18 THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 



fancy, must be a mistake, as the old stags, which 

 only possess these horns, shed them early in the 

 season. The true state of the case is as follows : 



During the severe weather the deer unite in large 

 herds, and resort to the highest part of the fjeld, 

 where the snow does not lie very deep, on account 

 of the constant gusts of wind which sweep over it. 

 The largest and most powerful males go slightly 

 in advance of the herd, and scrape up the snow 

 with their for/e feet, but having reached the moss, 

 they are quickly driven away by the hinds and 

 young stags, which retain their horns, and are thus 

 easily able to keep off their more powerful com- 

 panions. An experienced hunter, who was with 

 me for some time in the mountains, assured me 

 that he had witnessed this occurrence repeatedly. 



The experiment of keeping herds of tame rein- 

 deer was tried extensively in various parts of 

 Norway some years ago, the deer being principally 

 procured from the Laps in Finmark and Nordland. 

 It was, however, found not to succeed on a large 

 scale, as packs of wolves were attracted by the tame 

 herds, and caused great havoc among them, especi- 

 ally in winter. I was informed by a former owner 

 of a large quantity of deer, that in the winter of 

 1865, fifty-six of his reindeer were destroyed by 

 wolves in three nights. Moreover, the Norwegians 

 did not take the same pains with the management 



