RKTN'DKET^ >^T.\T.KTXr: 327 



consecjUciil Jcai'lli ol" iood, duiilillcss uecuunts lor ihfir 

 strano-e mio-ratioiis in countless liordcs. An old hunter 

 once told 1110 tlint. in n Itnd Icmmino- year, owing to the 

 complete destruction of all ('(lildc hcihage on tli<' nioiiii- 

 tains, the reindeer are constrained lo pursue and eat the 

 lemmings themselves, a n< I tliis statement is confirmed by 

 many observers. Under these cii'cumstances, they move 

 ott" across coiintr\' incompact bodies. No obstacle deters 

 iheni. The niiuratinL' army leaves a wasted track behind 

 it. IMultitudes perish by the way, either devoured by the 

 birds and beasts of ])rev which hang on their flank, or by 

 drowning in sea and river. Some say that they return, or 

 a remnant of them, in <lue time to the high fjelds whence 

 they came. 



In liiintino; reindeer Norwegians relv almost entirely 

 upon their dogs for finding the deer, as such a thing as a 

 telescope was, a cpiarter of a ceutur)' ago, unknown in the 

 remote districts. There is some sense in this, for there 

 are innnmerabh^ hollows on the ]ilateau which cannot be 

 spied. These are often full of snow, and reindeer are fond 

 of lying (111 the snow. The hunters' method is to keep a 

 steady course, hour after hour, across the wind, in the hope 

 that sooner or later the dog will catcli the scent of a herd, 

 in which c;ise he will indicate it by lii> manner. At the 

 same time 1 should b\- no means advise an\- sportsman to 

 discard the use of the glass. 



To.stin, like most Norwegians, was somewhat lazy, and 

 made rrctjuent halts df Inn'j duration, but })erhaps he had 

 reason in that too, for the waiting game often pays in 

 hunting. In ilie course of one of these halts I was idly 

 examining a distant snowv ridge, when a small si)eck 



