"They are a very strong people and warlike," the historian of Frobisher's expedition wrote in 1577. "They go in coats made from the skins of beasts. They travel in sledges drawn by dogs, and move from place to place in quest of food." The dogs seen then by the adventurous Englishmen and still used by the natives are sturdy, rough-haired animals, rather like large shaggy collies in appearance. They are very strong and hardy, and are able to drag heavy loads for long distances. Esquimaux sledges were often nearly twelve feet long and had runners made of the jawbones of whales or of pieces of wood strongly lashed together. [Illustration: ICE-BOAT.] Arctic travellers soon found that if they wished to journey far into the Polar regions they must needs adopt native customs, so they bought sledges and either dragged them themselves or hired guides and teams of dogs. It is no easy matter to drive one of these Esquimaux sledges, for the dogs are harnessed in single file and are only controlled by the voice of the driver or by the long flexible whip which he carries. The speed at which a sledge can be drawn depends very much on the condition of the snow, but if it is hard and smooth forty or fifty miles can be covered in a single day. [Illustration: REINDEER AND SLEDGE.] After Sir John Franklin's expedition had disappeared in the unknown Arctic world, many parties set out in search of him. The leader of one of these, Captain Austin, tried a new means of progression, and on one occasion attached sails and large kites to his sledges. This experiment seems to have met with some success, but we do not hear of it being attempted again, although ice-boats are sailed as an amusement during the winter months on the frozen lakes and rivers of Canada and the United States. Snow-shoes are widely used in Canada during the winter. Hunters and trappers make long journeys over the snow in search of fur or visiting their traps. [Illustration: EXPLORERS DRAGGING SLEDGE.] Of late years explorers have turned their attention to the South Pole, and in Antarctic regions not only dogs but small, hardy ponies have been employed. In Lapland, the most northern country of Europe, the natives keep large herds of reindeer, and they use these animals to draw their sledges, which are shaped like boats, being flat at the back and with high-pointed prows. The reindeer are harnessed by leather traces fastened to their collars, and the reins are tied to their horns. The harness is hung with small bells which jingle merrily as the sledge flies across the hard snow. Old writers say that these animals were so swift that they could carry their masters for two hundred miles in a single day. This, of course, is merely a traveller's tale, but they can really go fifty or sixty miles in twenty-four hours. [Illustration: INDIAN TRAPPER ON SNOW-SHOES.]