KEINDEER TN ALASKA. 617 



The Chukchos deer cost in Siberia about |4 a head for a full-g-rown 

 doe or buH. The fawus Irorii in Alaska are larovr and heavier than 

 the parent stock. The Tunu-use deer cost nearl}^ $7.50 apiece. By 

 the addition of the Tuno-u.se breed it is hoped tliat the Ahiska stock 

 will be improved and toughened. 



The reindeer cow gives about one teacupf ul of ver}- rich milk, nearly 

 as thick as the best cream, and making delicious cheese. Mixed with 

 a little water, the milk forms a refreshing drink. The Sil)erians and 

 Laplanders save the blood of slaughtered deer and serve it in powdeivd 

 form. From the sinews tcnig-h thread is obtained. 



keini)p:er ExrKP:ss. 



The Alaskan reindeer can hai;dly eiiual the speed of the Lapland 

 deer, which Paul I)u Chaillu " describes as making- from 150 to 200 

 miles a day, and sometimes 20 to 25 miles down hill in a single hour. 

 A pair of them can pull a load of 500 to 7oO pounds at the rate of 35 

 miles a day and keep it up weeks at a time. W. A. Kjellmann drove 

 his reindeer express one winter 95 miles in a single day. 



In the winter of 1S91> and 1900, between St. Michael and Kotzel)ue, 

 under the Arctic Circle, and between Eaton and Nome, Alaska, and 

 in the winter of 19<)1 and ]902, between Nome and Candle, on the 

 Arctic Ocean, the United States mails were carried with reindeer 

 teams. ^ Upon the latter route the teams had heavy loads of passen- 

 gers and freight and made the distance in eight days. Dog teams 

 would have required tifteen to twenty days for the trip. 



The reindeer can travel at night as well as in the daylight, and thus 

 during the long arctic night, when dogs are inefficient, transportation 

 is always possible with a reindeer team. 



The reindeer make good packei-s in summer. One hundred and 

 fifty pounds is a fair load. They also can l)e ridden in the saddle, but 

 not with nuich comfoi't until the rider learns how to adjust himself. 

 In the Tunguse country the natives use their deer in sunnner as we 

 would a mule or horse. It is no unconunon sight to see a Tunguse 

 trotting along the shore deerback. 



Lieutenant Rertholf describes the caravans of reindeer sleds in 

 northeastern Siberia. Over 1,000 sleds leave Ola during the winter 

 in cara\ans of about lOO each. A caravan of 100 sleds is managed by 

 10 men. Some years ago the Ilussian (unernment used horses on the 

 caravan route from Ola to the Kolinia River, but recently substituted 

 reindeer, and now saves $60,000 yearl}' by the change. 



a "The Land of the Long Night," Paul Du Chaillu. Charles Scribner's Sons. 



& Since the above was written the United State-s Government has given a contract 

 to Mr. S. R. Spriggs, of Point P>arrow, Alaska, to carry the winter mail l)etwecn 

 Kotzebue and P>arro\v with reindeer teams. This is the most northern mail route; 

 bv laud in the wprld. 



