216 THE PIT-FALL. 



once brings his head to the side of the post, in the manner 

 of an ox when about to be slaughtered ; in which position his 

 teeth can no longer avail him, and die he must. 



THE REIN -DEER PIT-FALL. 



Formerly, and before the invention of gunpowder and 

 it is possible the device is still adopted rein-deer were 

 captured in Scandinavia by means of pit-falls. The remains 

 of many of these, indeed, partially covered with moss, are 

 still to be seen on the slopes and near to the foot of the 

 Norwegian fjalls. 



They were oblong in form ; about six feet in length ; 

 from two to two and a half feet in breadth; and would 

 appear to have been about four feet deep ; the side walls 

 were built up with flat stones. As with the pit-falls for 

 elks recently mentioned, a cylindrical block of wood, called 

 a Bom, armed with iron spikes or spear-heads, and revolving 

 on an axis, was placed about half-way down, directly across 

 the pit ; so that when the poor animal was engulfed, he was 



