III.] 
THE REINDEER. 
133 
the clay beds at Cape Chelyuskin; remnants of reindeer were 
observed at Barents’ winter harbour on the northernmost part 
of Novaya Zemlya; some very fat animals were killed by 
Norwegian walrus-hunters on King Karl’s Land east of Spitz- 
bergen, and for some years back the reindeer was very numerous 
even on the north coast of North East Land, and on Castren’s, 
Parry’s, Marten’s, and Phipps’ Islands, lying still farther to the 
north. Although these regions are situated between 80° and 
81° N.L., the reindeer evidently thrives there very well, and 
finds, even in winter, abundant food on the mountain slopes 
swept clear of snow by storms, as is shown by the good condi¬ 
tion in which several of the animals shot by us were, and by 
the numerous reindeer traces and tracks which we saw on 
Castren’s Island in the month of May, 1873. Nor does a 
winter temperature of — 40° to — 50° appear to agree particu¬ 
larly ill with these relatives of the deer of the south. Even 
the Norwegian reindeer can bear the climate of Spitzbergen, 
for some of the selected draught reindeer which I took with 
me to Spitzbergen in 1872, and which made their escape soon 
after they were landed, were shot by hunters in 1875. They 
then pastured in company with wild reindeer, and were, like 
them, very fat. It is remarkable that the reindeer, notwith¬ 
standing the devastating pursuit to which it is exposed on 
Spitzbergen,^ is found there in much larger numbers than on 
North Novaya Zemlya or the Taimur peninsula, where it is 
almost protected from the attacks of the hunter. Even on the 
^ The hunters from Tromsoe brought home, in 1868, 996; in 1869, 975 ; 
and in 1870, 837 reindeer. When to this we add the great number of 
reindeer which are shot in spring and are not included in these calculations, 
and when we consider that the number of walrus-hunting vessels which 
are fitted out from Tromsoe is less than that of those which go out from 
Hammerfest, and that the shooting of reindeer on Spitzbergen is also 
carried on by hunters from other towns, and by tourists, we must suppose 
that at least 3,000 reindeer have been killed during each of those years. 
Formerly reindeer stalking was yet more productive, but since 1870 the 
number killed has considerably diminished. 
