OF THE POLAR SEA. 



241 



they are never alike in any two individuals. The old males shed 

 theirs about the end of December; the females retain them until 

 the disappearance of the snow enables them to frequent the barren 

 grounds, which may be stated to be about the middle or end of May, 

 soon after which period they proceed towards the sea-coast and drop 

 their young. The young males lose their horns about the same 

 time with the females or a little earlier, some of them as early as 

 April. The hair of the rein-deer falls in July, and is succeeded by 

 a short thick coat of mingled clove, deep reddish, and yellowish, 

 browns ; the belly and under parts of the neck, &c, remaining white. 

 As the winter approaches the hair becomes longer, and lighter in 

 its colours, and it begins to loosen in May, being then much worn 

 on the sides, from the animal rubbing itself against trees and stones. 

 It becomes grayish and almost white, before it is completely shed. 

 The Indians form their robes of the skins procured in autumn, when 

 the hair is short. Towards the spring the larvae of the oestrus at- 

 taining a large size, produce so many perforations in the skins, that 

 they are good for nothing. The cicatrices only of these holes are to 

 be seen in August, but a fresh set of ova have in the mean time 

 been deposited % 



The rein-deer retire from the sea-coast in July and August, but 

 in October on the verge of the barren grounds, and shelter them- 

 selves in the woods during the winter. They are often induced by 

 a few fine days in winter, to pay a transitory visit to their favourite 

 pastures in the barren country, but their principal movement to the 

 northward commences generally in the end of April, when the snow 



* " It is worthy of remark, that in the month of May a very great number of large 

 larvae exist under the mucous membrane at the root of the tongue, and posterior part of the 

 nares and pharynx. The Indians consider them to belong to the same species with, the 

 oestrus, that deposits its ova under the skin ; to us the larvee of the former appeared more 

 flattened than those of the latter. Specimens of both kinds, preserved in spirits, were de- 

 stroyed by the frequent falls they received on the portages.'" — Dr. Richardson's Journal 



2 I 



