakut, and coast Tungus feed the dogs out of doors. The Eskimo do not let the dogs into the house, but they lie in the entrance leading into the winter house. Murdoch says that the Eskimo women take care of the puppies as if they were babes, and carry them in their coats.2 Among the Central Eskimo, "young dogs are carefully nursed, and in winter they are even allowed to lie on the couch, or are hung up over the lamp in a piece of skin."3

Care of the Dog. — Among all dog-breeders, — excepting the nor- thern Yakut, who only lately reached the polar regions, where they took to dog-driving, — dogs are believed to play a certain part in the world of the dead. The Yukaghir, Koryak, Chukchee, and Kamchadal believe that dogs guard the entrance to the country of the shades.4  They must be bribed by the entering shadows. They give a very ugly reception to the dead who while alive tortured dogs. These ideas are not foreign to the Gilyak, Aleut, and Eskimo. We find an entirely different attitude towards the dog among the Yakut, who originally did not breed dogs. They consider the dog an unclean animal. The shaman whose protecting spirit appears in the form of a dog is deemed bad. While even horses and cattle possess souls (kut), the dog has none. Accordingly it is not fit for sacrifice to evil spirits. The Yakut were offended when I took my dog along into the house, especially when I placed it near me in the front corner, the place accorded to guests of honor. The dog, a Yakut told me, brings into the house the evil spirits (abasy') that sit by tens on the point of the dog's tail. Hence I never saw a Yakut fondling a dog. He treats the dog with great cruelty. Among true dog- breeders we meet with a different attitude towards the dog. The Koryak often fondle them, and in caring for them, both at home and on journeys, oftener try to train them   by- caresses and kind words than by the stick. The Yukaghir of the Upper Kolyma, and also the  Maritime Koryak, build on the side of the house rather


1   See Schrenck, II, p.  168; Sternberg, The Gilyak (The Ethnographical Review, Bulletin of the Ethnographic
Section of the Society of Friends of Natural History, Anthropology and Ethnography [Moscow,  1904], 1, p. 18).
2  
See Murdoch, p. 358.

3      See Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 538.

4      See Part I, p.  110.



516 

JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

to a sledge along with trained dogs, and driven over a short distance, and then put back into the ditch."   Thus they were often taken out of the hole to be trained for driving. Only after they had gone a long journey, and after they had become accustomed to being harnessed to a sledge every time they were taken out of their hole, were they tied to the posts under the storehouses with the older dogs. The Koryak also begin to break pups when they are six months old. They are first kept tied to a line. Being used to running about free, they are impatient when tied up. They howl and whine, and are overjoyed when hitched to the sledge. Most of the puppies display such eagerness to run, that they are driven a short distance only to prevent over-exertion.

         Pups born in spring or summer are put in harness with the coming of winter; but those born in autumn or winter are not trained for driving until the end of winter or spring, and are not used for driving until the following autumn.

         According to Schrenck,1  the Gilyak do not use female dogs in harness; but all other dog-breeders of East Siberia with whom I came into personal contact, between the Lena River and Bering Sea, prize draught-bitches very highly. They are weaker than the males, but they surpass the latter in zeal, and perform their tasks more earnestly and diligently. Sluts, in addition, often exhibit more aptitude to act as "leaders" than do the males. Often a bitch is placed among the front pairs to induce the ungelded males to try to reach her and thus pull their lines well. No special care is given to pregnant sluts. They are usually harnessed up to the moment of delivery; but very often the women watch over them, and do not allow them to be hitched up. Should a slut deliver her pups during a journey, far from human habitations, the young ones are doomed to perish. One night when in camp on the snow, on our way from the coast village Kamenskoye to the Reindeer Koryak of the Palpal Ridge, a slut of one of the drivers who carried my freight was delivered of pups at night while in harness. It was bitter cold and windy. The slut burrowed in the snow, and, shivering with cold, lay over her young in the hole she had made. In the morning, when we had sipped our tea by the campfire and began to prepare for the journey, the cruel master took the slut off from her puppies and harnessed her with the other dogs to his sledge. The puppies remained in the icy hole: the snow, which melted from the heat of the slut and her pups, froze. Two of the pups had died from the cold, while the remaining two were yet moving, but soon froze to death. The wretched slut lagged for a time behind the other dogs, but soon began to keep pace with them.

