THE REIN-DEER. 



countries, Siberia, Lapland, Finmark,. and Sweden; but 

 is not, we believe, known to the south of the Baltic Sea. 

 It also extends beyond the Asiatic boundary, and among 

 some tribes is used as a beast of burden. In Iceland it 

 has been for some time introduced. In none of these coun- 

 tries is it so much esteemed as in Lapland. It there be- 

 comes the sole wealth of the people, being every necessary 

 they require ; its care, food, and dressing occupying by 

 far the greatest and most valuable portion of their time. 

 The movements of the Laplander, and his habits of life, 

 may indeed in reality be said, to be under the control of 

 his deer. He must follow them during summer in search 

 of adequate pastures, and attend to their migrations to the 

 coast; while in winter many a dreary hour is spent in the 

 snowdrift in looking after the safety of his herd. 



Independent of the indispensable utility for food and 

 clothing, the Rein-deer is also used to transport merchan- 

 dise, as a courier, where dispatch is needed, and for 

 general travelling. Sometimes they are even used to 

 plough and harrow, and in winter are employed to draw 

 hay and fodder laden upon trays. Travelling in winter is 

 performed entirely by their assistance, in a sledge, or, as 

 it is termed, a pulk ; but before adverting to this convey- 

 ance, novel to the European visiter, we shall notice the 

 speed with which the animal can travel. 



According to the best authorities', one hundred and fifty 

 miles was performed with one deer in twenty-four hours, 

 and once by two merchants across the mountains in nine- 

 teen hours, while the same distance has been performed 

 with three deer in thirteen hours. But the greatest re- 

 corded instance of the speed of this animal, is that of the 

 deer, of which a portrait, together with that of its driver, 

 is preserved in the palace of Drottingholm. In conse- 

 quence of the Norwegians making a sudden irruption into 

 the Swedish territories, an officer was despatched, with 

 a sledge and single deer, to convey the intelligence to 



