38 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



upon trees, or ascends even almost perpendicular rock-walls, where it also seeks 

 a refuge when pursued. 



When it perceives a herd of reindeer browsing near a wood or a precipice, 

 it generally lies in wait upon a branch or some high cliff, and springs down 

 upon the first animal that comes within its reach. Sometimes also it steals 

 unawares upon its prey, and suddenly bounding upon its back, kills it by a sin- 

 gle bite in the neck. Many fables worthy of Munchausen have been told about its 

 voracity ; for instance, that it is able to devour two reindeer at one meal, and 

 that, when its stomach is exorbitantly distended with food, it will press itself 

 between two trees or stones to make room for a new repast. It will, indeed, 

 kill in one night six or eight reindeer, but it contents itself with sucking their 

 blood, as the weasel does with fowls, and eats no more at one meal than any 

 other carnivorous animal of its own size. 



Besides the attacks of its mightier enemies, the reindeer is subject to the 

 persecutions of two species of gad-fly, which torment it exceedingly. The 

 one (Oestrus tarandi), called Hurbma by the Laplanders, deposits its glutinous 

 eggs upon the animal's back. The larvae, on creeping out, immediately bore 

 themselves into the skin, where by their motion and suction they cause so 

 many small swellings or boils, which gradually grow to the size of an inch or 

 more in diameter, with an opening at the top of each, through which the larvae 

 may be seen imbedded in a purulent fluid. Frequently the whole back of the 

 animal is covered with these boils, which, by draining its fluids, produce ema- 

 ciation and disease. As if aware of this danger, the reindeer runs wild and fu- 

 rious as soon as it hears the buzzing of the fly, and seeks a refuge in the nearest 

 water. The other species of gad-fly ( (Estriis nasalis) lays its eggs in the nostrils 

 of the reindeer ; and the larvae, boring themselves into the fauces and beneath the 

 tongue of the poor animal, are a great source of annoyance, as is shown by its 

 frequent snifiiing and shaking of the head. 



A pestilential disorder like the rinderpest will sometimes sweep away whole 

 herds. Thus in a few weeks a rich Laplander or Samojede may be reduced to 

 poverty, and the proud possessor of several thousands of reindeer be compel- 

 led to seek the precarious livelihood of the northern fisherman. 



The elk or moose-deer ( Cervus alces) is another member of the cervine race 

 peculiar to the forests of the north. In size it is far superior to the stag, but it 

 can not boast of an elegant shape, the head being disproportionately large, the 

 neck short and thick, and its immense horns, which sometimes weigh near fifty 

 pounds, each dilating almost immediately from the base into a broad palmated 

 form ; while its long legs, high shoulders, and heavy upper lip hanging very 

 much over the lower, give it an uncouth appearance. The color of the elk is a 

 dark grayish-brown, but much paler on the legs and beneath the tail. 



We owe the first description of this gigantic deer to Julius Caesar, in whose 

 time it was still a common inhabitant of the German forests. But the conquer- 

 or of Gaul can hardly have seen it himself, or he would not have ascribed to it 

 a single horn, placed in the middle of the forehead, or said that both sexes are 

 perfectly alike, for the female is smaller and has no antlers. At present the 

 elk is still found in the swampy forests of East Prussia, Lithuania, and Po- 



