his hind feet resting upon a cornice.

A howling wilderness is nothing to the noise he made before his
rescue, and he gathered and amused a large crowd with his performance.
He passed the night in the western basement of the hotel, and spoiled
the sleep of a dozen or more persons who lodged near him. When we left
San Francisco, Norcum was residing in the baggage-room at the
Occidental, under special care of the porters, who employed a great
deal of muscle in teaching him that silence was a golden virtue.

The Kamchadale dogs are of the same breed as those used by the
Esquimaux, but are said to possess more strength and endurance. The
best Asiatic dogs are among the Koriaks, near Penjinsk Gulf, the
difference being due to climate and the care taken in breeding them.
Dogs are the sole reliance for winter travel in Kamchatka, and every
resident considers it his duty to own a team. They are driven in odd
numbers, all the way from three to twenty-one. The most intelligent
and best trained dog acts as a leader, the others being harnessed in
pairs. No reins are used, the voice of the driver being sufficient to
guide them.

[Illustration: A KAMCHATKA TEAM.]

Dogs are fed almost entirely upon fish. They receive their rations
daily at sunset, and it is always desirable that each driver should
feed his own team. The day before starting on a journey, the dog
receives a half ration only, and he is kept on this slender diet as
long as the journey lasts. Sometimes when hungry they gnaw their
reindeer skin harnesses, and sometimes they do it as a pastime. Once
formed, the habit is not easy to break. Two kinds of sledges are
used, one for travel and the other for transporting freight. The
former is light and just large enough for one person with a little
baggage. The driver sits with his feet hanging over the side, and
clings to a bow that rises in front. In one hand he holds an
iron-pointed staff, with which he retards the vehicle in descending
hills, or brings it to a halt. A traveling sledge weighs about
twenty-five pounds, but a freight sledge is much heavier.

A good team will travel from forty to sixty miles a day with favorable
roads. Sometimes a hundred a day may be accomplished, but very rarely.
Once an express traveled from Petropavlovsk to Bolcheretsk, a hundred
and twenty-five miles, in twenty-three hours, without change of dogs.

Wolves have an inconvenient fondness for dog meat, and occasionally
attack travelers. A