A REINDEER RIDE THROUGH LAPLAND. 43 



scourge of Finmarken, and great depredations are an- 

 nually committed by them, so much so that a premium 

 of 20 Tcroners (or 1, 2s. 3d.) is set on their head. 



Their usual method of procuring, or rather killing, 

 deer, is to make a rush into the midst of a by, and to 

 select an individual from out of the crowd in the rush 

 or stampede that follows. This poor animal, once 

 singled out, rarely if ever escapes, as the relentless 

 pursuer never swerves, be he left ever so far behind 

 at the outset ; and at last, tired and hungry, the poor 

 creature sinks panting on the snow, which very shortly 

 after is dyed by its life's blood. Sometimes a wolf, 

 out of mere wantonness, will destroy half a herd with- 

 out eating a single one. This, however, I suppose, is 

 common to all animals of the canine race, as witness 

 the amount of sheep-worrying in our own country. 

 The premium of 20 kroners is, in the opinion of the 

 people, hardly commensurate to the risk and trouble of 

 killing such an animal. The prevailing wish is that 

 the premiums paid for the killing of other beasts and 

 birds of prey should be lowered, and that for wolves 

 at least doubled, in which case it would pay to import 

 weapons, &c., to engage in the common cause against 

 lupus, when, it is confidently expected, its depreda- 

 tions would soon be reduced to a bearable figure. 



Well, leaving the spot where a tragedy en minia- 

 ture was being enacted, we continued on our way; 

 and after making a short stop for the purpose of 

 feeding the deer and of taking a snack ourselves, we 



