REINDEER.
rAF animals whose place in Nature and association with the
needs of man render them especially attractive to the imagination, the camel, the reindeer, and the Esquimciux dog are the most striking examples. The camel has been made the subject of many pens, and of very various treatment ; some of our fondest illusions respecting him have been ruthlessly de- stroyed. The noble dromedary of " Kaloolah " has taken its place, with Sindbad's roc, and the Arab steed of Mrs. Norton's poem, among the delightful creatures that so easily might have been, but are not. It is quite otherwise with the Esquimaux clog ; Vela's' master has not only preserved, but elevated and adorned the legend of that inestimable product of the terrible North ; so that it is with more than the ordinary pain which every tale of cruelty inflicts, that we read in all books of Arctic travel of the savage treatment it receives from men whose life depends upon its endurance and sagacity. With equal certainty we may expect to find in all books of travel in South Africa descriptions of the horrible cruelty with which the drivers of the ox-teams treat the patient drudges that earn the wealth' of the country.
We may read and enjoy M. du Chaillu's account of the Rein- deer without any such drawback. The little people of the Arctic borderlands are not cruel (though strange murder-crazes have occurred in their history), and they do not torture the wonderful animals of which William Hewitt wrote, forty years
ago :— "With thy patience and thy speed ; With thy aid for human need ; With thy gentleness, thy might ; With thy simple appetite ; With thy sure foot, framed to go Over trackless wastes of snow ; More than gold-mines is thy worth, Treasure of the desert North."
There is a charm for the imagination in the solemn dreariness of the landscape in the far-spreading country of the reindeer, where the wanderings and the encampment of the men are regulated by the supply of food for the animals, so that Lapps may be said to live that reindeer may browse ; in the bare, rounded hills, covered with stones wrenched from the rocks by thousands of years of frost, the lakes ; in the rivers, the cascades, the snow-covered pastures, and the scanty birch-trees, without
which even the Lapps could not make out their wandering lives. Where the lichen grows the reindeer herds seek it, and the men must follow them. A great herd of reindeer swimming across a wide river or a fjord must be a fine Bight; also, the sagacious creatures coming to the camp to be milked. The milk of the reindeer forms an important item in the food of the Lapps, and is more nutritious than that of the cow or the ass. Cheese is made in large quantities, but little butter, and that so bad that is is like tallow. The women know all the animals in the largest herds, and miss a straggler at once, when the herd come noise- lessly about the tent, accompanied by hungry dogs, and some lie down, while others eat the moss, using their sharp, handy fore-feet to detach it. When the camp is broken up in summer, trained reindeer carry the baggage, instead of drawing the loads, as they do in winter, and moving is much more difficult. The lading ie a work of skill, and the pack-saddle is a curiosity. It consists of two pieces of wood, rounded so as to fit the shape of the animal, with leather at the ends. This is put on exactly like a horse's saddle, but more forward ; a piece of reindeer-skin or coarse blanket is placed under it, to protect the animal's back; the burdens are then evenly disposed on either side, from eighty to one hundred pounds being the average weight carried by each. The tent-poles are bound together, and drawn along the ground, Some unladen reindeer, to act as reliefs, follow in the rear of the pack animals, who travel in single file, attached to each other by strong leather ropes, made fast to the base of the horns, and led by a guide. Seven is the ordinary number under the charge of one man. The tents—one was exhibited at the Westminster Aquarium a few years ago—are very portable, convenient, and durable ; unlike those of the Nomad Tartars, they are never covered with skins. In summer, the camp will be pitched near a spring or stream of water, in the neighbourhood of dwarf birch and juniper, and not distant from good pasture. About all the pools grows the famous Lapp "shoe grass," and this beneficent product of natnre is gathered in great quantities during the brief summer, and carefully dried for winter use, The Lapps wear the grass in their shoes in winter, because it has the peculiarity of retaining heat ; in summer, because it pro- teas their feet from the stony ground. In the hilly and dee°. late Norwegian regions, above which Sulitelma towers, 6,326 feet high, with its vast glacier, and where, though the mean temperature of the year is about freezing-point, exquisite flowers grow in great profusion over 4,000 feet above sea-level and on the snow-line, many roving Lap- landers and herds of reindeer are to be met with. At 2,000 feet above the snow-line, the lichens, and consequently the reindeer, disappear. In his graphic sketch of Lapland, M. Goblet d'Alviella gives us a lively notion of the mosquito of the Far North ; his memorable narrative of his own miseries includes a pitiable account of the sufferings of the reindeer, -who go plunging along, maddened, blinded, and ,bleeding from the attacks of the humming plagues "that would spoil Para- dise." "Depend upon it," once wrote a tortured traveller, "it 'was not a crumpled rose-leaf that the proverbial malcontent discovered ; it was a mosquito, on the watch inside the curtain, and the legend has been perverted by a libeller of human nature." The terror of the winter camps are wolves ; for them, the small, brave dogs, covered with long, thick hair, and re- sembling Male bears, are always on the watch, and they attack them fearlessly, but with great cunning, "taking care not to be bitten by them, and choosing their time and place to bite." Reindeer bulls will often defend themselves against those enemies, but it is a sore disaster when a pack of wolves gallop into the midst of a herd, for the reindeer scatter in all directions, and the owners have to go long die- tances to find them, and often lose great numbers. When the snow is on the ground, the hardy little men will pursue the wolves on snow-shoes (on these a Lapp can travel 150 miles in a day of 18 hours), easily overtake, and spear, or kill them with clubs ; the wolves cannot escape when the snow is deep. The training of the reindeer—a naturally timid and restless animal—to draw a sledge and carry burdens is a slow and arduous task, but the process involves no ill-treatment. They are given salt and angelica, which, we presume, is rein- decree for beer and skittles. When driving with a guide along the Muonio, very far north, with the mercury 10° below zero, M. du Chaillu came -upon a strange spectacle, literally, reindeer "diggings." Be entered a forest, and found himself iu the midst of a number of holes several feet deep. He floundered through this dangerous place, and entered another forest, where
