

RUMINANTIA. 213 



same time having his deer skin coat and hood drawn over his 

 head. In this attempt he seldom fails to shoot down the animal 

 before he comes within a distance of twelve paces. The rude 

 inhabitants of the whole of northern Asia use the Rein Deer as 

 a beast of burden ; but in Lapland, where it is essential to meet 

 the wants of a pastoral people, it is most highly appreciated. In 

 that country the horse and ox could not exist ; but the Rein Deer 

 supplies their place, furnishing, as it does, food and clothing, and 

 submissively and patiently yielding its labor. The movements 

 of the Laplander and his habits of life are, in fact, controlled by 

 his deer. He must go where they go in search of lichens and 

 mosses, and is obliged to make periodical journeys involving 

 much labor and fatigue, in order to keep them from being an- 

 noyed by the gadfly (Oestrus Tarandi,) which not only torments 

 them with its sting, but even deposits its eggs in the wound which 

 it makes in their hides. Often the hides are pierced in a hun- 

 dred places, like a sieve, by this insect ; and some deer die in 

 the third year from this cause. The Laplander flees with his 

 deer to the mountains in .order to escape this insect, not only, but 

 the scarcely less dreaded musquitoes, which are more ferocious 

 in the cold climates than in the tropics. His deer are the Lap- 

 lander's wealth. When in good circumstances he has three or 

 four hundred of them, and can live in comfort. He who has 

 \ only one hundred is thought to be in a condition somewhat pre- 

 ', carious, while he who has but fifty commonly joins his animals 

 with the herd of some richer man, and himself performs the neces- 

 sary menial service. The civilization of Lapland, which is on 

 [ the advance and promoted by intercourse with other nations, 

 depends upon the Rein Deer as the only beast of burden and 

 conveyance. When a traveler crosses the border line of Lap- 

 land, he must, for further progress, like Bayard Taylor, step 

 into the sledge drawn by the rapid Rein Deer. The sledge is a 

 light vehicle, running, not on wheels, but on its flat boards, which 

 are covered with leather. The Rein Deer is yoked to it by a 

 collar, and guided by reins attached to its horns. 



" Obsequious at their call, the docile tribe 

 Yield to the sledge their necks, and whirl them swift 

 O'er hill and dale, heap'd into one expanse 

 Of marbled snow, far as the eye can sweep, 

 With a blue crust of ice unbounded, glazed." 



With the usual load of from two to three hundred pounds, 

 they will trot over the glazed snow at the rate of ten miles an 

 hour. Journeys, by these animals, of one hundred and fifty 



