Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-07

! who have had a chance to show what they
could do with the reindeer, that they have
| done very well with the animals. Many of
| the native boys show surprising aptitude
| for the care Of them. and as traction ami
| mails they are already assuming an I'M
| portant place.
Begin New Industry.
| 1t has been found very easy to raise REIN
deer in Alaska. 1t costs the owner Of a
herd there less than dollar year to raise
| fawn to maturity, which it reaches in
| four years. Then it's meat is worth from
| $50 to 500. and the market is steady in all
| the gold mining regions. If trained to the
sled 1t is worth quite as much. and the milk
furnishes .ood of great value.
The reindeer begins to bear at two years
and continues for ten years Less than 10
per cent of the fawns die. and thus the in
crease Of a herd is rapid and sure. The
herding is remarkably easy and inexpensive,
for the deer do not willingly stray from
their fellows, and one herder can easily
guard thousand head.
The bucks are the better draught ami
mails. Of course, but the does are almost
as strong, and are very generally used as
sled animals both in the old world and
new. Reindeer born in Alaska reach a
| larger size than those born in Lapland.
They are rapidly supplanting dogs there
States mail as well as haul freight A
good reindeer team will go thirty-five miles
a day for weeks together and one pair
will haul load of 600 or 700 pounds. A
certain reindeer driver pressed for time a
few years ago drove his team ninety-five
miles inside of twenty-four hours Rein
deer make good pack animals in the sum-
mer, when there Is snow, and they are in
valuable aids to the prospector for gold
in the Alaskan wilderness.
n4A9,,,I%xx - nI,%,{o1,-
Though the reindeer is associated chiefly
with Lapland in the mind of the average
reader, it is an immensely important ami
NAL in all northern Siberia as well. In both
Lapland and Siberia 1t is the chief source
of wealth, furnishing food In the shape OF
milk and meat. clothing from the skins
and the only possible means of transporta-
ton.
1t is no wonder that the simple natives
of Siberia, when first approached by Capt.
Healy, in 1901, as purchasing agent for the
| United States government, found 1t ex-
| tremely difficult to procure any. He failed
utterly in his attempt to buy them for
money and for long time was unable tC
! get them in barter. He had with him,
! however, a fine assortment of, American
| goods which he fancied would attract the
| native eye, and In the end he succeeded
He had to sail about 500 miles along the
SIBERIAN coast, however, DeIOF6 ne was aDIe
| to find native owner who would barter his
animals away.
Immense Wild Herds
| Though there are two distinct species of
| wild reindeer In America-the barren ground
| caribou, now found in Labrador In greatest
| numbers. and the woodland caribou-neith-
| er species has ever been domesticated.
| To the Indians of the Hudson bay re-
| gion and Labrador, as well as to the Es-
| quimaux of Alaska, they are the most I'M
| portant product of the country. The wood
land caribou are much less numerous than
| the other species, and, unlike those of the
| barren ground, migrate northward every
| summer. Both species travel in enormous
| herds-herds almost vast as the old time
buffalo herds-and on their migrations are
! easily shared by the natives.
| There several wild species of rein
| deer in Siberia. the wild ones being consid-
| erably larger than the tame, as also are
] the American caribou. The natives Of ST.
| IBERIA have been very successful in captur-
| Ing them alive. and thus adding to their do
| mesticated herds, and 1t is quite possible
| that the caribou could be domesticated
| though the hunters shake their heads
| doubtfully when the plan is mentioned to
| them, and the natives will surely never
succeed in tanning them.