         If  a   dog   becomes  so  ill  on  a journey that it can  no longer run,  it is


1  See Schrenck, II, p.  167.



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JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

the shedding of hair begins late and proceeds slowly.     Only late in summer, in   July or even in  August,  does the  dog  cast off the last spears of the  old, dirty, and faded hair.     A fat dog begins to shed hair as early as  April, and is covered with new  hair in June.     Pups born  in autumn  also shed their hair late;   while those born  in spring,  or even  at the end  of winter,  do not shed hair   at   all  during their first summer.     In autumn all dogs are covered with thick,   long,   soft,  and glossy hair.     In  winter the hair of the fur grows long and  stiff; but the fine downy fur, which is the dog's chief protection against cold   and   winds,   becomes   hicker.     In autumn the color of the fur becomes darker,   but in dogs of light color it grows  whiter.     During winter the dog's fur fades; and by spring-time the dark colors become reddish or gray, while the light colors take on a yellowish tinge.

         When the rivers freeze over and the ground is covered with snow, the dogs are caught and tied to the posts on which the storehouse rests. At the end of summer the dogs that during the summer had undertaken long hunting-excursions return of their own accord to their master's dwelling. During the first days they are fed very little, that they may lose fat. If a long journey is contemplated, they are not fed at all for two or three days. While travelling, they receive only dry food, which makes them light of foot. They are fed in the evening when the camp is made. Each dog usually gets a dry skeleton of a dog-salmon. Further, in the day-time, during rests on the journey, pieces of dried fish are thrown to the dogs. When at home, soup is cooked for them after they have rested. The feeding with soup described before usually takes place in the afternoon, towards evening. On the journey, when dry food only is given them, the dogs often eat snow to quench their thirst. A short time after the beginning of winter the dogs that are quiet and not given to pilfering are left at liberty. Only on the eve of a journey are they tied up, in order to economize their strength, so that they may be swift and enduring on the next day; but the dogs that eat straps, spoil leather wallets and clothes (which, however, all dogs do during times of starvation), and steal provisions, are kept tied up throughout the winter. To prevent the dogs from chewing the straps with which they are tied up, sticks about half a metre long, with holes at both ends, are used. Through these holes short straps are passed, whereby one end of the stick is tied to the dog-collar, while the other and longer strap is attached to the post or to a taut line running from post to post at a height twice or three times that of the dog. The dog can with its teeth get at the stick only, which does not interfere very much with its motions, and does not prevent it from lying  down. These  sticks are going out of use,  and are replaced by imported iron chains.

         It  is   believed   that   a   strong   occipital   protuberance   of a  dog indicates strength   and   zeal.      Besides   this,   draught-dogs   of  slow   gait,   and   dogs for fast   driving,   are   distinguished by their appearance.     The former are said  to



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JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

idea of a sacrifice1  includes the conception  that the deity or spirit will  make the   same   use   of  the   offering  or of its soul as does the  person offering the sacrifice.     Even   the   many   colored   rags   or  other trifles which the Siberians and   also   other   tribes offer to the deities or spirits are given to them either as   ornaments   or   as   other   utilities or as substitutes for costlier things.    The Chukchee   kill   dogs   for  food,   but   they   do   not   eat   sacrificial   dogs,   says Bogoras.2    This   last   statement   is not in accord  with the fact that in general the Chukchee do eat dog-meat,  for the  flesh  of those sacrificial animals which are   commonly   used   for   food   is   usually   eaten.     Among   the   Koryak I  saw the carcasses of sacrificed  dogs skinned and  cast out on  the tundra.3    In this case it must be assumed that the dog is sacrificed as a draught-animal or for the  sake   of its fur,   as   the Siberian natives hang on trees the skins of fur- bearing  animals,   which   serve   as. offerings to evil spirits, while the carcasses are thrown away.    Among the Yakut, the favorite offering to those divinities and spirits to whom no bloody sacrifices are offered, is hair from the horse's tail   or   mane.     In   this   case   the   hair   cannot   be  a substitute for the horse, but   must   have the   significance   of an   object   which   is   valuable in itself in Yakut domestic economy, nets,  cords, and rugs being knitted of horsehair.

