THE ARCTIC LANDS. 



37 



all other domestic animals, it is by no means dependent on man for its subsist- 

 ence, but finds its nourishment alone, and wanders about freely in summer and 

 in winter without ever being inclosed in a stable. These qualities are inesti- 

 mable in countries where it would be utterly impossible to keep any domestic 

 animal requiring shelter and stores of provisions during the long winter months, 

 and make the reindeer the fit companion of the northern nomad, whose simple 

 wants it almost wholly supplies. During his wanderings, it carries his tent and 

 scanty household furniture, or drags his sledge over the snow» On account of the 

 weakness of its back-bone, it is less fit for riding, and requires to be mounted with 

 care, as a violent shock easily dislocates its vertebral column ; the saddle is placed 

 on the haunches. You would hardly suppose the reindeer to be the same animal 

 when languidly creeping along under a rider's weight, as when, unencumbered 

 by a load, it vaults with the Hghtness of a bird over the obstacles in its way to 

 obey the call of its master. The reindeer can be easily trained to drag a sledge, 

 but great care must be taken not to beat or otherwise ill-treat it, as it then be- 

 comes obstinate, and quite unmanageable. When forced to drag too heavy a 

 load, or taxed in any way above its strength, it not seldom turns round upon 

 its tyrant, and attacks him with its horns and fore feet. To save himself from 

 its fury, he is then obliged to overturn his sledge, and to seek a refuge under 

 its bottom until the rage of the animal has abated. 



After the death of the reindeer, it may truly be said that every part of its 

 body is put to some use. The flesh is very good, and the tongue and marrow 

 are considered a great delicacy. The blood, of which not a drop is allowed to 

 be lost, is either drunk warm or made up into a kind of black pudding. The 

 skin furnishes not only clothing impervious to the cold, but tents and bedding ; 

 and spoons, knife-handles, and other household utensils are made out of the 

 bones and horns ; the latter serve also, like the claws, for the prej^aration of an 

 excellent glue, which the Chinese, who buy them for this purpose of the Rus- 

 &ians, use as a nutritious jelly. In Tornea the skins of new-born reindeer are 

 prepared and sent to St. Petersburg to be manufactured into gloves, which are 

 extremely soft, but very dear. 



Thus the cocoa-nut palm, the tree of a hundred uses, hardly renders a 

 greater variety of services to the islanders of the Indian Ocean than the rein- 

 deer to the Laplander or the Samojede ; and, to the honor of these barbarians 

 be it mentioned, they treat their invaluable friend and companion with a grate- 

 ful affection which might serve as an example to far more civilized nations. 



The reindeer attains an age of from twenty to twenty-five years, but in its 

 domesticated state it is generally killed when from six to ten years old. Its 

 most dangerous enemies are the wolf, and the glutton or wolverine ( Gulo ho- 

 realis or arcticus), which belongs to the bloodthirsty marten and weasel family, 

 and is said to be of uncommon fierceness and strength. It is about the size 

 of a large badger, between which animal and the pole-cat it seems to be inter- 

 mediate, nearly resembling the former in its general figure and aspect, and 

 agreeing with the latter as to its dentition. 'No dog is capable of mastering 

 a glutton, and even the wolf is hardly able to scare it from its prey. Its feet 

 are very short, so that it can not run swiftly, but it climbs with great facility 



