DOMESTICATION OF RUMINATING MAMMALS: 325 
deer to the people of northern regions that is well worth 
quoting. He says: 
. Few other animals on the earth’s surface offer as much to man with 
so little outlay. With scarcely any aid, races of men can subsist on what 
these beasts alone can provide. For transport they have been shown, 
under right circumstances, to be able to compete with the Eskimo dog 
in speed and endurance. On the Alaskan tundra, where the snowfall is 
much like that of Labrador, they have been an unqualified success. On 
journeys they can find their own food by the way—an item most impor- 
tant, for the dogs are obliged to carry this additional, and by no means 
inconsiderable, burden with them. Reindeer are now used not only for 
packing over open land uncovered with snow in summer-time, when dogs 
are entirely useless, but they are in regular use for running the United 
States mail service in the depth of an Arctic winter. Geldings are said 
to be far more readily trained to harness than stags, and are easier to 
keep in good physical condition. At a pinch, one’s steeds may be killed 
and eaten with relish, while the carcass, where meat supplies are scarce, 
is always of incomparable value. The tongues and kidneys form great 
delicacies, and the tongues may be smoked for export. A good-sized 
stag will weigh three hundred pounds, and has for meat alone fetched 
$50 in the Alaskan markets.* The large, thickly haired skin of caribou 
or of the Lapland reindeer is invaluable for many purposes,—for boots, 
clothing, sleeping-bags, tents, and blankets. These skins need scarcely 
any preparatory treatment. Dehaired and dressed, they make most 
satisfactory clothing for use in cold climates. The sleek, dark-brown 
hair of the early fall affords a very beautiful material for ladies’ jackets 
or motor coats, and picked skins for such purposes should well repay ex- 
portation; two dollars apiece is the present local price for Labrador deer 
skins. Some of our deer have snow-white skins in winter, and the hair 
is as thick as a cocoanut fibre mat. 
Moccasins manufactured from the thinner deer skins make the warmest 
foot-gear known. The heavier stag skins furnish admirable light, soft, 
flexible over-clothes. They are perfectly wind-proof, and, when dressed 
for use, fetch fifty cents to one dollar per pound weight. Stretched, un- 
dressed, they are sold by the pound as parchment; this, cut into strips, 
* This figure is too high. In 1919 the average value of reindeer in Alaska, 
hide and meat, was only $25 per head. 
In 1919 about 1,000 reindeer carcasses, averaging about 150 pounds each, 
were shipped from Nome to Seattle, making an aggregate of 75 tons. This 
meat sold for 28 cents per pound, f. 0. b. Seattle, making the total value of 
the trade about $42,000.—J. W. 
