272 



The Living Animals of the World 



antlers, as may be seen l.v the illustration, differ materially from those of the red deer, elk, 

 and other spe<'ies ; tlie hr.'.w-tines, especially, are often much palmated. These animals are 

 heavily liuilt, short-le^.i^ed, and, as beseems dwellers in a snowy habitat, provided with round, 

 shorthand spreading" hoofs, for ages reindeer ha\-e been domesticated by the T.apps of 

 Scandinavia, the BauKiyeds, and <ither primiti\e races of Northern p:urope and Asia. Trained 

 to harness, and drawing a sledge, they traverse long distances, while their milk, flesh, and 



hides are of great 

 importance to the 

 people who keep 

 them. The CoMxMOX 

 or Scandinavian 

 Ki:iNDEER ranges 

 from Norway through 

 Northern Europ)e 

 into Asia, though 

 how far eastward is 

 not yet accurately 

 determined. It is 

 interesting to note 

 that these animals 

 were once denizens 

 of ]:!ritain, and so 

 lately as the twelfth 

 century the Jarls of 

 Orkney are hielieved 

 to have been in the 

 habit of crossing to 

 the mainland for the 

 purpose of hunting 

 them in the wilds of 

 Caithness. Wild 

 reindeer are still to 

 b e f o u n d i n t h e 

 remoter parts of 

 Norway, though, 

 from much persecution, they are becoming com])aratively scarce in most parts of the country. 



Mr. Abel Chapman, in his '• Wild Norway,' gi\cs some excellent accounts of sport with 

 these tine deer. S[ieaking (if a good herd of twenty-one. discovered in Kyfylke. he says: 

 ■•jAIost of till' deer were lying down, but both the big stags stood irpn-ight in dreamy, inert 

 postures. ... I now fully realised wliat a truly magnilicent animal I had liefore me. Both in 

 br)dy and horn he was a giant, and his coat was no less remarkable; tlie neck was }iure white, 

 and l:)eneath it a sliaggy mane hung down a foot in li'iigth. This white neck was set off liy 

 the dark head in front and the rich glossy brown of his robe behind. Besides this the 

 contrasting black and white bars on flanks and stern were conspicuously clean-cut and defined, 

 and the long and massi\'e antlers showed a s[ilen(lid recurved sweep, surmounted by branch-like 

 tines, all clean.' For three long, agonising hours the stidker watched this noble }irize. and then 

 one of those lucky chances which occasionally gladden the hunter's heart occurred, ami the 

 icin<leer apjiroached within a hundred yards. " Half-a-ilozen forward steps, and his white neck 

 and dai'k shoulder were beautifully exposed. Already, ere his head had appeared, the rifle had 

 been shifted o\er. and now tlie foresight dwelt lovingly on a thrice-reflned aim. The -4,50 fiuUet 

 struck to an inch, jasl wheii' the shaggy mane joined the lirown shoulder. The beast winced 

 :dl fiver, but neitlier mo\rd nor i'ell. A monuMit's surxey. and [ knew by the swaying of his 



WOODLAKD C.4EIB0U. 



'Jbi.s .specimen baa Hhed its horns, which are of Ihe general type of those of the Scjindinaviau race. 



