132 HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 



The horns of the Rein-Deer are large and 

 slender, bending forward, with brow antlers, which 

 are broad and palmated. A pair in our possession 

 are in length two feet eight inches, and from tip to 

 tip two feet five; they weigh nine pounds: the pro- 

 jecting brow antler is fourteen inches long, one foot 

 broad, and serrated at the end: it should seem, 

 both from its situation and form, an excellent 

 instrument to remove the snow, under which their 

 favourite moss lies. Both sexes have horns : those 

 of the female are less, and have fewer branches. 



We are happy in being able to give an accurate 

 representation of this singular creature. The draw- 

 ing was taken from one in the possession of Sir H. 

 G. Liddell, Bart., which he brought over from Lap- 

 land, with four others, in 1786. The height at the 

 shoulder was three feet three inches. The hair on 

 the body was of a dark brown colour; and on the 

 neck brown, mixed with white : a large tuft of hair, 

 of a dirty white colour, hung down from the throat, 

 near its breast; and it had a large white spot on 

 the inside of each hind leg, close by the joint : its 

 head was long and fine ; and round each eye was a 

 large black space: its horns were covered with a 

 fine down, like velvet. The hoofs of this animal are 

 large, broad, and deeply cloven : they spread out to 

 a great breadth on the ground; and when the 

 animal is in motion, make a crackling noise, by 

 being drawn up forcibly together. 



Not many attempts have been made to draw the 

 Rein-Deer from its native mountains, and transport 

 it to milder climates ; and of these few have 

 succeeded. Naturalists from thence have con- 

 cluded, that it cannot exist but amidst ice and 

 snow. M. Buffon regrets the impossibility of pro- 



