350 MAMMALIA — REINDEER, 



The reindeer is the only animal of this species, the female of which has 

 horns like the male. Another singularity which we must not omit, and 

 which is common to the reindeer, and the elk, is, that when these animals 

 run or quicken their pace, their hoofs at every step make a crackling noise, 

 as if all the joints of their legs were disjointing. It is this noise, or perhaps 

 the scent, which informs the wolves of their approach, v/ho run out to meet 

 and seize them ; and, if the wolves are many in number, they very often 

 conquer. The reindeer is able to defend himself against a single wolf, not, 

 as may be imagined with his horns, (for they are rather of a disservice to 

 him, than of use,) but with his fore feet, which are very strong; and with 

 which he strikes with such force, as to stun the wolf and drive him av/ay ; 

 after which he flies with such speed, as to be no longer in any danger of 

 being overtaken. But he finds a more dangerous, though a less frequent 

 and less numerous enemy than the wolf, in the rosomal;, or glutton. 



A tame reindeer lives only to the age of fifteen or sixteen years ; but it 

 is to be presumed, that the life of the wild reindeer is of much longer dura- 

 tion. This animal, being four years before he arrives at his full growth, 

 must live twenty-eight or thirty years when he is in his natural state. 



The mode in which the Dog-rib Indians kill the American reindeer, is 

 curious. The hunters go in pairs, the foremost carrying in one hand the 

 horns and part of the skin of the head of a deer, and in the other a small 

 bundle of twigs, against which he, from time to time, rubs the horns, 

 imitating the gestures peculiar to that animal. His comrade follows, tread- 

 ing exactly in his footsteps, and holding the guns of both in a horizontal 

 position, so that the muzzles project under the arms of him who carries the 

 head. Both hunters have a fillet of white skin round their foreheads, 

 and the foremost has a strip of the same round his wrists. They approach 

 the herd by degrees, raising their legs very slowly, but setting them down 

 somewhat suddenly, after the manner of deer, and always taking care to 

 lift their right or left foot simultaneously. If any of the herd leave off 

 feeding to gaze at this extraordinary phenomenon, it instantly stops and 

 plays its part, by licking its shoulders, and performing other necessary 

 movements. In this way the hunters attain the very centre of the herd, 

 without exciting suspicion, and have leisure to single out the fattest. The 

 hindmost man then pushes forward his comrade's gun, the head is dropped, 

 and they fire at nearly the same instant. The deer scamper off, the hunters 

 trot after them ; in a short time the poor animals halt, to ascertain the 

 cause of their terror ; their foes stop at the same moment, and having loaded 

 as they ran, greet the gazers with a second fatal discharge. The consterna- 

 tion of the deer increases, they run to and fro, in the utmost confusion, and 

 sometimes a great part of the herd is destroyed in the space of a few hun- 

 dred yards. 



