452 WILD ANIMALS. 



young herbage wliicli they can crop hastily as they pass along. 



Brooke states that it is affirmed that where the reindeer has been 



feeding, no cattle will graze for a considerable time afterwards. 

 In winter the food and almost entire subsistence of these animals 



are different lichens, but chiefly the lichen rangiferinus, or rein- 

 deer-moss. Although the country is almost destitute of other 

 vegetation, yet this plant, which is described as containing very 

 nourishing properties, is providentially strewed plentifully over it. 

 The belief that the horns of the reindeer were employed by the 

 animal to clear away the snow, so that it could reach its food, 

 still exists, but it is an error ; the snow is dug up with the broad, 

 sharp-edged hoofs. Du Ohaillu witnessed reindeer feeding in 

 this way, and he describes the scene in the following words. 

 He was driving with a guide one very cold day, when entering 

 a forest they found themselves suddenly in the midst of a number 

 of holes several feet deep, which had been dug by reindeer. 

 " The track of the furrows of the other sleigh," he writes, " was 

 soon lost, and the route became abominable. Down into the 

 depths we would go — up again — then on one side, then on the 

 other. From the top of a mound we were pitched into a hole, 

 bumping against a tree, the boughs or branches often striking 

 against our faces ; to avoid these we had to keep ourselves flat 

 in the sleighs, in constant danger of being upset. Several thou- 

 sand reindeer had evidently been here, and we were completely 

 lost in their excavations." When they came up with the herd, 

 Du Ohaillu remarks that he witnessed an interesting sight. " The 

 snow in this district was not deep," he continues, " not over four 

 feet. Under that thick cover was buried the rich moss of which 

 the reindeer is so fond. All except the younger ones were busy 

 digging, first with one forefoot, then with the other ; the holes 

 gradually became larger, and the bodies of the animals were more 

 and more hidden; they would not stop till they had reached 

 the moss. Wherever I turned my eyes they were seen doing the 

 same work, for they were evidently hungry. 



" On our way back another strange sight presented itself. 

 Where had the reindeer gone ? None were to be seen. Had they 

 been taken away ? As I approached the herd, I discovered that 



