REINDEER 113 



Franz Joseph Land, so that when Swensen, 

 from the crow's-nest, discerned two reindeer 

 feeding on the northern shore of the Sound, I 

 embarked without loss of time in the canoe, 

 accompanied by the Captain, Rachlew, and two 

 men. We followed the bed of a stream, and 

 half an hour later the two reindeer appeared on 

 the horizon. They crossed the stream to an 

 extensive plain of frozen clay lying between 

 the foot of the mountain and the sea. I 

 posted the two men behind a boulder, and, 

 together with Rachlew and the Captain, 

 pushed onwards over the deep caverns which 

 thawing and moving glaciers had torn in the 

 clay soil. Soon we were close enough to see 

 that one of the reindeer was a male and the 

 other a female. Unfortunately, both were in 

 velvet at that time of the year. Among horn- 

 shedding animals, I think the female reindeer 

 only has smaller and slighter horns than the 

 male. 



Rachlew and the Captain remained to guard 

 the river course, while I made a detour to get 

 between the animals and the sea. This ren- 

 dered escape impossible for them. The terrain 

 made stalking easy, and the animals were not 

 wild. I selected the male for my first shot, 

 thinking that if it fell the female would delay 



