THE REIN-DEER. 463 



sented, generally trots with his head low, and his mouth open. 

 By his excessive panting, he appears to those unacquainted with 

 his hahits as if he would fall down dead in a few minutes, 

 but nothing is more deceptive, for he rarely dies of fatigue." 

 The resting-places of sledge travellers are usually where the 

 animals can obtain the various species of lichens which grow 

 beneath the snow. These lichens, one of which is well known 

 to the reader by the misnomer of Iceland or rein-deer moss, 

 constitute the chief food of these useful animals. The author 

 whom I have just quoted says, that " as soon as the deer scent 

 the lichens, they begin scraping away the snow, and in a few 

 seconds dig through four or five feet to the ground. Sometimes 

 there is so much snow, that they disappear in the holes they 

 have made, their antlers alone being seen above the surface."* 

 Cartwright, in his Journal in Labrador, says that in " the 

 latter end of April and in May, the wild rein- deer eat little 

 else but dry grass and wild rye, which then appear through the 

 snow. They prefer the youngest and most juicy plants, and 

 are particularly fond of the tender leaves of the dogberry and 

 and the willow. I have known them eat the outer shoots of 

 the black spruce in winter time, though but sparingly." The 

 rein-deer is remarkable for often possessing a carnivorous 

 propensity. Captain Franklin tells us that in America it not 

 only gnaws its fallen antlers, but devours mice -, and Sir Arthur 

 Brooke attributes to it a habit of eating the lemmings in 

 Lapland, when they descend in myriads from the mountains 

 during summer. Cartwright relates that a young rein-deer 

 which he kept as a pet would eat boiled meat. 



When the wild rein- deer are pursued in the summer time, 

 they always repair to the nearest water, in which they swim 

 so rapidly that no land animal has the least chance with them. 

 " I am certain," observes Cartwright, " that they will swim 

 more than five miles in an hour, and I verily believe six." 



It is during winter that the rein-deer enjoy most comfort. 

 The heat of their northern summer subjects them to much 



* Dillon's Winter in Iceland and Lapland (1840). 



