280 
WILD NORWAY. 
official records of elk and reindeer killed in Norway 
during the years stated :— 
Elks. 
Reindeer. 
Red deer. 
Bulls. 
Cows. 
Total. 
1889 
... 515 
335 = 
850 
471 
— 
1892 
... 686 
624 = 
1310 
666 
213 
1893 
... 636 
611 = 
1247 
696 
143 
1894 
— 
— 
1262 
760 
84 
1895 
... 511 
459 = 
970 
865 
146 
Average of five years, 1889-93 
1122 
591 
— 
In Sweden there are no wild reindeer, but the 
number of elks killed is returned as under :— 
1887. 1888. 1889. 1894. 1895. 
Elks killed 2178 ... 2097 ... 1782 ... 1560 ... 1409. 
The Lemming (Myodes lemmas ').—If his powers 
were proportioned to his pluck, the lemming would 
make things lively for the hunter. Had the bear, the 
lynx, or the mighty elk but a thousandth part of 
the lemming’s aggressive ferocity, the relative positions 
of hunter and hunted would be reversed, and an ex¬ 
pedition to the fjeld would require an advance guard 
of cavalry and a support of Maxim guns. The lemming 
attacks with reckless fury the harmless passer-by. One 
small creature (smaller than a rat) will assail, without 
second thought, a couple of human beings weighing 
a hundred-and-fifty pounds apiece; it will spring to 
one’s knees, biting and barking, and in purblind fury 
fall back all-ends-up to earth, only to renew the attack 
again and again. To-day, while one lemming was 
flying at me, another from beyond a small stream 
joined in the demonstration, presently swimming across 
to get to close quarters. I was not quite sure that the 
first fall into the water was not accidental; but hardly 
