172 THE STORY OF THE REINDEER. 
ground beneath. In the spring they repair to the mountains in order to 
escape the swarms of stinging gnats and gad-flies which infest the air, and 
inflict wounds in the skin of great severity. In the fall they return to the 
forests. 
I have witnessed several of these migrations of the undomesticated rein¬ 
deer. On one occasion, in Eastern Siberia, two large migrating bodies 
of reindeer passed at no great distance. They were descending the hills 
from the northwest, and crossing the plain on their way to the forests, where 
they spend the winter. Both bodies of deer extended farther than the eye 
A REINDEER OF LAPLAND IN MID-WINTER 
could reach, and formed a compact mass narrowing to the front. They 
moved slowly and majestically along, their broad antlers resembling a mov¬ 
ing wood of leafless trees. Each body was led by a deer of unusual size, 
which my guides assured me was always a female. 
The reindeer is distinguished from all other members of the deer family 
by the fact that both sexes have antlers which grow out of the top of the 
head instead of the forehead. The muzzle of the reindeer differs from that 
of all the deer hitherto mentioned in being clothed with soft hairs of mod- 
