130 HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 



are obliged to cover their faces with a mixture of 

 pitch and milk, to shield them from these minute 

 invaders, which are drawn in with the breath, and 

 enter the nostrils, and even the eyes; but they are 

 chiefly inimical to the Rein-Deer : the horns of that 

 animal being then tender, and covered with a skin, 

 which renders them extremely sensitive, a cloud of 

 these insects settle upon them, and drive the poor 

 animal almost to distraction. In this extremity 

 there is no resource but flight. The herdsmen 

 drive their flocks from the plains to the summits of 

 the mountains, whither the foe cannot follow them : 

 there they will continue the whole day, with little 

 or no food, rather than venture down into the lower 

 parts, where they have no defence against their un- 

 ceasing persecutors. 



Besides the gnat, the gadfly is a common pest to 

 the Rein-Deer. In the autumn, this insect deposits 

 its eggs in their skin, where the worms burrow, and 

 often prove fatal to them. The moment a single fly 

 is seen, the whole herd is in motion : they know 

 their enemy, and endeavour to avoid it, by tossing 

 up their heads, and running among each other : 

 but all this too often proves ineffectual. 



Every morning and evening during the summer, 

 the herdsman returns to his cottage with the Deer 

 to be milked, where a large fire of moss is prepared, 

 for the purpose of filling the place with smoke, to 

 drive off the gnats, and keep the Deer quiet whilst 

 milking. The quantity of milk given by one 

 female in a day, is about a pint. It is thinner than 

 that of a Cow, but sweeter and more nourishing. 



The female begins to breed at the age of two 

 years, is in season the latter end of September, goes 

 with young eight months, and generally brings 



