June-October 1881, Cruise of the Corwin, Part II Image 74

• Main Author: Muir, John
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Scholarly Commons 1881
• Subjects: John Muir; journals; drawings; writings; travel; journaling; naturalist; Arctic; Tundra; Lapland; Siberia
• Online Access: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/2076; https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/context/jmj-all/article/3075/type/native/viewcontent/fullsize.jpg

wolves. The reindeer is found throughout the arctic and sub-arctic regions of both Asian and America, and supplies either the wild or the domestic state in abundance of food and warm clothing, the natives, thus rendering these bleak and intensely cold regions inhabitable. I believe that it is only in Lapland and Siberia that the reindeer is domesticated. They are never sold alive by the Chukehis on account of a superstious notion that to do so would surely bring bad luck by incensing the spirit of the deer. A hundred can be bought, after they are killed, for less than one alive. Certain ceremonies must also be observed before killing. Great care both by day and night, out on the frozen tundra is required to keep them from being scattered and torn by wolves. A reindeer weighs from 3 to 400 lbs. The winter skins are heavier, the hair being long and tipped with white, giving them a hoary appearance, especially on the back; but the hair is easily broken and pulled out, a fact which renders them much less durable when used for bedding, tents, or clothing than those taken in summer, when the hair is short, and dark blue, almost black. Reindeer hides are easily tanned those tanned in Siberia are dyed a rich reddish brown https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/3075/thumbnail.jpg