M a y ' ant* forms the principal difficulty o f their art. But it is
>— indeed not furprifing, that they ihould labour to be ikilfu
l in a praftice upon w h ich their fafety fo materially depends.
For they fay, that i f the driver ffiould happen to lofe
his flick, the dogs w ill inftantly perceive it; and unlefs their
leader be o f the moft fober and refolute kind, they w ill im mediately
run a-lread fu ll fpeed, and never flop till they are
quite fpent. But as that w ill not be the cafe foon, it generally
happens, that either the carriage is overturned, and
dallied to pieces againft the trees, or they hu rry down fome
precipice, and are all buried in the fnow. T h e accounts
that were given us o f the fpeed o f thefe dogs, and o f their
extraordinary patience o f h u ng er and fatigu e, were fcarcely
credible, i f they had not been fupported by the beft authority.
We were indeed ourfelves witnefies o f the great
expedition with w h ich the melfenger, who had been difpatched
to Bolcheretlk with the news o f our arrival, returned
to the harbour o f St. Peter and St. Paul, though the
fnow was, at this time, exceedingly foft. But I was informed,
by the Commander o f Kamtfchatka, that this jo u r n
ey was generally performed in two days and a h a l f ; and
that he had once received an exprefs from, the latter place in
twenty-three hours.
T h e dogs are fed, during the winter, on the offals o f
dried and S in k in g fiih j but are always deprived o f this mi-
ferable food, a day before they fet out on a journey, and
never fuffered to eat before they reach the end o f it. We
were alfo told, that it was not unufual for them to continue
. thus fa llin g two entire days, in which time they would perform
a journey o f one hundred and twenty miles *. Thefe
dogs
* Extraordinary as this may appear, Krafchininikoff, whofe account o f Kamft-
jghafka,. from every thing that I few, and had an opportunity of comparing it with,
feem&.
dogs are, in ffiape, fomewhat lik e the Pomeranian breed, but ¡779•
confiderably larger. v__
As we did not choofe to truft to our own Ikill, we had
each o f us a man to drive and guide the fledge, w h ich ;
from the ftate the roads were now in, proved a ve ry laborious
bulinefs. For, as the thaw had advanced ve ry confi-
derably in the vallies, through which our road lay, we were
under the neceffity o f k e ep in g along the fides o f the h i l ls ;
and this obliged our guides, who were provided with fnow-
ihoes for that purpofe, to fupport the fledges, on the lower
fide, with their ffioulders, for feveral miles together. I had
a ve ry good-humoured Coffack to attend me, who was,
however, fo ve ry u n ik ilfu l in his bulinefs, that we were
overturned almoft every minute, to the great entertainment
o f the reft o f the company. Our party conilfted, in all, o f
ten fledges. Tha t in w hich Captain Gore was carried, was-
made o f two laffied together, and abundantly provided with
furs and bear-fkins ; it had ten dogs, yoked four abreaft; as
had alfo fome o f thofe that were heavy laden with baggage.
When we had proceeded about fo u r miles, it began to
rain ; which, added to the darknefs o f the n ight, threw us
all into confufion. It was at laft agreed, that we ihould remain,
where w e were, till d a y - ligh t; and accordingly we
came to anchor in the fnow (for I cannot better exprefs the
manner in w hich the fledges were fecured), and wrapping
feems to me to deferve entire credit; and whofe authority TJhall, therefore,.frequently
have recourfe to ; relates inftances of this kind, that are much more furprifing.
Travelling parties,” fays he, “ are often overtaken with dreadful ftorms of fnow*
H on the approach of which, they, drive, with the utmofl precipitation, into the neareji. •
w wood, and there are obliged to itay, till the tempeft, which frequently lafts fix or
“ feven days, is over; *the dogs remaining all this while quiet and” inofFenfive; ex-
c< cept that, fometimes, when preft by hunger, they, will devour their reins, and the
w other leathern parts of the harnefs.”
Hijiory and Defcription of Kamtfchatka, by Krafchininikojff..