POWER OF SCENT IN THE REIN-DEER. 167 



The size of the Egyptian cat, our Felis gaute, is less than 

 that of the house cat ; the tail bears the same proportion to 

 the body, and is of the same shape as that of the common cat. 

 We see, in fact, an agreement in the general appearance of 

 the figures of this Egyptian Felis and our Cat, and that there 

 is a permanent difference between the latter and the wild spe- 

 cies of the forests of Europe and Asia." 



POWER OF SCENT IN THE REIN-DEER. 



[Extracted from Capell Brooke's 'Winter in Lapland and Sweden.'J 



" In proceeding along the extensive and endless lakes of Lap- 

 land, if the number of deer be great, a close and lengthened 

 procession is invariably formed ; each deer following the fore- 

 most sledge so closely, that the head of the animal is generally 

 in contact with the shoulders of the driver before. Should the 

 guide alter his direction, by making a bend to the right or left, 

 :he whole of the deer in the rear will continue their course till 

 they arrive at the spot where the turn was made. It thus fre- 

 quently happens, that when the distance between the foremost 

 and hindmost deer is great, on the guide making a bend, con- 

 siderable saving might be obtained by cutting across. This, 

 however, it is scarcely possible to do ; for should the deer even 

 hi pulled by main force out of its former course, it will imme- 

 diately turn aside from the new direction it is placed in, and 

 regain the old track, in spite of all the driver can do to pre- 

 vent it. It is useless to contend with the animal ; and the 

 time thus lost might leave the driver at such a distance from 

 the rest of the party as to render it a matter of some difficulty 

 to overtake them. This unwillingness to separate from its 

 companions is one feature of the instinct given to this animal; 

 and it is the very circumstance that, more than any other, en- 

 sures the safety of the traveller. Should any accident sepa- 

 rate him from the rest of his party, the deer be fatigued, or 

 other occurrences throw him considerably in the rear, if he 

 trust entirely to his deer, it will enable him to overtake the 

 rest, though they should be some miles in advance, from the 

 exquisite olfactory sense it possesses. The animal in this 

 case, holding its head close to the snow, keeps frequently 

 smelling, as a dog would do to scent the footsteps of its mas- 

 ter, and is thus enabled to follow with certainty the track the 

 other deer have gone. Were it not for this property of the 

 animal, travelling across Lapland would be not a little hazard- 

 ous, particularly in those parts where the weather is the dark- 

 est, which is generally while crossing the mountains of Fin- 

 mark. It often happens that the party is unavoidably scat- 



