THE CAMEL OF THE FROZEN DESERT 



545 



A DOE AND HER OFFSPRING 



Taking the government's estimate of the value of a reindeer as $25, the one hundred 

 herds of Alaska are worth $4,000,000. Not only is there a future for the reindeer industry 

 as a food resource, but the hides offer an opportunity for the development of a glove industry 

 equal to that of Sweden. 



It has been estimated that there are 

 200,000 square miles of this dry, coral- 

 like moss in Alaska — enough grazing land 

 for 10,000,000 deer. This class of pas- 

 turage is suitable for no other animal ex- 

 cept, it may be, the musk-ox ; hence these 

 thousands of square miles of Arctic 

 Alaska, were it not for the reindeer, 

 would prove practically valueless and 

 could not be permanently inhabited. 



There is only one drawback to this cal- 

 culation : Inevitably the reindeer seek the 

 coast in summer, to escape the swarms of 

 mosquitoes and to lick up the salt depos- 

 ited by the ocean waters. The Lapps 

 have a saying that "mosquitoes make the 

 best herders in summer time." 



It is believed, however, that if salt can 

 be supplied in sufficient quantity inland, 

 and if the deer can be taken to the hills, 

 where land breezes will serve the same 

 purpose as the sea winds in blowing away 

 the mosquitoes, the animals can be per- 

 suaded to overcome their inbred instinct 

 for a seaside excursion in summer. 



One speaks of persuading because the 

 Lapps, brought 10,000 miles from Nor- 

 way as herders, and their understudies, 

 the Eskimos, do not drive, but lead or 

 follow the herd. The reindeer selects his 

 own mossy pastures and goes unerringly 

 to his breezy shores and salty waters with 

 the coming of summer. 



CURIOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF THE) 

 REINDEER 



The reindeer constitutes the genus 

 rangifer, differing from that of ordinary, 

 deer in the important particular that both 

 sexes have antlers, which are shed an- 

 nually. 



A study of the physical characteristics 

 and the habits of this unique brand o-f 

 live stock forms a fascinating subject for 

 the deerman, only some of which can be 

 mentioned here. He has observed that 

 the antlers of the female remain much 

 later in the spring than do those of the 

 male, thus affording the mother a weapon 

 with which to drive away the stronger 