         Character and Number of Dogs. — The Koryak dog is useless as a watch-dog. In the first place, it is afraid of man, and runs away even at the motion of a hand. It hardly barks at all,4 and thus does not warn its master of danger. Three times I took Arctic dogs, that I had reared myself, to civilized regions. One of them I took as far as Yakutsk, the other two I carried to European Russia. Despite certain changes in their character owing to my method  of rearing,  they  showed  no  hostility to strangers.6

         It is curious that when in harness the dog's character seems to change completely. In nearly all books of Arctic travels are found descriptions of the passionate excitement to which this tamed beast of prey is roused at the moment of starting on a journey. While travelling, the dogs not only attack other dogs, but even men whom they encounter. To meet a team of dogs rushing along is fraught with great danger for a person travelling on foot, who is obliged to turn off the trail. On meeting another team, the dogs engage in a fierce fight if one of the drivers does not turn aside.     Should harnessed


1  The sacrifice of the totem animal or the divinity itself — made, according to the views held by some recent writers, in order to renew nature —  must be excepted from this statement.

2  Bogoras, The Chukchee, Vol. VII of this series, p.  101.

3  See Part I, p. 95.

4  Some dogs do not bark at all, and are as silent as if they were dumb. Those that bark do so rarely. Their bark is a drawl, and turns into a whine.

5  Living far away from Yakutsk, I kept a horse of my own for travelling. My dog grew so attached to it that it would always lie down near it. One night when two Tatars from the Kazan Government who had been banished to the Yakutsk district for highway robbery, and who were my neighbors, stole the horse, the dog followed it in silence. The Tatars took the horse into the woods and there tied it up, intending to kill it for its meat the same evening; but, following the tracks of dog and horse, I found them and took them back home.



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Families that have poor or young workers, and who cannot lay by suffi- cient stores of dog's food for the winter, usually own few dogs. The members of such families are deprived of the chance of making trips to the  ussian hamlets to buy imported wares, or to the nomad camps of the Reindeer Koryak to trade for reindeer-meat.

          Nearly all the men who own as many as twenty dogs, — enough for two teams at the rate of ten dogs per sledge — either conduct an independent trade or are employed as clerks by the Russian merchants. Almost all through the winter the senior member of such a family is journeying from one reindeer-camp to another; while at home only a few dogs remain for work around the house, for trips to get wood, for hauling supplies of food from the summer camp, and for other exigencies. The smiths of Paren and Kuel, too, own not less than ten dogs each, which enable them to carry their iron-work among the Reindeer Koryak for barter. I found the best dogs among   the   Itkana   people.1     Their settlements lie off the main trail,  running


  1  Around Bering Sea the best dogs are to be found on the Poqac (see Bogoras, The Chukchee,  Vol. VII of this series, p.  102).



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or hummocky ice, driving, even with good dogs, is considerably slower, because the sledge sinks into the snow, or on account of the necessity of clearing obstacles.

         The value of an ordinary Koryak dog ranges from 8 to 12 rubles. A "leader" costs 15 rubles. A particularly bright "leader" costs from 20 to 25  rubles.

         The   fee for carrying freight is usually   I   ruble per pud  (36  pounds)  for 100 versts (66 miles); but merchants pay less, particularly to Koryak drivers, 2.50 rubles or  2  rubles for a whole sledge-load  of 5  pud.

         A passenger-sledge (counting, of course, a single passenger only) costs 3 kopeks per verst, or 3 rubles per 100 versts, at the mail-carrier's rate, which has been established by the government. I usually paid 10 rubles per driving-sledge for such distances as Paren-Gishiga or Paren- Kamenskoye, approximately 150 and 200 versts (100 and 132 miles); but for long distances, without relay of dogs, the fee is lower. Thus from Gishiginsk to Anadyr (a distance of some 800 versts, or 530 miles) a sledge for a trip one way costs 25  rubles.