DOMESTICATED REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 141 



Mrs. He.ily sends her regards. We arc all well. The fleet is about to depart, and, 

 so far as I understand, I am to remain hei'e alone. I hope you arc well and that I 

 shall have a letter from you on your arrival in San Francisco. 

 Very truly yours, 



M. A. Hkaly, 



Captain, U. S. Revenue Marine. 

 Rev. Sheldon Jackson, 



Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. 



MEMORANDA OF REINDEER IN NORWAY. 



Paris, France, January 26, 1S94. 



Dear Dr. Jackson: I meant to have a letter awaiting you on your return to 

 Washington in October, but a number of circumstances (one of them la grippe) has 

 prevented me from writing. I remained almost four months in Norway, but for only 

 a small portion of that time was I where I could see the reindeer. I stayed for live 

 weeks at a small hotel on the borders of the Hardanger Vidda, the great mountain 

 plateau above the Hardanger Fjord in Norway. The Norwegian with whom I 

 boarded was a third owner of a herd of 1,000 reindeer, but the deer ranged over the 

 Vidda and were a two days' difficult journey (on foot or iu the saddle) from the 

 house. 



I was therefore unable to see much of the deer or make measurements and sketches 

 which 1 had planned to make. 



While at this place, however, I took one day's excursion almost to the center of 

 the Vidda, and at that time I saw 800 of the deer for a short time. I also collected 

 some interesting facts about the deer from the Garm (the man at whose house I 

 stayed), and from others who were familiar with the habits of the deer. 



I hope this winter to write a short article (illustrated) upon my trip across the 

 Vidda. This will contain some facts about the semidomesticated reindeer, and 

 other animals on the Vidda. As this article, however, may never see type it seems 

 best to write you some of the main facts which I have collected about the deer. I 

 am sorry they must reach you at such a late date. 



These deer (or rather their ancestors) were first brought down from Lapland 

 by a Norwegian farmer living near Thelemarken, on the southern side of the Vidda, 

 more than twelve years ago. But at that time there were many wolves in that dis- 

 trict, and the herds suffered much from their depredations, so much so that thero 

 was little profit in the keeping of the deer. Now the wolves have almost disap- 

 peared, and many farmers are beginning to keep small herds, which find pasturage 

 all the year round on the Vidda. Usually 3 or 4 farmers combine, and own the 

 herds together, each man sending some one to tend the herd for a week at a time. In 

 this way, much time and labor is saved, as a herd of 500 deer can be cared for 

 almost as easily as one of 50. 



Grass or hay is scarce in Norway, from the comparatively limited area of land 

 suitable for its cultivation. The raising of deer, therefore, is growing in favor 

 with the Norwegians whose land is situated near the mountain uplands, for the 

 deer require no winter feeding, but live all the year round on the lichens, moss, and 

 short alpine grasses which grow upon the Arctic lands which are too barren for 

 some sheep pasturage. 



The Hardanger Vidda I found most interesting. It slopes gradually from the 

 borders to the center. At the border nearest to the Fjord the elevation is perhaps 

 2,500 feet. At that latitude, of course, the altitude implies almost an Arctic, cer- 

 tainly a " Boreale" growth of vegetation. Here, for a long day's journey, one finds 

 the "saeter" country, the land where the saeters or summer dairies of the Fjord 

 farmers are situated. The cows come up from the valley about the 20th of June, 

 and in favorable seasons remain until the middle of September. At long distances 

 apart one finds the wretched little huts of turf and stones where the saeter girls 



