THE REINDEER 961 



These southerly winter migrations of the reindeer are of^considerable impor- 

 tance in regard to the former occurrence of this animal in Southern Europe; for 

 since its remains are not unfrequently found in association with those of the hippo- 

 potamus, we can scarcely assume that in such localities at any rate the climate coulci 

 have been otherwise than comparatively mild. Accordingly, the most probable hy- 

 pothesis seems to be that in the Pleistocene period the reindeer, driven by the intense 

 cold of the more northern portions of its habitat, must have traveled so far south 

 during the winter till it reached regions where the rivers were suitable for the habi- 

 tation of the hippopotamus. 



At the present day reindeer are unknown in the Old World to the south of a 

 parallel running a little below the southern shore of the Baltic; it appears, however, 

 that in the time of Caesar they were met with in the Black Forest of Northern Ger- 

 many, although whether as permanent residents or as winter immigrants, cannot, of 

 course, be now ascertained. In the British Isles, remains of reindeer are commonly 

 met with in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and it was long considered that in 

 Caithness this deer survived till the middle of the twelfth century, although the latest 

 researches tend to discountenance this idea. Reindeer remains are also found over the 

 Continent, occurring as far south as the valleys of the Dordogne and Garonne in France. 

 Turning now to the American reindeer, which, as aforesaid, are 

 characterized by the great development and palmation of one brow- 

 tine of the antlers, and the abortion of the other, we find there are two well-marked 

 varieties. The first and smaller of these is the barren-ground caribou, the R.grcen- 

 landicus of those who regard it as a distinct species. This reindeer is found only in 

 the barren Arctic districts lying to the northward of the forest region of North 

 America. It is abundant in the desolate regions to the northward of Fort Churchill, 

 whence it extends to the confines of the Arctic Ocean. This form, although much 

 inferior in point of size to the woodland caribou, has larger antlers; and it is mainly 

 on the latter ground that American zoologists urge its right to be reckoned as a 

 distinct species. Although confined in summer to the so-called ' ' barren grounds, 

 this variety of the reindeer makes extensive southerly migrations in autumn, in or- 

 der to spend the winter in the forest regions tenanted by the woodland caribou. It 

 appears, however, that even when inhabiting the same districts, the two races invari- 

 ably remain completely apart from one another, and show no tendency to intermingle. 

 The larger woodland caribou, of which the dimensions have already 

 been mentioned > is an inhabitant of the forest districts lying to the 

 south of the barren northern lands. Mr. Lett states that " it inhabits 

 Labrador and Northern Canada, and thence may be found south to Nova Scotia, 

 New Brunswick, and Newfoundland, the northern part of the State of Maine and 

 Lower Canada on both sides of the St. Lawrence, thence westerly in the country 

 north of Quebec to the vicinity of Lake Superior. It never migrates toward the 

 north in summer, as is the habit of the barren-ground caribou, but makes its migra- 

 tion in a southerly direction." This difference in the direction of the migration of 

 the two varieties is certainly very remarkable; and when taken in conjunction with 

 the difference in the size of their antlers, and their refusal to mingle together, indi- 

 cates their marked distinctness from one another. 

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