The Betndeer. 183 



There is anothci' peculiarity worthy of notice. Most herbi- 

 vorous animals have a slow syst<nn of digest! on, even in a domestic 

 state; our cattle and sheep, for instance. This appeals to be still 

 more the case in the musk-oxen, reindeer, and arctic hare, and is 

 of infinite use in lands where the vegetation is scanty and wide 

 spread, and the weather occa-ionallv so severe as to oblige these 

 creatures for two or three days at a time to look pui'ely to their 

 own safety by seeking shelter from the snow-storms in deep 

 ravines or under lofty cliiis. It appears in their case as if Natiu'e 

 extracted from their food a greater quantity of nourishment than 

 she does from that of animals in moie southern latitudes, or pos- 

 sibly, by remaining in the stomach or intestines, it serves to check 

 the cravings of appetite, although there be no further nutriment 

 to be extracted. 



Most of the musk-oxen and deer, the former especially, had 

 their entrails distended with food (apparently quite digested), 

 .whilst the country around in many cases was as barren as a mac- 

 adamised road, fairly leading to the infereiiee that tlitse creatures 

 must have been a long time collecting what they had within them: 

 and that it had been a long time swallowed, and leqnired the vital 

 principle of the animals to be in full activity to prevent the food 

 from becoming a source of disease, was pretty well proved in the 

 case of the musk-oxen, which if shot, and left twelve hours with- 

 out being disembowelled, became tainted throughout with a strong 

 musky odour rendering the flesh uneatable. 



Another strong fact which bears upon the impunity ivith which 

 these creatures can \unter in high latitudes, is that in Lapland, 

 where these reindeer are used for tractile purposes, it is considered 

 quite enough food for a working animal if they are able to give it 

 daily four pounds of lichen (^Certomyce rangiferina) ; and on that 

 dietary a reindeer will be in sufficiently good condition to go oc- 

 casionally without food for two or three days, and do that without 

 apparent distress. 



So far as food is concerned, and an organisation fitted to meet 

 the extreme temperature of the Pole, the reindeer is thus beauti- 

 fully provided; but its sorest trial must be the constant rapacity 

 of the wolves which are ever hanging round them throughout the 

 winter season. As the season advances the reindeer appears to 

 resign iiself to the inevitable social misery ; and the cool manner 

 in which a small flock of those creatures m ly be seen grazing 

 with an entourage of half a dozen hungry wolves was very strange, 

 and evinced great philosophy, to say the least of it. 



