62 REPORT ON THE INTRODUCTION OF 



feed of clear ineal, and each ate his portion greedily. On approaching 

 the pen to feed them they would come toward me and root at the box 

 just as a cow does when she wants her feed. I will here state that it 

 is seldom that a deer offers to use his horns to hook one. I do not 

 believe I have ever seen an instance when they have done so. One 

 of the deer in the pen had a complete set of horns, and I was around 

 among them, holding the box or pulling it away, and in various ways 

 tried to irritate them to see if I could arouse a particle of viciousness, 

 but without success. On the contrary, they were not only docile but 

 affectionate. I could in a few days draw one's head down to my face, 

 and he would stand as quiet as if in blissful response. I have a good 

 illustration showing the tameness of one of these deer, in a view I send 

 you, taken while at the cape, with Mrs. Thornton holding a box contain- 

 ing feed with one hand and the other about its head. 



On the thirteenth day the deer were turned back to the herd and the 

 experiment was a thorough success. They had not apparently lost a 

 pound of flesh, but, on the contrary, seemed to look better than when 

 first put into the pen. 



The result was especially gratifying, because it was proof to the 

 Siberians and natives, who were watching it with the keenest interest 

 from the first, that a white man can teach them something in the man- 

 agement and handling of deer which they never knesv before, and that 

 we had confidence in our own judgment Avhen pitted against theirs. 



The day following the one on which the young deer were turned back 

 into the herd, two of the oldest sled deer were confined in the pen for 

 the purpose of teaching them to eat meal. They seemed to take to the 

 mixed feed a little more readily than the first, but not quite so readily 

 to the plain meal, and it was not until the sixteenth day that they were 

 considered to have learned their lesson. By this time they would turn 

 from the moss to the meal, and would have eaten double the amount 

 given them if allowed to do so. The last day's feed consisted of 1 

 pound of meal to each deer at three feedings. 



Another object sought to be gained in teaching the deer to eat meal 

 was to feed them with it when on a long trip. As I have before stated, 

 when traveling with deer, they are lariated out and pick their feed 

 through the snow, at the end of a rope. A sack of 50 pounds of corn 

 meal could be conveniently carried on a sled, when it would be impossi- 

 ble to carry more than a few pounds of moss, on account of its being 

 so loose and bulky. On each trip I made with the deer in winter they 

 were fed meal and thrived under it. 



I am under the impression that better feed than meal can be had — 

 bran and shorts, for instance, or ground barley, either of which 

 would not be so heating as meal, and would probably furnish as much 

 nutrition. 



From our experiments with moss gathered in the summer for winter 

 feed, it seems reasonable to suppose that it can be put up in stacks, or 



