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Show 236 BASIS OF AMERICAN HISTORY [ 1500 n land, the narrow trail worn by the travellers on foot and in single file was the line of communication from point to point; and south of the arctic the means of transporting goods was on the backs of men and women. v The dog, as the only domesticated animal, gave some assistance. In the open country of the west he was harnessed to two trailing poles, and was thus able to drag loads of seventy- five to one hundred pounds; and when the horse arrived, the same device on a larger scale was employed and the process of moving greatly facilitated. Innumerable inventions were in use to lighten the labor of the human pack- animal. Baskets and receptacles of every kind, frames of various shapes were employed, but, above all, there was the " tump- line," or carrying- strap, which passed around the forehead or chest and supported the burden on the back. Snow- shoes are in use from the Eskimo domain to the latitude of the northern states. The size of the shoe and the fineness of the mesh increase as the temperature rises and the snow becomes softer and less compact. x Among the Eskimo and certain tribes of the far north, where the snow is deep and lasts for many months of the year, sledges drawn by men and dogs are the means of transportation. The runners are of drift- wood or bone, and shod with walrus, ivory, or whalebone; and in order to make them glide still more smoothly, a thin coating of ice is allowed to form. The dog harness is simple but effective, |