108 SPORT IN NOKWAY. 



and quarters it. He then wraps the skin round the 

 venison, and buries it in a hole in the ground, care 

 being taken to prevent the gluttons and foxes from 

 paying it a visit, by heaping heavy stones upon it. He 

 then hurries home for his horse, and carries it away 

 the following morning. 



Eeindeer principally rely on their keen sense of 

 smell to guard against surprise. The sight of a 

 human being does not seem to cause them much 

 alarm. I once shot at a reindeer which was a long 

 distance off, and missed. Directly I had fired the 

 animal stopped and quietly scrutinised me, then trotted 

 off for a hundred yards or so, and stopped again. 

 It was monstrously tantalising, for I had plenty 

 of time to reload, only I was far out of shooting 

 distance. Sir J. Franklin remarks this peculiarity 

 in the North American reindeer. "Their curiosity, 5 ' 

 he writes, " often causes them to come close up and 

 wheel round the hunter." 



In the rutting time the Lapps frequently tie up a 

 couple of tame does to serve as decoys, while they 

 themselves lie in ambush. 



In the middle of the day the reindeer take their 

 siesta, always selecting for this purpose as inaccessible a 

 place as possible. It is then almost an impossibility to 

 get within shot of a herd, as some of their number 

 always do duty as sentinels. 



V V 



