not traveled a dozen miles before he had made a thorough study of the
reindeer equipment. This, indeed, was simple enough, but the simpler
one's equipment, the more thorough must be one's knowledge of its
handling. The harness of the deer was made of split walrus skin and
wood. Simple wooden hames, cut to fit the shoulders of the deer and tied
together with a leather thong, took the place of both collar and hames
of other harnesses. From the bottom of these hames ran a broad strap of
leather. This, passing between both the fore and hind legs of the deer,
was fastened to the sled. A second broad strap was passed around the
deer's body directly behind the fore legs. This held the pulling strap
above the ground to prevent the reindeer from stepping over his trace.
In travel, in spite of this precaution, the deer did often step over the
trace. In such cases, the driver had but to seize the draw strap and
give it a quick pull, sending the sled close to the deer's heels. This
gave the draw straps slack and the deer stepped over the trace again to
his proper place.

The sleds were made of a good quality of hard wood procured from the
river forests or from the Russians, and fitted with shoes of steel or of
walrus ivory cut in thin strips. The sleds were built short, broad and
low. This prevented many a spill, for as Johnny soon learned, the
reindeer is a cross between a burro and an ox in his disposition, and,
once he has scented a rich bed of mosses and lichens, on which he feeds,
he takes on the strength and speed of an ox stampeding for a water hole
in the desert, and the stubbornness of a burro drawn away from his
favorite thistle.

The deer were driven by a single leather strap; the old, old jerk strap
of the days of ox teams. Johnny had demanded at once the privilege of
driving but he had made a sorry mess of it. He had jerked the strap to