Cornelia Hickman

“ A herd of Reindeer in Lapland.
deer stand at gaze, as it were, breathing hard through wide nostrils, then jostling each other and stamping the soft ground. They grow unruly, and it is hard to harness them in the light sledge. As the days pass, the Lapps watch them more and more closely, well knowing what will happen sooner or later. And then at last, in the northern twilight, the great herd begins to move. The impulse is simultaneous, irresistible; their heads are all turned in one direction. They move slowly at first, biting still, here and there, at the hunches of rich moss. ”

“ Every movement of our bodies sank us deeper in the snow-drifts, and the infuriated reindeer, finding themselves caught mm the banked-up snow almost to their haunches, turned upon us and would have pawed us to death but for the forethought of Qosilik, who, seeing our danger, sprang forward, and hoisting the overturned pulks in his strong arms, brought them down over our heads and shoulders and pinned us out of sight in the snow. ”

“ In the distant northern plains, a hundred miles from the sea, in the midst of the Laplanders’ village, a young reindeer raises his broad muzzle to the north wind and stares at the limitless distance while a roan may count a hundred. ”

“ Untamed and wholly unreliable beasts are these reindeer. One never feels a moment’s security when once he is seated in a pulk behind their flying legs, listening to the clattering of their hoofs on the hard snow, Ten miles an hour was the average speed that we made the first day, and that was quite rapid enough for us, we declared, when we considered the unbroken trail we had followed, and the dangers we narrowly escaped in spite of the precautions that, the guides had taken to insure us a safe journey. ”

“ Neither man nor beast dare stand between him and the ocean in the hundred miles of his arrow-like path. [1] “Uncle Ben” was the name of the reindeer that drew our pulk. He was a big, raw-boned deer with enormous horns. His coat was almost white and was thick and soft. His legs were long and powerful, and the sinews were plainly visible with every stride that he took. His hoofs were divided very high, so that when he placed his foot on the ground the hoof spread wide, and when he raised it, a snapping noise was heard which was caused by the parts of the hoof closing together. ”

“ Soon Amalik and Oosilik came in from securing the reindeer and began to cook our supper. They were as slow as slow could be, but we knew better than to try to hurry them, or to show the least impatience. ”

“ Presently the slow step becomes a trot, they crowd closely together, while the Lapps hasten to gather up their last unpacked possessions, their cooking-utensils, and their wooden gods. The great herd break together from a trot to a gallop, from a gallop ta a breakneck race ”