The komatik or sledge used in dog travel is from ten to fourteen feet
in length, though in the far north I have seen them a full eighteen
feet long. In the extreme north of Labrador, where the largest ones
are found, they are but sixteen inches wide. Further south, in the
region where the mission hospitals are situated, from ten to twelve
feet is the usual length and about two feet the breadth.
In Alaska and the Northwest dogs are harnessed tandem, that is one in
front of another in a straight line. This is a white man's method, and
a fine method too when driving through timbered regions.
But in Labrador dog travel is usually on the naked coast and seldom in
timbered country, and here the old Eskimo method is used. Each dog has
its individual trace, which is fastened to the end of a single line
of walrus skin leading from the komatik and called the bridle. The
leading dog, which is especially trained to answer the driver's
direction, has the longest trace, the next two dogs nearer the komatik
shorter ones, the next two still shorter, and so on. Thus, when they
travel the leader is in advance with the pack spread out behind him on
either side, fan-shaped.
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