472 
HOW THE CATTLE GET FOOD IN WINTER. 
anusual proceeding. The Toiigouse uow mounted into 
the saddle by climbing up over his neck, and he stood as 
firm as if a feather only had been blown against him. 
They seemed to be very strong in the fore-shoulders and 
just the contrary in the back and quarters. For our edi- 
fication the second Tongouse now mounted, and a short 
race ensued, in which they seemed to get along quite 
well, but by no means as swiftly or gracefully as many 
of our ordinary horses : probably they would have shown 
to better advantage had they not already travelled seventy 
miles. 
“If 8 a mystery to me, Mr. Freighburg,” I remarked, 
“how you manage to feed your stock during such long 
winters, — these hundreds of horses and dogs which we 
see, and the numberless reindeer which you say are 
owned farther in the interior. I don’t even see sheds 
to shelter them under.” 
“Why, bless your heart!” answered the old fellow, 
“we let our horses and reindeer go free as soon as the 
cold weather commences, and they wander about in 
droves of hundreds and thousands, finding plenty to 
keep them from starving during the winter. They dig 
down through the snow for dried grass, &c., and it is 
only toward the spring, when the snow thaws and then 
freezes again, thus covering the ground with a solid mass 
of ice, — it is only at that time that we have to feed them 
until the weather gets warm and melts the ice away. 
Xow, one horse alone could not clear away the snow for 
food, and thus you find them in large droves, as I say. 
Their great number also adds to their security from the 
attacks of wild beasts. ~Now, as to sheds for sheltering 
