Dr. Kane did everything in his power to buoy up their spirits. He was wise enough to know that, if his men had nothing to do, they would become homesick and despairing; so he planned work for all. Some made clothing and boots of the furs and skins they had collected; others made sledges and rope out of hides, or patched up corners of the brig with moss to prevent the cold from entering. Dr. Kane himself trained the dogs for the sledge journeys. He had ten beautiful Newfoundland dogs which he harnessed to a low, light sled called the “Little Willie.” In a short time these gentle, strong, intelligent animals carried Kane on journeys around the ship with ease. He drove them two abreast, in teams of four or six, guiding them entirely by his voice. With the Eskimo dogs, Kane was obliged to use other means. Eskimo dogs are not easily managed. They are near relatives of the wolf, and share the wolf’s nature. They are driven in teams of ten or twelve, and must be guided mainly by the whip. Dr. Kane had to use a whip with a lash six yards long, and a handle only sixteen inches in length. It required a sort of “sleight of hand” movement to swing this long lash and hit the right dog with it. Dr. Kane found this driving very lively exercise. [Illustration: AN ESKIMO DOG TEAM.] Sometimes Kane wanted to travel with a heavier load than the dogs could draw. For this purpose he used a larger sledge, thirteen feet long and four feet wide, upon which he could carry fourteen hundred pounds of baggage. This sledge was called the “Faith,” and nine men were often harnessed to it. Each man wore a shoulder belt or, as it was called, a “rue-raddy.” A walrus-skin trace attached this rue-raddy to the sledge. In this way heavy loads of provisions were drawn over the ice. Kane stored these supplies along the route that he intended to take as soon as the sun should shine again. By thus sending provisions ahead and burying them, Kane hoped to be able to make the journey without fear of starving; for his whole party could never have carried enough at once to last during the time he expected to be gone. On long expeditions where the men were obliged to remain away from the ship all night, each man carried his bed with him. An Arctic bed is a bag made of fur, into which one crawls, covering up all save one’s nose.