THE REINDEER. 229 



quarters, abdomen, and end of nose, which are white. In the summer 

 the gray-brown hair darkens into a sooty brown, and the white portions 

 become gray. 



The Reindeer { Tarandm Rdngifer). 



The Laplanders place their chief happiness in the possession of 

 many Reindeer, which are to them the only representatives of wealth. 

 Those who possess a herd of a thousand or more are reckoned among 

 the wealthy of their country ; those who own only a few hundreds are 

 considered as persons of respectability ; while those who possess only 

 forty or fifty are content to act as servants to their richer countrymen, 

 and to merge their little herds in those of their employers. In the 

 waste, dry parts of Lapland grows a kind of white lichen, which forms 

 the principal food of the Reindeer during winter, and is therefore high- 

 ly prized by the natives. Although this lichen may be deeply covered 

 with snow, the Reindeer is taught by instinct to scrape away the super- 

 incumbent snow with its head, hoofs, and snout, and to lay bare the 

 welcome food that lies beneath. Sometimes the surface of the snow is 

 so firmly frozen that the animal can make no impression ; and under 

 these circumstances it is in very poor case, many of the unfortunate 

 creatures dying of starvation, and the others being much reduced in 

 condition. 



The Reindeer is extensively employed as a beast of draught and 

 carriage, being taught to draw sledges and to carry men or packages 

 upon its back. Each reindeer can draw a weight of two hundred and 

 fifty, or even three hundred, pounds, its pace being between nine and 

 ten miles per hour. There is, however, a humane law which prohibits 

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