File:The polar and tropical worlds - a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe (1874) (14777719405).jpg

Identifier: polartropicalwor00hartuoft (find matches)
Title: The polar and tropical worlds : a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe
Year: 1874 (1870s)
Authors: Hartwig, G. (Georg), 1813-1880 Guernsey, Alfred Hudson, 1824-1902
Subjects: Arctic peoples Natural history Antarctica Arctic regions Tropics
Publisher: Guelph, Ont. : J.W. Lyon
Contributing Library: Gerstein - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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y paces tlie unsta-ble sands. The short legs and broad feet of the reindeer likewise enable it to swim withgreater ease—a power of no small imj»()rtancc in countries abounding in riversand lakes, :ni(l where the scarcity of food renders perpetual migrations necessa-v\. When the reindeer Avalks or merelv moves, a remarkable clatterincr soundis heard to some distance, about the cause of which naturalists and travellersby no means agree. Most )irobably it Iesults from the great length of the twodigits of the cloven hoof, which when the animal sets its foot upon the groundseparate widely, and when it again raises its hoof suddenly clap against eachother. A long mane of a dirty white color hangs from the neck of the reindeer. In ;summer the body is brown above and wliite beneath ; in Avinter, long-hairedand white. Its antlers are very different from those of the stag, having broadpalmatcd summits, and branching back to the length of three or four feet QUADRUPEDS AND BIRDS. 3S o o w H OW
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Their weight is frequently very considerable—twenty or twenty-five pounds ;and it is remarkable that both sexes have horns, while in all other members oftlie deer race the males alone are in possession of this ornament or weapon. The female brings forth in May a single calf, rarely two. This is small andAveak, but after a few days it follows the mother, who suckles her young but a 38 THE POLAR WORLD. short time, as it is soon able to seek and to find its food. The reindeer givesvery liitli milk—;it the very utmost, after the young has been weaned, a bottle-ful dailv ; hut tlic (;u;ility is excellent, for it is uncommonly thick and nutritious.It consists almost entirely of cream, so that a great deal of water can be addedbefore it becomes inferior to the best cow-milk. Its taste is excellent, but tliebutter made fioin it is rancid, and hardly to be eaten, while the cheese is verygood. The only food of the reindeer during winter consists of moss, and the most6uri)rising circumstance

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