EUMINANTIA. 211 



becomes very large, attaining the weight of eleven hundred 

 pounds. Elks were formerly used in Europe for conveying 

 couriers, and could accomplish 36 Swedish, or 234 English 

 miles in a day, when attached to a sledge. Dorelli, a Swedish 

 gentleman, recommended that they should be used in time of war 

 as flying artillery, to reconnoitre and carry dispatches. The 

 skin is so tough that a regiment of soldiers was furnished with 

 waistcoats made of Elk's hide, which could hardly be penetrated 

 by a ball. 



C. rangifer, or Rangifer tarandus. The REIN DEER. 



The Deer of this species have received many names. They 

 are found throughout the arctic regions of Europe, Asia and 

 America ; but those of Lapland and Spitzbergen are said to be 

 the finest. Their general height is about four and a half feet; 

 their horns are long and slender, having round, branched and 

 recurved antlers, the summits of which are palmated ; (Plate VII. 

 fig. 5 ;) the body is of a thick and square form ; the legs are stouter 

 in proportion than those of the Stag ; the size differs with the cli- 

 mate, those in regions farthest north being the largest ; the color 

 is brown above, varying, however, with the age of the animal and 

 the season of the year. As the Rein Deer grows older, it often be- 

 comes of a grayish white beneath, and -sometimes almost entirely 

 white; the space about the eyes is always black. Both sexes 

 have canine teeth; both also have horns, but those of the male 

 are larger, longer, and more branched than those of the female. 



The male sheds his horns about the last of November ; the fe- 

 male retains hers until she brings forth ; if barren, she drops 

 them in the beginning of November. The horns, during the 

 early part of their growth, are extremely sensitive, and the ani- 

 mal experiences much suffering from the gnats and musquitoes. 

 The hoofs are long, large and black, as also are the false or sec- 

 ondary hoofs behind. While the animal is running, the latter 

 hoofs, as in the Elk, make, by their striking together, a remark- 

 able clattering noise, which may be heard at a considerable dis- 

 tance. Richardson, who has given many particulars respecting 

 this Deer, thinks that in the fur countries of this continent, at 

 least two varieties exist, called by him the " Barren Ground 

 Caribou," and the " Woodland Caribou." The Woodland animal 

 goes south in the spring, and is confined to wooded districts ; the 

 Barren Ground animal goes northward, retiring to the woods 

 only in the winter, ad passing the summer on barren grounds, 

 or on the borders of the Arctic Seas. Bucks of this latter vari- 

 ety, when in good condition, weigh, according to Richardson, 

 from 90 to 130 Ibs., without the offal. Sir John Franklin states 



