DOMESTICATION OF RUMINATING MAMMALS 325 



deer to the people of northern regions that is well worth 

 quoting. He says: 



Few other animals on the earth's surface offer as much to man with 

 so Uttle outlay. With scarcely any aid, races of men can subsist on what 

 these beasts alone can provide. For transport they have been shown, 

 under right circumstances, to be able to compete with the Eskimo dog 

 in speed and endurance. On the Alaskan tundra, where the snowfall is 

 much like that of Labrador, they have been an unqualified success. On 

 journeys they can find their own food by the way — an item most impor- 

 tant, for the dogs are obliged to carry this additional, and by no means 

 inconsiderable, burden with them. Reindeer are now used not only for 

 packing over open land uncovered with snow in summer-time, when dogs 

 are entirely useless, but they are in regular use for running the United 

 States maU service in the depth of an Arctic winter. Geldings are said 

 to be far more readily trained to harness than stags, and are easier to 

 keep in good physical condition. At a pinch, one's steeds may be killed 

 and eaten with reUsh, while the carcass, where meat supplies are scarce, 

 is always of incomparable value. The tongues and kidneys form great 

 delicacies, and the tongues may be smoked for export. A good-sized 

 stag will weigh three hundred pounds, and has for meat alone fetched 

 $50 in the Alaskan markets.* The large, thickly haired skin of caribou 

 or of the Lapland reindeer is invaluable for many purposes, — for boots, 

 clothing, sleeping-bags, tents, and blankets. These skins need scarcely 

 any preparatory treatment. Dehaired and dressed, they make most 

 satisfactory clothing for use in cold climates. The sleek, dark-brown 

 hair of the early fall affords a very beautiful material for ladies' jackets 

 or motor coats, and picked skins for such purposes should well repay ex- 

 portation; two dollars apiece is the present local price for Labrador deer 

 skins. Some of our deer have snow-white skins in winter, and the hair 

 is as thick as a cocoanut fibre mat. 



Moccasins manufactured from the thinner deer skins make the warmest 

 foot-gear known. The heavier stag skins furnish admirable light, soft, 

 flexible over-clothes. They are perfectly wind-proof, and, when dressed 

 for use, fetch fifty cents to one dollar per pound weight. Stretched, un- 

 dressed, they are sold by the pound as parchment; this, cut into strips, 



* This figure is too high. In 1919 the average value of reindeer in Alaska, 

 hide and meat, was only $25 per head. 



In 1919 about 1,000 reindeer carcasses, averaging about 150 pounds each, 

 were shipped from Nome to Seattle, making an aggregate of 75 tons. This 

 meat sold for 28 cents per pound, f. o. b. Seattle, making the total value of 

 the trade about $42,000.— J. W. 



