THE RAIN-DEER. 325 



hnd % and in the mod northern regions of Lap- 

 land f ar *d of Afia J. The elk approaches not fo 



X 3 near 



Spitzbergen, thefe animals make a ihift to pafs the winter 

 there, and to live upon the fmail quantity of food they can 

 procure; Recueil des Voyages au Nord, torn. 2. p. 113. 



* Captain Craycott, in the year 1738, brought a male and 

 a female rain -deer from Greenland to London; Edwards' s Hijl. 

 of birds, />. 51. where we have a defcription and figure of this 

 animal under the name of the Greenland fu.ic-wi-dccr, which, as 

 well as the Greenland roebuck, or C'aprea Groenlendica, mentioned 

 by Grew, in his defcription of the muleum of the royal fociety, 

 can be nothing elfe but the rain deer. Both thefe authors, 

 in their defcriptions, mention, as a peculiar character, the 

 down with which the horns of thefe animals were covered. 

 Ihis character, however, is common to the raia-deer, the 

 ftag, the fallow-deer, and all the deer kind. This hair or down 

 continues on the horns during the fummer feafon, which is 

 the time when they are growing, and the only time that vef- 

 fels can fiil to Greenland. It is not, therefore, furprifing 

 that, during this feafon, the horns of the rain-deer lhould be 

 covered with down. Hence this character is of no import- 

 ance in the defcriptions given by thefe authors. 



Upon the coafts of Frobifher's Straits, there are ftags near- 

 ly of the coiour of afTes, and whofe horns are higher and 

 much larger than thofe of our ftags. Their feet are from 

 feven to eight inches in circumference, and refemble thofe of 

 our oxen ; Lade's icy. torn. 2. p. 297. Note. This paifage 

 feems to have been copied from Captain Martin's voyage, p. 

 17. where he remarks, < There are great numbers of itaos on 

 « the lands ofF Warwick road, the fkin of which refembles 

 < that of our afTes. Their head and horns, both in length and 

 1 breadth, furpafs thofe of our ftags. Their foot is as large 

 4 as that of an ox, being eight inches broad.' 



t The rain-deer are numerous in the country of the 

 Samoiedes, and over all the north; Voyage d'Olearius, torn. 1. 

 p. 126. L'Hijl. de la Lapponie, par Scheffer, p. 209. 



X The Oftiacks of Siberia, as well as the Samoiedes, em- 

 ploy rain-deer and dogs for drawing their carriages ; Nouv. 



Mem. de la Grande Ruffie, torn. 2. p. 181 Amon^ the 



Tonguefe, there are great numbers of rain-deer, elks, bears, 

 &c. ; Voyage de Gnielin, torn. 2. p. 206. 



