156 REPORT ON THE INTRODUCTION OP 



It would scarcely be of any use to advertise in Scandinavian papers. You might, 

 however, write to the U. S. consuls in Bergen and C'hristiania, Norway ; Stockholm, 

 Swedeu ; also Helsingfors, Finland. They would give you information and good 

 advice. 



Write also to Mr. Axel J. Schwabe, Drantheim, Norway. There are many Lap- 

 lander families living east of that town, and he may be able to do something through 

 his business friends up in the country. 



Perhaps the best thing would be to make an arrangement with some party about 

 going to Norway and making contract with some Laplanders, taking them and 

 their dogs with him to New York. Northern Sweden and Finland can not be visited 

 in the winter before May or June, owing to the ice, but the Norway coast is open 

 all the year round. It would, however, be rather an expensive trip, costing about 

 $300. 



I would like very much to see your new report on reindeer in Alaska. 

 Yours, truly, 



N. Width. 



Dr. Sheldon Jackson, 



Washington, D. C. 



Everett, Wash., Deccmler JB4, 1893. 



Your Honor: I am informed that men are wanted as overseers for imported rein- 

 deer in Alaska, am therefor so free as to offer you my service. 



I am 44 years of age and have a family; have been in the United States twelve 

 years. By birth I am a Norwegian, born in the northern part of Norway, 70° north, 

 and used to a cold climate. At my birthplace there are hundreds of thousands of 

 reindeer, and I am very well acquainted with the Lapps and their language, as well 

 as Russian, used in Alaska among Eskimo and natives. From a child I have been 

 used to training and driving reindeer, of which my father had a good many, and I 

 myself had some for several years in the old country. If you wish to have any Lapps 

 for the service I can easily get them or go to Norway for them, my brother, Johau 

 Dahl Vadso, Norway, being a merchant and having a large trade with the Lapps 

 there. Dogs I can get enough of in Alaska from the natives. It is necessary to 

 have 4 men at least to watch the reindeer, 2 in daytime and 2 in the night, 

 as the deer are very easily frightened and scattered if they are not closely watched, 

 the wolves being their worst enemies and after them especially in the nighttime. 

 The men ought to have good Winchester rifles, as the wolves sometimes will attack 

 men when hungry. In summer time (July), when the calves are born, they have to 

 be taken care of more than usual the first three months after the birth. The rein- 

 deer grow rather slowly, as they are not full grown before 5 years of age. They live 

 until 14 to 16-years of age. The training for driving commences when they are 2 to 3 

 years old, but they are never put to hard labor before they are 5 years old, as they 

 can very easily be spoiled by careless treatment, being of such a tender and slender 

 construction. The females are seldom trained. A reindeer when trained can travel 

 with 200 pounds burden on the sleigh on unbroken snow without any road 50 to 

 70 miles a day. Sometimes I have traveled 100 miles, when in a hurry, and with 

 good, trained deer, but they need to be fed every four hours. 



In summer time there is a kind of mosquitoes that lay their worms or eggs in the 

 hide or skin of the deer. This bothers the reindeer a good deal and makes the skin 

 of less value. To avoid this trouble we always drove the deer to the seashore, as 

 the fresh, salt-water breeze would keep the flies away. It is necessary also to 

 change the feeding place for the reindeer every year (for large herds of 7,000 to 10,000 

 deer), as the moss which grows on dry land or high plateaus and mountains grows 

 very slowly, so slowly that it takes several years to grow again after being eaten 

 off by the reindeer. The moss eaten by deer grows up to 7 to 8 inches high. The top 



