THE REINDEER. 



75 



the pastures of the Reindeer, which could not retreat 

 further on account of the sea, and was fast verging on 

 extinction. From Linnseus's time down to the 

 present day, even in Sweden and Norway, it has been 

 retreating further and farther north." 



That it formerly existed in Orkney may be sur- 

 mised from the discovery of an antler in the island of 

 Rousay, where it was found embedded in peat some 

 distance below the surface. This horn, about three 

 feet in length, as we learn from Dr. J. A. Smith, was 



AXTLER OF KEIKDEEK, ORKNEY. 



brought from Orkney by Dr. Arthur Mitchell and 

 was presented by him to the Museum of the Society 

 of Antiquaries of Scotland, by whose permission it is 

 here figured. 



It is true that Dr. Smith has some little hesitation 

 in regarding it as the horn of an animal indigenous 

 to the Orkneys, in consequence of a rumour to the 

 effect that a former proprietor of Rousay had im- 

 ported two or three Reindeer into that island. 

 He probably refers to Mr. Traill. Against this, how- 



