THE REIN-DEER. 337 



the rear. My deer, indeed, was one of the best and 

 fleetest of the herd, and I was now so expert in the man- 

 agement of both animal and pulk, that I felt tolerably con- 

 fident I should not be the hindmost, except some accident 

 occurred. Fastening, therefore, the end of the rein tightly 

 round my arm, to prevent dropping it, I followed the ex- 

 ample of my wappus, flanking the sides of the animal to 

 increase its speed. The whole party did the same, and 

 redoubled their swiftness. Two stars in the south-east 

 had hitherto served as steering points ; all around us, how- 

 ever, became quickly obscured. The fog overtook us in 

 our career, and in a few minutes the heavenly bodies were 

 no longer visible. Our confusion was now greatly in- 

 creased ; we were suddenly enveloped in a dense mist, 

 and were unable to discern our nearest neighbors. Our 

 speed, notwithstanding, was unrelaxed, and it was a com- 

 plete helter-skelter race in the dark, every one minding 

 himself. The utility of the deer's bells was here fully 

 shown, since without them half our party would probably 

 have been lost. 



" In this manner we scampered along the top of the 

 Solivara, bewildered, and dreading lest the mist should 

 be succeeded by the snow-drift. By the inclination of the 

 ground, our foremost guide perceived we were now coming 

 to the descent of the range, and for the first time was sen- 

 sible, that the darkness had brought us into a part of the 

 mountains with which he was unacquainted. This un- 

 pleasant intelligence made us proceed step by step with 

 the utmost caution, till we found our progress suddenly 

 arrested. The foremost deer had reached the brink of a 

 precipice, and had stopped from instinct. We had for- 

 tunately relaxed from our usual pace, or the whole party 

 would have been over. We now turned in a different di- 

 rection, to endeavor to find a part where the descent was 

 more gradual. This was not easy, on account of the dark- 