he came suddenly upon a large herd that had just halted. Strange, indeed, was the appearance of that dark forest, with the multitude of reindeer under the foliage. The snow was not very deep, not over four feet, and under it was buried the rich moss. The number of the animals seemed countless, and all except the young ones were busily digging, first with one fore-foot, then with the other, the holes becoming larger and larger, and the bodies of the reindeer more and more hidden. Wherever he turned his eyes, they were doing the same work ; they were evidently hungry. On his way back he looked for the herd ; none were to be seen. He alighted, and inspected the ground, and then found that they had dug holes so deep that he could see only their tails, which swayed to and fro. The moving of these wonderful animals through deep snow—of course, their hoofs are useless upon ice—must be a sight worth seeing ; though one has to pay a big price for it, packed into the boat- like sleigh, and perfectly helpless as they dash owuwards, charging the great banks of snow at their rushing speed; their hoofs, with long hair growing between them, spreading in the snow as they touch it, and the pace so rapid that there is no time to sink. On a thirty-miles journey, from Mukkavuoma to Helligskoven in Norway, during which he encountered a terrific storm, M. du Chaillu had an opportunity of oliserving the endurance of the reindeer. In ascending the hills they were so exhausted by their struggles with the snow, that they would drop upon it and lie on their backs, apparently in great suffering, then breathe very hard, and be so utterly helpless that a stranger would think they were about to die ; but in a few minutes they would regain their breath, rise to their feet, eat snow, and set off again. The expedition had to go down a narrow ravine, by a very steep and dangerous descent ; it was on the western shed of the mountains and above the tree vegetation, and this was how Peter and Ephraim, two clever Finns, managed it:—
" Numbers of sleighs were lashed together by a long and strong, leather' plaited cord, which was first secured to the forward part of each, then passing along the middle, was made fast, after which it was attached to the next in the same manner, and so on ; and four others were connected with mine. With the exception of the leader, each reindeer was secured to the rear of his sleigh by a leather cord from the base of the horns; almost every sleigh had a deer behind. Each man remained in his vehicle, the distance apart being small. Peter was to take the lead. The spare reindeer were for the first time harnessed, and the tired ones put behind. Peter had to start the whole train, which would go with great velocity ; he rode with his legs outside, turned back somewhat with his feet touching the snow. Every man but me," says M. du C haillu, " seated himself in the same posture, the feet acting as rudder and drag in the snow. I was not allowed to ride in that way, for they said my legs would surely be broken. When everything was ready, Peter looked back and gave the signal, and started his reindeer down the hill in a zigzag course. This required great dexterity, as we flew over the snow with astonishing speed. At times the sleigh would swerve on the declivity, but we went so fast that we were soon out of danger."
How strange a sight—had there been any upon the great waste to see it, that living line—at once rushing and wriggling down the steep snow-field, would have been ; the flying animals, with their red nostrils, tossing horns, and clinking hoofs, and the wary, vigilant men.
The moss tracts, vast as they are, have to be carefully husbanded, for the crop takes from seven to ten years to grow, Year after year will a Lapp family roam over the same tract as their ancestors, all their energies devoted
to the tending and increase of their herds. M. du. Chaillu thinks the reindeer owned by the Nomad and Sea Lapps number about 400,000. In the province of Finmarken alone there are over 65,000. The moving Reason is the beginning of May ; then the herds leave their winter pasture-grounds by the rivers and in the woods, and migrate to the higher lamb; near the fjords. A "moving day" at Kautokeimo is a fine sight, as the great herds muster for their passage over the snow-clad, track- less hills. The newly-born calves are either carried, or put in a sleigh. Reindeer are never housed ; they enjoy the cold and revel in the snow. Food is never given them, and unless they are specially trained to do so, they will not touch moss that has been gathered. When the snow is so deep as to defy their dig. ging, they are almost as ill-off as Irish tenants evicted after a bad harvest ; and the brief spring of Scandinavia tries them-, for the snow melts during the day and a thick crust
forms at night, so that their feet break through, and they suffer from lameness. They are very tame, and yet strangely wild, or rather nervous, and it is bad to startle them. Their speed is greatest in October, November, and December ; a good reindeer in good condition will travel, in good country, 150 miles a day, but eighty is the average. They are kindly creatures, sociable, gentle, affectionate, willing, greatly superior to other cattle in most respects, easily managed in a herd, but they must not be heft by themselves in summer. Their battles are imposing encounters. In those northern regions where "Reindeer, thou art wealth alone," the Laplander could not exist without his antlered providence, for the animal is "his horse, his beast of burden, his food, his clothing, his shoes, and his gloves."
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