.960 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



that in this district they attain very large dimensions, while the females are without 

 antlers. In Scandinavia wild reindeer are, however, now becoming rare. Domesti- 

 cated reindeer are kept in Siberia, Lapland, and part of Norway, as well as in the 

 northern districts of the Government of Perm, but appear to be unknown in the Oren- 

 burg region. They were introduced into Iceland in 1870, where they flourish well, 

 and in 1892 sixteen head were landed in Alaska. The Scandinavian domesticated 

 breed, which is chiefly used by the Laps for purposes of draught, is considerably 

 smaller than the wild race, but in Siberia there is a tamed breed of larger size, 

 mainly used for riding. The importance of the reindeer to the Laplander has been 

 so often written of that we may be excused for making any further mention of it. 



In regard to the northern extension of the Old- World reindeer, Baron Nor- 

 denskjold observes that although it has not been found in Franz- Josef Land, it 

 occurs at Cape Chelyuskin, as well as in Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, and in the 

 still more northerly Phipps and Parry islands, which lie between the eightieth and 

 eighty-first parallels of north latitude. In some of these desolate regions reindeer 

 are still very numerous, even where, as in Spitzbergen, they are incessantly hunted. 

 Regarding their abundance in the islands last named, Baron Nordenskjold says that 

 it has been suggested that they emigrate from Nova Zembla; but he considers it 

 more probable that if such an emigration does take place, it must be from some 

 unknown Arctic land to the north-northeast. 



The same writer observes that "the life of the wild reindeer is best known in 

 Spitzbergen. During the summer it betakes itself to the grassy plains in the ice-free 

 valleys of the island; in late autumn it withdraws according to the walrus hunter's 

 statements to the seacoast, in order to eat the seaweed that is thrown up on the 

 beach. In winter it goes back to the lichen-clad mountain heights in the interior of 

 the country, where it appears to thrive exceedingly well, though the cold during 

 winter must be excessively severe, for when the reindeer in spring return to the 

 coast they are still very fat, but some weeks afterward, when the snow has frozen 

 on the surface, and a crust of ice makes it difficult for them to get at the mountain 

 sides, they become so poor as to be scarcely eatable. In summer, however, they 

 speedily eat themselves back into condition, and in autumn they are so fat that they 

 would certainly take prizes at an exhibition of fat cattle." 



Further observations on the mode of life of the reindeer will be deferred till we 

 come to the American varieties, but it is important that the periodical migrations of 

 these animals which take place in Siberia should be noticed here. Admiral von 

 Wrangel, when in Eastern Siberia, had an opportunity of seeing such migrations 

 on more than one occasion; and he relates that the moving masses might be reck- 

 oned to include thousands of individuals, split up into herds of two or three hun- 

 dred head. On one of these occasions the Admiral states that "two large migrating 

 bodies of reindeer passed at no great distance. They were descending the hills from 

 the northwest, and crossing the plain on their way to the forests, where they spend 

 the winter. Both bodies of deer extended further than the eye could reach, and 

 formed a compact mass narrowing to the front. They moved slowly and majestically 

 along, their broad antlers resembling a moving wood of leafless trees. Each body 

 was led by a deer of unusual size, which my guides assured me was always a female." 



