DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 91 



atky, which is stimulated by the chronic starvation of the latter, and Bush mentions 

 several instances where dogs en train attacked and actually killed deer in harness 

 before»they could be beaten off by the drivers of both teams. Nevertheless, deer are 

 by no means inoffensive or helpless, and are so aggressive at times that they tear 

 their pack loads off with their antlers, or even gore their drivers, so that many are 

 found with their horns chopped off. To perform this operation the buck is triced 

 up to a tree and the antlers are lashed firmly against the trunk, whereupon the 

 horns are hacked off with a hatchet some 6 inches above the skull, leaving the pal- 

 mated projection in front of the forehead to remain. Thus bereft they resemble cows 

 more than ever. 



Semidomesticated reindeer are shy and hard to capture when wanted, but they 

 will follow a leader like sheep. Accordingly, the most tractable ones are first 

 trained to be leaders, and accustomed to the presence of man. Subsequently they 

 serve as efficient keepers to preveut the rest of the herd from wandering off, and 

 thus materially lessen the care of the regular herders, though a night guard is 

 always set to keep off wolves. They are also used as decoys in approaching deer 

 and other animals — an aboriginal device in vogue the world over. Yet, quite alar^e 

 percentage of domesticated deer are lost by their strayiug off to the wild herds, 

 just as farm horses in some Western States are lost by their running with the mus- 

 tangs. A great many of these runaways afterwards pay the penalty of their mis- 

 demeanor by being shot on the tundra, as they are less shy of man than their feral 

 companions. Antipodal to this proneness to return to the wilderness, deer in camp 

 will often charge on new arrivals, regarding them as interlopers. They are very 

 fond of human urine, which contains salt, and this appetite is taken advantage of 

 to catch runaways or loose animals which have to be lassoed every moraine. 



Runners are very little used in northern Siberia, except on post routes, freighters 

 and travelers relying chiefly on the saddle and pack. When sleds are used, two deer 

 are harnessed abreast, or tandem, and the driver uses a goad. Reindeer for trans- 

 portation purposes are employed as far south as Orell Lake, in latitude 53°, adjacent 

 to the west shore of Okhotsk Sea, though they are not numerous, owing to a scarcity 

 of moss. A pack deer is worth 35 rubles, or $26, aud will carry 100 pounds. A 

 riding deer costs from 45 to 60 rubles, say $28 to $40, and will carry 175 pounds. 

 Natives always dicker a good deal before selling deer, or anything else. Weight 

 has to be placed ou the shoulders of the animal, as its back is very weak. Pack 

 saddles consist of two small buckskin pads stuffed with moss or hair, united at the 

 ends by bows of deer horns having a natural curve, which leaves space between the 

 pads for play of the shoulders. Riding saddles are similar, only wider (12 by 14 

 inches), without stirrups. The saddle is placed on the fore shoulder with the girth 

 around the belly. Bridles or halters are exactly like our own, made of pliable seal 

 thongs or braided strands of buckskin. A pack train in motion is made up of a 

 riding animal with a string of eight pack deer in lead, fastened together by a seal- 

 skin thong, followed by another mounted leader with eight more pack animals, 

 and so on. Progress is stimulated by kicking the sides and chests of the deer and 

 thwacking his body and antlers with a staff which the rider keeps constantly in 

 motion, accompanying it with a peculiar cluck, very much as a Southern negro 

 rides a mule. This is in the Tnngusi country. 



The Tnngusi dress in furs, much like the Tchutchi and Alaskan Eskimos, and it 

 may be remarked incidentally that all three have their appearance, habits, dress, 

 huts, kyacks, customs, utensils, and superstitions very much in common. They all 

 reverence the Shamans, dread evil spirits, burn their dead, kill the superannuated, 

 aud sacrifice human life to avert plagues. They make short prayers before slaugh- 

 tering domesticated deer, which are always killed by a spear thrust, the men giving 

 the fatal stroke and the women dressing the carcass. Coiucidentally, the Lapland- 

 ers believe in demons, manes, and divinities, and so do the wild Eskimos of Labrador 

 and Hudson Strait. 



